There’s a saying that teachers are our mentors and guides in life who teach us right from wrong and help us grow. After our parents, teachers play a crucial role in shaping our lives. But what if these teachers are not as good as they seem? What if they hide their true nature behind a mask, pretending to be supportive while disguising their intentions? This can be very confusing for young minds who rely on these very teachers to distinguish between right and wrong because they believe in them. This is dangerous because these teachers often take advantage of this trust to exploit innocent students. In the Netflix series Raising Voices, a history teacher named Juan Lopez Sanchez has a history of abusing students, but no one spoke up against him for a long time. Alma, one of his students, finally found the courage to stand up to him and serve justice to her friend Berta. She made sure he was punished by exposing his true nature in front of everyone at school by calling him out and showing everyone his evil hidden face. After being silent for so long, it was time for the students to raise their voices against his dominance and tear down his mask. What happened to Juan Lopez Sanchez in the end? Let’s find out.
Spoilers Ahead
Who was Juan Lopez Sanchez?
In the Martin Baussen Private School, there is a history teacher named Juan Lopez Sanchez, the devil of our story. Many characters in the series are flawed, mostly men, who have done terrible things. But they are young and have time to change. Juan Lopez Sanchez, however, is different. As a teacher who lectures about how oppressors exploit the weak throughout history, he knows exactly how to prey on the vulnerable. His actions are not mistakes; they are deliberate choices because he enjoys manipulating young minds, gaining their trust, and then taking advantage of them. This pattern has gone on for a long time because no one has ever stood up to him. Students suppress their horrible experiences, knowing no one would believe them since he appears to be so honest, kind, and respectful to everyone, including parents and other teachers. When the series starts, we see him showing concern for Alma’s grades and well-being, even asking her parents to come to the school to help her improve. He is the teacher whom all the students and parents trust. He likes to be your buddy, talking about your personal issues so that you don’t have to hide anything. This way, he learns your weaknesses and uses them for his benefit. He has been doing this for a long time, so he is a pro now. But deep down, those who have suffered from his mistreatment know him for who he truly is. In exchange for his sweet talk and words of affirmation, he coerces his students into inappropriate relationships. That’s exactly what he did to Berta, one of his students. After Berta’s parents got divorced, he started manipulating her, pretending to help her study and be her companion in her time of loneliness. He knew that she suffered from depression and anxiety, was alone, had no one to talk to, and wouldn’t have the strength to stand up to him and stop him. It shows you that the victims he targeted were always going through periods of weakness. Because of him, Berta had to leave school. So you realize how his victims are often too scared to speak up when he gets away with his actions and continues to teach without being held accountable.
Why did Alma decide to stand against him?
At first, Alma also made the mistake of trusting her history teacher. After all, she is a young girl who does not know how sly these men are. It’s a process; after all, she is only 17 years old. How much does she know about the world? How much does she know about the men and their cruel, manipulative, and unreliable nature? So when Alma started being called names at school for how open she is about her choices, about her dressing sense, about her spending time with boys and partying, and everything, and after she had already been exploited by her best friend Hernan, she was struggling to deal with it all. When, on the other hand, her private photographs became public and she had no idea where they came from, she felt nervous and exposed. She was struggling with her studies and was failing classes as well. On top of that, she just got to know about Berta’s experience with the history teacher and how he had abused her day after day to the point where she was having panic attacks and had to leave school.
All this was too much to bear for Alma, but when she saw that her history teacher was taking special care of her and telling her to wait until after class so that he could help her with her studies, she knew that he was going to take advantage of her. After all, she is in her most vulnerable state, so obviously it would make her the best target. But he did not do anything. He genuinely asked Alma about the problem that she was dealing with. He genuinely listens to her problems, advises her to delete private pictures to stay safe, and even arranges for another teacher to help her with her studies. Alma was ready to record him, expecting the worst. But his behavior changes, and she’s confused. Here’s my theory: He didn’t exploit Alma because she’s strong-willed and has supportive friends. She’s not an easy target. And even he gained Alma’s trust so much that she ended up disbelieving Berta and disheartening her so much that she ended up dying in an accident. Alma then started noticing there was this other girl in their school named Bambi who wore her school uniform every day, smoked cigarettes standing in the corner, walked home alone, and had no one to talk to, and his history teacher was eyeing her out. And she knew that she was going to be his next target. And that’s exactly what happened. After that incident with Bambi, with Berta’s and other ex-students’ confessions on their social media pages, she knew she had solid ground to stand against this teacher because enough was enough.Â
In the end, Alma showed immense courage. She marched into school with a bold sign exposing the truth about the abusive teacher, labeling him as a rapist hidden by the school. Then, she fearlessly took to social media, sharing Juan Lopez Sanchez’s picture for all to see. Her actions inspired others to step forward and speak out against the teacher’s abuse. With Alma’s bravery, justice was served. Juan Lopez Sanchez was arrested, and Alma’s actions brought closure and justice to Berta and numerous other students who had suffered at his hands. The character of the history teacher shows us how manipulation and abuse of power can allow some individuals to get away with their wrongdoings. But for how long? When we’re brave and speak up against them, we can stop them from doing more harm because it’s better to be vocal about them instead of keeping quiet.Â
