Teachers probably shouldn't seek dating advice from 4th graders

Teachers probably shouldn&#039;t seek dating advice from 4th graders

(Image credit: Facebook.com/CassndreFiering)

last updated 8 January 2015

Cassandre Fiering, 45, is an actress and, until December, a substitute teacher for the New York City Department of Education. She was fired, according to an official report acquired by DNAinfo New York, for asking a 4th grade class in the Bronx what she should do about the two men she was dating last June.

Here's DNAinfo's James Fanelli:

Investigators say she acted out scenarios in which the kids were her and she was the boyfriends. She complained that the younger boyfriend, a mechanic in Rhode Island, didn’t return her phone calls, according to the report.... The report says Fiering hugged one student, tapped another on his shoulder, and touched the thighs of two other students. [DNAinfo]

While Fiering acknowledges the role-playing about her love life, she denies any inappropriate touching and insists the class was "G-rated.... I certainly wasn't talking about sex or anything." The 4th graders acted as her "counselor," she insists, and "were saying all kinds of things, trying to help me because this guy was being a jerk to me," Fiering told DNAinfo. Even so, is that really an appropriate role for a group of 9-year-old students?

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She is appealing the firing.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.