Sunday 5 July 2009

Oh no they didn't...



I used to read Cleo magazines while chilling at the Gloria Jean's opposite Imax back in Auckland. Among the Cleo's was the issue whose sealed section contained pictures of naked couples telling about their, um, sexual activities. Lynne and Antonios (their surname undisclosed in the section) interested me the most because they had the biggest age gap (when that issue came out (in April 2008 if I remember correctly), Lynne was 24 and Antonios 45.)
Fast forward a year, several days ago while having nothing to do, I punched in 'Antonios and Lynne' on Google, hoping to find out the Cleo May-December couple's last name. And gosh did they cause ripples. And did I find out more than just their surname. The parents of one of Lynne Tziolas' students at Narraweena School, where she taught grades 1 and 2, reported The Tziolas' raunchy pose to the school's executive board. That resulted in Lynne getting discharged from Narraweena, and she fought back, taking legal actions to be reinstated.
I myself have mixed opinions about this case. First of all yes teachers do have sex life, private life, and it's up to them what to do about it. In Lynne's case, she must have thought posing naked for Cleo wouldn't be a problem, since she taught 7-year-olds and 7-year-olds don't read Cleo, right? Plus, the pose was in a sealed sex special section. You have to buy the magazine first to be able to tear the section open. Mrs. Tziolas even stated that she wouldn't have done it had she been a high school teacher. On the other hand, when I try to put myself in the shoes of the concerned parents, I can see what this might cause in the long run. Who knows, ten years down the road that magazine still exists in thrift stores and Lynne's students - now ex students and about 17 years old - might find it and think posing naked with your spouse on a magazine is cool. It's absolutely not. You don't make money by selling your private parts to the public eye. You make money by using your brain to make the world a better place.
Anyway, the Tziolas brouhaha also made news here in Indonesia, just not in the headlines.

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