Educator Sexual Misconduct: Why Coalitions Still Matter

From: General information and the Role of Coalitions in Fighting Educator Sexual Misconduct (Prevent Child Abuse America, E-Newsletter 10/20/2004)

Note: Although this article was published in 2005, its message remains just as urgent and relevant in 2026.

Editor’s note

Coalitions play a large role in prevention work in their states. These roles may include anything from designing prevention curriculum to analyzing trends in the field, to designing support for member programs to serve identified communities. When it comes to work with schools, coalitions and rape crisis centers focus on designing presentations on prevention of sexual assault through a program on stranger danger or safe touch or other worthy topics, and don’t always have access to examining critical internal issues within school systems broadly. In particular, coalitions have a role to play in preventing educator sexual misconduct. Coalitions have an opportunity to work with their State Department of Education or even the local Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to begin collaboration on this emerging issue. This article will take you down the road to understanding more about educator sexual misconduct and hopefully sow some seeds of interest in facilitating work in your state around this very important issue. Coalitions can be instrumental in raising awareness of programs and communities and utilizing the strength of the coalition to support local activities to address this identified issue of sexual violence. The policy issues in this particular arena are endless and coalitions are best able to work on these issues on behalf of their constituencies. Coalitions also have the resources to organize state wide conferences or seminars for interested people from all over their state and generally use the coalition network to add momentum to an emerging issue. We hope that this article challenges you to think about new ways to participate in anti-sexual assault efforts in school systems.

Question: What Jeopardizes a Student’s Emotional and Academic Future?

Answer: Educator sexual misconduct

Why educator sexual misconduct is considered “a dirty secret”

Sexual misconduct by educators has been an overlooked form of child sexual abuse for many decades. Almost everyone reading this article can recall a teacher who was “having sex” with one or more of your classmates, regardless of when or where we attended school. You may also recall it was something everybody seemed to know was wrong because it was talked about in hushed conversations. Seldom was the teacher fired or even reprimanded for his/her conduct. However, the student suffered humiliation, ridicule, defamation of character and blame, especially if the teacher was punished. Incredulously, not much has changed since we were in school.

Where is the outrage?

In comparison to the clergy sexual abuse scandal in recent years, sexual misconduct in our nation’s schools is far more prevalent. Since the 1950s there have been over 10,660 reported cases of sexual abuse by clergy (Education Week, Zehr 2004). In 1998 alone, the U.S. Department of Justice reported there were 103,600 reported cases of sexual misconduct in our nation’s schools and most of them involved a teacher (Binghampton Press & Sun Bulletin, 2002). The rate of educator sexual misconduct is ten times higher in one year’s time than in five decades of abuse by clergy. Another striking contrast is we are not mandated to send our children to church; we ARE mandated to send them to school. Only 17 states mandate reporting sexual misconduct to their own Department of Education (DOE) and not one State DOE is mandated to report to the U.S. DOE (Education Week, 2003). In a report for the U.S. DOE, Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature, Dr. Charol Shakeshaft, Professor of Foundations, Leadership and Policy Studies at Hofstra University, found that about 1 in 10 students, kindergarten to 12th grade have suffered some form of sexual misconduct by an educator. If there are approximately 52 million children in our nation’s schools today, approximately 5,200,000 children will be harmed by an educator this year.

How do they get away with it?

It is called “Passing the Trash.” Historically, parents have dutifully sent their precious children off to school entrusting their well-being to teachers. We inherently believe that those who choose to teach do so with the most honorable intentions. For most teachers this is true, but for a small percentage of predatory teachers it is for insidious access to our children. Additionally, a small percentage of insufficiently trained opportunistic educators will cross boundaries which hurls a student into the chasm of betrayed trust. The horror is that one bad teacher can have a detrimental impact on many students and continue predation of students over the course of many years. “The typical pedophile employed in our schools makes his or her way through three different school employment settings before being stopped”(Education World, 1999). For this reason, background checks are a false sense of security. When teachers are allowed to quietly resign and move on to another school, the hiring administrator will find nothing in the teacher’s criminal history. Only 3% of child sexual abusers have a criminal history (Safe Harbor Resources). Often times administrators will write letters of recommendation just to get rid of the teacher. Teachers unions have been known to negotiate separation agreements that allow teachers to remove unfavorable material from their own personnel file and place gag orders on administrators from giving a negative referral (Education World, 1999). We really don’t know with certainty that the teacher at the head of our child’s classroom is in the majority of upstanding teachers or in the minority of deceptive ones.

What is “The Mask of Deception?"

Teacher offenders are extremely adept at masking their sexual misconduct. They rely heavily on our trust in order to gain access to our children. They exemplify qualities of exceptional teachers in order to build community support, respect and adulation. Often times they are award winning coaches, teachers of the year, vanguards of academic success programs, and highly motivated dependable individuals. Adolescents, in their natural development, typically form close respectful relationships with their teachers. The opinion of a teacher can sometimes carry more weight with a student than the opinion of a student’s parents/caregivers. The recognition, encouragement, attention and approval given by a teacher are intoxicating for a student. These are all wonderful attributes that can have a positive effect on a student’s academic success and long-lasting attitude toward education. However, once the teacher has stepped out of his/her

pedagogical role and sexualized the teacher-student relationship the effects can be devastating.

What is the harm to students from this action?

To believe that the harm done to students is minor and that students are participating with full knowledge and consent is a myth. Students do not have the mental capacity to recognize when they are being lured by a trusted teacher. For the same reason children fall prey to complete strangers on the Internet, students fall prey to devious teachers. They are like the frog in the boiling pot, cooked without ever knowing they were on the fire. The impact can result in fear of the classroom, dropping out of school, withdrawal from close relationships with friends and family, inability to engage in normal adolescent behavior, inability to relate normally to peers/school staff, humiliation, guilt, shame, severe depression, decline in grades, sudden dislike of previously enjoyed extracurricular activities, sudden change in attitude toward a certain teacher, anxiety attacks, insomnia, poor attendance, drug/alcohol abuse, eating disorders, self mutilation, attempted suicide and completed suicide. For students offended by a teacher of the same sex, they fear the stigma of becoming a homosexual. Additionally, boys offended by a female may live their lives overcompensating for having been dominated by a woman by becoming sexually violent/physically violent with women. Furthermore, students’ academics suffer when they are mentally obstructed by fear, confusion and anxiety. Many of these effects can last a lifetime and can be fatal (Duncan, 1998; Timmerman, 2003).

Why it is not just sexual harassment?

Now that we know the prevalence and the harm of educator sexual misconduct, what steps must we take in our prevention and intervention capacity as coalitions against sexual violence? First, we must stop referring to sexual misconduct in schools as “sexual harassment.” By categorizing it as such, we are diminishing the severity of the offense and ignoring the fact that this is sexual abuse, molestation, and exploitation. The same grooming process is used in a premeditated and calculated method to gain trust and physical access to the child just as in any incest or non-stranger molestation case. The same luring methods are used as any child predator on the Internet; only the luring is taking place in the classroom. Grooming in these cases begins with subtle sexual harassment and escalates into sexual abuse and child rape.

Why we need to empower students, parents and staff with knowledge

Prevention education is the key to unlocking the tools students, parents and school staff need to protect themselves. Under Title IX, students have the right to an education free from harassment and discrimination and conducive to learning. The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) set forth specific guidelines for all schools receiving Title IX grant funding. The guidelines instruct that all students, parents and school staff are to receive instruction regarding harassment and discrimination, including definitions, prohibitions, policies and procedures on reporting and victim services. This information is to be disseminated verbally and in writing (AAUW Educational Foundation). Unfortunately, the implementation of these guidelines widely varies from state to state, district to district and even school to school within a district. For example when a rash of cases came to light in Southern California, a newspaper reported that five schools within the district were so widely varied with one school in complete compliance, while three others were partially in compliance, to the fifth being completely out of compliance with Title IX. This happens because no oversight is being done by the OCR of each state. No one is policing Title IX until a complaint to the OCR is submitted. By then it’s too late to spare student suffering. Complaints are handled case by case; compliance reviews are rare.

What can coalitions do?

As a coalition we can help by contacting our state’s Department of Education and ask for a review of their Title IX policies and procedures. Partnerships between DOE and our outreach programs to disseminate Title IX instruction per the guidelines can satisfy the mandate from OCR. As anyone in the education profession will attest to, bringing parents to the table is one of the most difficult impediments they face. So, we must deliver the information to them. Coalitions are reputable organizers and disseminators of valuable information. Awareness campaigns including posters, and information brochures with local, state and national contact information would go a long way to educating and a mass media campaign is a highly effective method of bringing awareness to our communities.

How can coalitions get more information or training?

Coalitions are known for their ability to train. Here at the Nevada Coalition Against Sexual Violence, we produced the nation’s first conference on Educator Sexual Abuse: An Ounce of Prevention = A Pound of Cure, which was funded through a grant by the Center for Disease Control, in March 2003. This conference was repeated and hosted by Dr. Shakeshaft last year at Hofstra University. It is SESAME’s (Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation) goal and NCASV’s hope to bring this conference to every state or region. Since it (SESAME) is an all volunteer organization, it does not have the resources to make this an annual event, yet. If every state coalition commits to hosting the educator sexual misconduct conference to train professionals, school personnel, SART team members, students and parents, this goal is not insurmountable.

What about policy changes? What role can coalitions play in that arena?

Improving legislation in our states can also help protect students. Currently there are only 27 states that have laws specifically prohibiting sexual misconduct by one in a position of trust. Unfortunately, these laws vary widely from state to state. Five states protect 18 year-olds and younger, twenty states protect 17 year-olds and younger, and two states protect 15 year-olds and younger. The national average for the age of consent is 16 (Education Week, 2003). We cannot assume students are protected based on current “Statutory Rape” laws. In most states statutory rape requires the element of penetration. Often times an adult who has a propensity to offend minors knows this fact. He/she will engage the minor in fondling, masturbation and other forms of sexual contact without engaging in intercourse until they are of age to consent. Then they have the “Consent Defense” and still can go unpunished. If all states do not have laws that prohibit “Sexual Conduct” and supersede the age of consent, the teacher/adult authority figure can go unpunished.

Additionally, laws vary widely in who is prohibited from engaging in sexual misconduct and where it is prohibited. For instance, Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 201.540 Sexual Conduct with Student and Pupil prohibits sexual conduct by public and private school employees and volunteers with students 14-17 years of age. NRS 201.550 prohibits sexual conduct with students 16-17 years of age by school employees and volunteers in public and private college and university. If the offense is against 14 and 15 year-olds it’s a class B felony (1-6 years in prison with possibility of parole). If the offense is against 16-17 year-olds it’s a class C felony (1-5 years in prison with possibility of parole) The 18 year-olds are left in the gap, even though they are still under the same authority and vulnerable to exploitation. In Maryland, if the sexual misconduct does not take place on school property, it is not a crime. In North Carolina, if the student and teacher are not attending/working at the same school, it is not a crime. I consider Ohio Revised Code 2907.03 “Sexual Battery”, to be one of the model laws. It protects 18 year-olds and younger, even though the age of consent is 16, plus it well defines all positions of trust, not just teachers. Little league volunteers, private instructors/coaches, clergy, youth leaders, scout leaders, anyone in loco parentis, detention facility employees, mental health professionals, are all defined and prohibited from engaging in sexual conduct with children. Knowing that child predators are able to infiltrate any organization or facility where children are present, paint with a broad brush in closing loopholes in law, considering every situation a child is vulnerable and every potential predator. Make the penalties severe additionally requiring sex offender registration to prevent child predators from obtaining access to children ever again.

Who has “a Duty to Protect”?

Children are the most precious gift we receive in our lives. We are charged with the greatest responsibility to raise them and protect them. It is the most honorable and rewarding job we will ever do. If we do not do our best to ensure their well-being, no one else will. I leave you with these final words: “Child abuse may happen behind closed doors -- but its victims walk among us every day. When community members' eyes are opened to the signs and symptoms of maltreatment, young victims' chances for a safer, healthier life increase tremendously. With awareness comes concern -- and with concern can come a collaborative effort that can prevent -- and end -- child abuse.”

Educator Sexual Misconduct References and Resources

·   Education Week Magazine, “A Trust Betrayed” by Caroline Hendrie and Staff, Dec. 1998 and Apr. 2003, “Report Tallies Alleges Sexual Abuse by Priests” by Mary Ann Zehr, March 2004

·   Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature, Prepared for the U.S. Department of Education Office of the Under Secretary Policy and Program Studies Service, by Charol Shakeshaft, Ph.D.

·   School Administrator Article, “Is the Teacher in the Classroom Next Door a Convicted Felon?” Education World, Glori Chaika, 1999

·   Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, Mar. 2003 Sexual harassment of adolescents perpetrated by teachers and by peers: an exploration of the dynamics of power, culture, and gender in secondary schools, By Greetje Timmerman

·   Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, Nov. 1998 Gender role socialization and male-on-male vs. female-on-male child sexual abuse, By Lauren E. Duncan

·   Harassment-Free Hallways: How to Stop Sexual Harassment in Schools, AAUW Educational Foundation, http://www.aauw.org/ef/harass/index.cfm

·   Sex Abuse of Students Common, Binghampton Press and Sun Bulletin, by Elizabeth Cohen, Feb. 10, 2002

·   Safe Harbor Resources, www.safeharborresources.org

·   The National Center for Victims of Crime-School Crime, 2001

·   More Women Guilty of Sex Offenses, Bergen County Record, by Peter Pochna, Dec. 2002

·   Sexual Exploitation in Schools: How To Spot It and Stop It, by Robert J. Shoop, Corwin Press, Nov. 2003

·   The Principal’s Quick-Reference Guide to School Law, by Dennis R. Dunklee and Robert J. Shoop, Corwin Press, 2001

·   Believing the best deterrent for heartache and victimization in the life of a child is the presence of a well informed parent, Priority II Presents Child Sex Abuse by School Employees (Alabama) www.priority2.org/alabama.htm

·   McGrath Systems, Inc. Founder-Mary Jo McGrath, Attorney at Law

·   Dear Teacher, If You Only Knew, by John Seryak, M.Ed., SESAME Board of Directors

·   Understanding Educator Sexual Abuse: An Ounce of Prevention = A Pound of Cure NCASV 2nd Annual Conference Materials, March 2003 Partially funded by the CDC under grant #R13/CCR921888-01, www.ncasv.org

·   Educator Sexual Abuse Statistics, compiled by Terri Miller, NCASV

·   Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation (NCSESAME.org)