Hi,

Last week, we witnessed the great Oprah begging for forgiveness, her eyes filled with tears of frustration and disappointment, for her school having been a place of violence and abuse on the students. One of the students at the school had been fondled, and another had been assaulted. Who did it?

News about violence and sexual harassment in our schools always – or, should – arouse a sense of anger and indignation. After all, we are in the twenty-first century, are we not? Why are we still kids being assaulted? Why are our children still being sexually molested? To have a child violently killed or raped anywhere in our cities and towns is reprehensible enough. But to allow the same things to happen in our schools is the most heinous indictment of our humanity’s lack of mental health.

Safety Issues has written about sexual misconduct in our schools, Sexual Misconduct Menaces US Schools. A report mandated by Congress found that up to 9 percent (4.5 million students) out of the country’s 50 million students at one time or another suffer sexual misconduct at the hands of a school employee. That’s a lot of students.

And what have the schools done about these? They’ve swept the problem under the rug. Other have “passed the trash,” meaning, they quietly ask the teacher to leave and transfer to another school, which leaves the wrongdoer free to prey on children in other schools. The sad reality is these wrongdoers rarely repent; they are likely to strike again.

And what has Congress done about that report? We still have to see. Our lawmakers are squeamish about legislating state punishments or a cohesive national policy.

It seems the time has come to have mental health experts, sociologists, government officials, and security experts devise and implement plans to address these issues. As we have so painfully witnessed, the present ways just do not work! And we cannot, for our children’s sake, let things remain that way.

• In most sexual misconduct cases, when a student brings up a case against a teacher or school official, the authorities are more likely to believe the authority figure rather than the child. When defendants portray the students who accuse them as seducers or false accusers, school authorities often believe – or want to believe – them.

This mindset has got to stop. Any experienced investigator will say it happens very rarely that a teacher is being pursued by a student. Instead, it happens all too often that teachers are doing the pursuing. Officials should remember it is never easy for a student to speak up about what is happening, so if someone does, the officials should give the complainant a fair hearing. This is a challenge to school officials everywhere.

• School officials should follow the law: many states require that even an allegation of sexual misconduct should be reported to the state office overseeing teacher licenses. Many school officials do not make this report.

• School and state officials should use the resources of the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification. This organization maintains a list of educators who have been punished for various reasons. It will share names only with state agencies.

• State officials should require thorough background checks on teachers and enforce mandatory reporting of abuse.

Rogue teachers will continue their predatory ways unless we do something about them. Let us help each other do so.

Please, I invite and encourage your comments on this issue. I want to hear from you. We are built around one mission, to inform you, listen to you and encourage your awareness of critical safety issues.

Since life has no reset button…tune into this blog and to our website daily. Safe living, Yovette Mumford

 Tell a friend