Researcher: Sexual Misconduct of a Few Educators Affects Many Kids
by Jim Brown
July 15, 2004
(AgapePress) - The author of a U.S. Department of Education study on educator sexual misconduct is offering an explanation as to why the problem is so extensive.The report by Hofstra University professor Charol Shakeshaft found that nearly one in ten public school students have been sexually abused by school employees or teachers. Teachers' unions and others have condemned the report as misleading and hurtful to educators and have downplayed or denied the number of such incidents. Shakeshaft says that is unfortunate. (See Earlier Story)
"We just have been too trusting and haven't paid enough attention to the signs of misconduct of predators or of people with just bad judgment or opportunistic responses," the researcher says.
According to Shakeshaft, there is a lot of "boundary crossing" in schools, and many of the teachers or school staff involved in sexual misconduct are repeat offenders.
"I think that a few teachers do a lot of damage," she says, "so the fact that it's 9.6 percent of kids who've experienced some form of educator sexual misconduct doesn't mean that 9.6 percent of teachers are doing the misconduct. I think from what we know that a few teachers negatively affect a lot of kids."
Shakeshaft's report states that nearly seven percent of all students have experienced some kind of physical sexual contact from teachers. Nearly nine percent, it says, have been subjected to visual or verbal sexual abuse.
According to the Hofstra website, Shakeshaft serves as an expert witness and consultant in a number of legal proceedings on sexual harassment of students, and works with school districts to develop policies and practices that decrease sexual harassment within the educational community.
