Transcript The Prevention of Sexual Misconduct and Abuse in Bedford

Why is this training needed?
Virginia Department of Education requires all school
division to provide sexual misconduct awareness
training
Sexual misconduct / abuse is at an all time high in the
United States
To educate our employees on the signs associated
with sexual misconduct
What is Sexual Misconduct?
 When an ADULT engages in activities of a sexual
act or sexual nature with a child with the intent of
seeking sexual satisfaction or sexual gratification.
Sexual Misconduct and Abuse can also
exist when:
 Two minors engage in sexual acts where one minor
exerts power over the other through:
 Coercion
 Force
 Persuasion
Examples of Sexual Misconduct:
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Sexual Intercourse
Exposing a Child to Pornography
Fondling a Child
Exhibitionism
Voyeurism
Solicitation for sex
Communicating with a CHILD about Sexual Topics in
person or through some other communication
medium, i.e .; written letter, texting, face booking,
email, etc.
What statistics show us about how
prevalent this problem is:
 1 in 4 girls are sexually abused before the age of
18.
 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before the age of
18.
Sex Abuse is a crime!
Possible outcomes:
 Criminal prosecution with possible jail or prison
 Felony conviction
 Register as a sex offender
 Educators lose their teaching license
 There is no statute of limitation for sex crimes
You have chosen education as your
career:
 You interact daily with children
 You have to build a proper relationship
 What you do and say may affect them for a
lifetime
 Never make a decision that will take your job
from you, AND their life from them
How does Sexual misconduct and abuse
get started?
 Due to the nature of your jobs, children / students
naturally trust you
 When access to children goes beyond a typical
“teacher” interaction
 It could be an overt act or start out as something
innocent
Once you have started down the path:
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We see something called “grooming”
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As an educator you naturally have access, trust, and
respect from the child as well as the parent
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Grooming attempts to gain greater access, control
and greater trust in order to abuse a child
How is “grooming” done?
 Spends time with the child often filling a need or a
void involving acceptance or approval
 Offers to HELP a child-may tutor them.
 Give gifts to the child
 Begins multiple communication avenues with the
child
 May actually be helpful to the child’s parents (i.e.
single mom/dad, etc.)
“Grooming” (cont’d)
 “Innocent” touching the child in non-sexual ways
(hug, pats on the head or back, excessive touching)
 Gets the child use to being touched
 Slowly the offender begins to cross boundaries
gaining greater trust of the child
 The offender’s actions confuses the child about what
is appropriate and inappropriate touching
The Challenge in Public Schools!
We are being proactive in “protecting” our kids through
continued discussions and awareness but:
 We continue to see cases in our schools. Why?
 Make sure everyone knows what the boundaries are.
If you see something - report it / speak up
 Avoid one on one child situations
 Avoid situations which could be PERCEIVED as
improper and or inappropriate.
What support and protection do we have
as educators?
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School Board Members.
Your Superintendents.
Your Administrators.
Other Teacher support.
Other School Employees.
School Volunteers.
Parents through proper communication.
State Agencies for further and continued awareness.
Law Enforcement
Be aware of inappropriate behaviors!!!
 If it looks too friendly – it probably is…
 If it looks too “chatty” – it probably is…
 If it looks too “touchy” – it probably is…
 If it looks bad – it probably is…
 YOU HAVE TO “POLICE” YOURSELVES AND OTHERS!
Or you will be POLICED!!!
Personal contact with students must
always be transparent
 There is a thin line of being “too” friendly
 No excessive touching – touching should be kept in
the context of the activities
 Discussions / conversations should be about school
 Always advise students to speak with their parents
or guidance counselors about personal matters
You should be consistent in your role as
an educator, mentor, and caregiver
 You are an Instructor and encourager
 Coach
 Sponsor of appropriate limited extracurricular
activities
 Always maintain a transparent, respectful learning
environment
Examples of inappropriate contact with
students?
 Conducting private conversations with individual
students that are unrelated to school activities.
 Inviting student(s) for home visits, or other
locations.
 Visiting the homes of students without the
knowledge of the parents.
 Spending time with students outside of school
activities and not related to school functions.
Inappropriate contacts (cont’d)
 Transporting students in personal vehicles without
the knowledge of parents or supervisors, showing
favoritism to certain students.
 Physical contact that could be reasonably
interpreted as constituting sexual harassment (i.e.
holding hands, arm around waist, shoulder, sitting on
your lap).
 Unnecessarily being in a student’s personal issues or
invading their personal space.
Inappropriate contacts (cont’d)
 Seeking out personal attention and friendships
beyond the boundaries of an appropriate educatorstudent relationship.
 Any conversations of a sexual nature, even when
asking questions related to a boyfriend/girlfriend
 Being flirtatious or romantic with a student
Providing gifts, cards, notes, etc.
Don’t get caught in the 4G Social nightmare
which provides multiple means to
inappropriate behavior:
 Your students have grown up with the digital age.
 This is their number one way of communicating.
 Typical students send over 2800 texts a month.
 Using social networks with students opens a gateway
to destruction, for you and them.
Personal Guidelines for social
networking communications:
 Providing personal information and “friending” can
be perceived as inappropriate.
 Don’t text students, this will lead to disasters. How
would you feel if your child was texting with an
adult.
 “FACEBOOK” could be a career ending contact.
Guidelines (cont’d)
 Treat all social exchanges as transparent
communications, because they will be.
 Don’t communicate with students outside of normal
school hours – unless absolutely necessary (i.e. sport
delays, changes)
 Treat all communications with students as though
other adults were present.
Factors to be considered when talking
digital:
 Subject matter should be school related
 Authoritative and direct and not chatty
 Timing (i.e. late night “conversations”)
 Frequency or not so frequent.
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Factors (cont’d)
 Attempt to conceal the communication from others
(i.e. telling student not to tell anyone).
 If the communication is reasonably interpreted as
soliciting sexual contact or a romantic relationship,
you have passed the point of what’s appropriate.
Once something is posted, you are one click from
disaster.
 Transparency is always a must
Responsibility to Report
 School Board employees have an obligation to report
violations or anything that does not seem right
 If its suspect, or raises a concern - Report it
 Document and do not let even a one time event pass,
failure to do so could put you at risk
 If you have kids, think how you would want someone
to respond and act
Be Diligent and Prepared:
 Be alert and never let your guard down.
 Pay attention and speak up when you see something
that seems out of place.
 Know and set your own personal boundaries and
constantly look at situations at how they could be
perceived.