I can't speak for that particular teacher, but I can definitely tell you I have lived some of this stuff.
I don't 'come' from a small town, but I have lived most of my life in 2 very small towns. My children went to school in first the one, and then the other one. I also subbed in the second small town school for about a year and a half.
I don't know if it's a case of 'everyone knows everyone' and just don't really realize how awful it is, or what. There was one girl, who at 14 went and got on birth control. The teacher said, right in front of the class, this girl had got on birth control, which made her a
wh@re. I don't think the teacher was ever disciplined, and the girl's mother removed the girl from the school. I could go on and on. Don't get me wrong, though, most of the teachers at this school were very good, caring and compassionate people. It's just like there were a few who seemed to pull this kind of thing and it seemed like an act of Congress was required to do anything about it.