.......when I was in school? I never got this kind of personal attention. I wonder if it's too late for me to go back to school? This article, while it's a serious subject, is really funny. http://www.miami.com/herald/content/news/local/broward/digdocs/071425.htm Sex-case teacher speaks of regrets Friedman wishes she had done more to help teen BY CAROLINE J. KEOUGH ckeough@herald.com Beth Friedman, the middle school teacher exonerated of a charge of having an 18-month sexual relationship with one of her students, regrets she didn't do more to help the boy. ``You can never do enough for kids,'' she said Friday, talking publicly about the case for the first time since she was arrested in 1999. ``I wish I could have done more. I wanted him to stay in school.'' The allegation from the now 17-year-old boy and his parents turned into a 2 1/2-year ordeal that culminated with Friedman's trial last month. Jurors rejected the boy's claims that his teacher seduced him with gifts of jewelry, clothing and a car. But they convicted Friedman of the most minor charge against her: contributing to the boy's delinquency by giving him drugs and alcohol. She is serving a year of probation. Friedman, 43, says she harbors no bitterness for the boy and his mother, both of whom lived with her for several months. ``I felt sorry for her,'' Friedman said of the boy's mother's melodramatic testimony that she was paralyzed with horror when her son told her he'd been having sex with Friedman. The woman later said her son had talked about the relationship for months. ``I thought I was helping the whole family, not just [the teen],'' Friedman said. ``They didn't have anywhere else to live; they got thrown out of their house, so I let them live with me.'' Friedman said she agreed to talk to the media because she wanted to get one message out about her case: Teachers shouldn't stop going out of their way to help students. ``I hope it's not a message to teachers that they should stop what they're doing,'' said Friedman, who taught at Silver Lakes Middle School in North Lauderdale. ``If you have kids that need extra help, give it to them.'' But Friedman said her own teaching career is over. ``The way I teach, I have to get to know the kids and spend time with them and do things for them,'' she said. ``Obviously, I couldn't do that anymore, so I can't be a teacher anymore.'' The three-week long trial was broadcast gavel to gavel by Court TV and garnered national media attention. Friedman said that was more frightening than the 76 years in prison she faced. ``I knew I had the truth on my side and I had David [Bogenschutz],'' she said. Bogenschutz was her trial attorney. ``I was afraid of all the media attention. I've never seen myself on television.'' Fear of facing the cameras at trial contributed to her mental breakdown that delayed the case twice, Friedman said. As the trial neared, Bogenschutz prepped her by sending her to Broward Circuit Judge Stanton Kaplan's courtroom -- where the trial was held -- every day for a month. ``Just to have her sit there and begin to feel comfortable was a big help,'' Bogenschutz said. ``She didn't have to walk in cold and face the tension of the trial.'' Expecting she'd have to take the stand to testify in her own defense, Friedman drilled for the pressure and prying of a cross-examination by prosecutor Stacey Honowitz. But in the end, she didn't testify. ``The case was going so well, I felt like we had really shown the jurors that the prosecution witnesses had serious credibility problems,'' Bogenschutz said. Friedman didn't watch or read any of the trial coverage, and as she gave her first voluntary television interview to Court TV on Friday, the prospect still terrified her. As she waited for her turn in front of the camera, the television monitor in front of her flashed to her case. ``Oh, my gosh,'' she said, covering her eyes with her hands. ``I can't watch. They're not showing me, are they?'' When the interview was over, Friedman ventured out into the Friday evening dusk. She plans to return to live with her father in New York, where she is swallowed in the anonymity of the city. The conversation turned to Friday night plans for going out. ``I have to start doing that again,'' she said, softly.
