Do I gotta say it ?
Posted on 11/01/2007 11:51:26 AM PDT by Sopater
An attorney who investigates cases of sexual abuse in schools says there's an epidemic of sexual crimes in America's public schools, but the problem is largely ignored.
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The findings of a seven-month investigation by Associated Press reporters reveal that from 2001 to 2005, the teaching credentials of more than 2,500 educators nationwide were revoked, denied, surrendered, or sanctioned following allegations of sexual misconduct. The investigation, chronicled by the news agency in a mid-October report, states that young people were the victims in at least 1,801 of the cases -- and more than 80 percent of those were students.
However, AP says that during its investigation, it found a "deeply entrenched resistance" toward recognizing and fighting that sexual abuse -- from teachers and school administrators who wish to avoid lawsuits, to the halls of state capitals and Congress where lawmakers are hesitant to disparage an otherwise honorable and vital profession. The result, says Associated Press, is that very few abusers get caught -- and often are allowed to exit a district quietly, only to show up in another school district. That dynamic, says the report, is so commonplace that it has its own nicknames -- "passing the trash" or the "mobile molester." (Read the AP report)
Mary Jo McGrath is a Santa Barbara, California-based attorney who investigates abuse and misconduct in schools, and conducts seminars to teach schools and parents how to recognize the signs that abuse may be taking place. McGrath says there are 17,500 school districts in the U.S. -- and she estimates that with the staggering number of sexual abuse cases being reported, it averages about one perpetrator per school.
According to the attorney, the problem is largely ignored because society as a whole does not want to confront something so repulsive.
"If you look at where the sexual abuse is most prevalent, it's in the home -- and we don't want to deal with that. It's just a topic that's so repulsive to us that we shut down," she says. "The same phenomenon takes place in schools. We cannot believe that the person with the friendly smile who we see in the supermarket and may even go to church with -- [we can't believe] that teacher is also an abuser."
McGrath says most abusers are not shadowy figures lurking in dark corners, but often are friendly, well-liked members of the community. AP's investigation bears that out, noting that the perpetrators it found included teachers, school psychologists, principals, and superintendents who are often popular, recognized for excellence, and (in almost 90 percent of the cases) male.
Part Two of this series will offer a closer look at the seminars this attorney teaches on the warning signs of abuse.
All Original Content Copyright 2006-2007 American Family News Network - All Rights Reserved
bump - What is the NEA doing about its membership? Instead of boycotting businesses and pushing sodomy, they should be figuring out a way to screen their pedophile members from having access to children.
I guess its ignored because they are too busy handing out birth control.
Do I gotta say it ?
So how do these numbers compare to the Catholic priest scandal? Anybody? We certainly had no problem going after them, why should school teachers be any different?
The Left went after the Catholic Church with a vengeance.
But the silence is deafening toward the abuses committed by their darlings, the teachers.
NEA, anyone home?
“I guess its ignored because they are too busy handing out birth control.”
exactly.
I hardly think it is wise for the kids to get birth control from the same institution that is sexually abusing them.
The Left loves public schools ... no way will they do anything to discredit them. So ... no housecleaning there.
Public Schools: Pedophile Paradise.
I wonder what their definition of “sexual abuse” is? I mean, with everything being to PC nowadays...a kindergartner gets suspended for smacking another kid on the butt...and they call that sexual abuse...
We need to be very clear about what is being meant by sexual abuse in this report. That could mean just about anything. Are they talking about actual sexual intercourse or something else?
“The Left went after the Catholic Church with a vengeance.
But the silence is deafening toward the abuses committed by their darlings, the teachers.
NEA, anyone home?”
As a catholic, I know the main frustration people had, besides the abuse itself, was the actions taken by bishops in response to the reports of abuse. Often - there was coverup, or shifting of the abuser from parish to parish.
While many of the schools don’t appear to have that exact same problem (coverup)- the sheer numbers of abusers that exist in the schools far outweighs the church scandal.
From the state that brought us the McMartin Pre-school fiasco in which “Hundreds of children were sexually abused.”
There are about 41,800 Catholic Priests in the US.
There are, what, about 24000 “secondary schools” (according to the English usage) in the US?
So the 24000 child abusers and statutory rapists in schools (as per the Article) would be more than half the number of Catholic Priests in the country. Just ... damn.
We really need percentages for proper comparison though, and I can’t find the figures I need.
I think it’s not just a reluctance to believe that there are some teachers who have sex with their students which causes schools and parents to be so unwilling to deal with it. I think that in our sexually permissive society there are a lot of people who just don’t see sexual activity between teachers and students as a problem.
I’d like to see schools that are all electronic and where the teacher is elsewhere. Let the students go to class and be taught by video conference with no physical contact with the teacher. The school itself would have no staff in the classroom — just techs on call if there is a problem with the equipment and some security guards if students become unruly.
You’d eliminate this sexual interaction worry along with the worry of potential violence against the teacher, and the teacher could live anywhere. Rather than having to pay a teacher a premium because they need to live in a ritzy area or to compensate them for working in violent neighborhoods, you could find teachers living in safe small towns that would work for less.
The video conference classes would be recorded so all interactions between teachers and students and students and students would be saved for performance and disciplinary reviews.
If it came from an attorney you must challenge the premise.
I have to agree with you. At least where I live, when teachers are accused of something sexual with a student, it’s usually the end of the career, sometimes even when the accusations are false. If anybody thinks all the abuse is covered up, how come we frequently see stories about teachers being arrested?
The Catholic Church, on the other hand, hid and even abetted abuse by priests for decades.
Should read:
“Attorney Discovers New Gold Mines For Exploitation in School Systems”
I now know of four teachers from my old highschool that were involved with students sexually. Three were ‘straight’, the fourth was gay.
At the time I was a senior, the entire student body knew of two female teachers engaging in sex with seniors. Ironically, one of them was the ‘Human Relations’ teacher...the code for ‘sex ed’ back then. The other was a phys ed teacher and cheerleading coach...nice bod, ugly face.
I learned of the other two years later at reunions, from multiple sources that were ‘involved’.
I graduated in 1977.
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