TCP Episode 127 -- Preventing Educator Abuse of Children with Dr. Charol Shakeshaft

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Show notes

Dr. Charol Shakeshaft is a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who studies the prevalence of educator sex abuse towards students and tools for prevention.

Discussion Topics

• How much abuse of kids is happening and has it gotten better?
• Why has there been so much scandal around the catholic church and so little around
• The power of grooming students, colleagues, parents, etc.
• Uninterrupted and unobserved time with students.
• Much still occurs in the school fact to face.
• We don’t know how much this is happening, nor do we know whether it is increasing or decreasing.
• UAWW data surprisingly showed that students had been touched inappropriately by adults, when the study was looking for peer interactions.
• 10% of kids report being sexually abused by a teacher or administrator
• People don’t want to fund research in this area.
• Predominant genders involved
• Districts are very closed when these things happen and don’t allow much to be said.
• Organizational decisions that get made about what is reported or disclosed.
• Structural issue rather than an individual issue.
• Challenges of a school system: not judging a colleague, closed rooms, nobody
• Did you see the signs? Why didn’t you say anything?
• The culture is such that they don’t feel safe saying something.
• SESAME Organization
• 133 superintendents – Too much passing the trash. We took care of the problem so “our” kids would be safe.
• By not saying anything, we are giving people permission to expand a prediliction
• Schools don’t just allow this to happen, schools help people find this in themselves.
• “It must be OK” if adults aren’t calling it out.
• Pay attention to how a student reports. Kids don’t say it straight up.
• Think of addictions, and what sets people up for doing that addiction.
• Start out being lonely and then it leads to another thing.
• Prevention – look at the organization – Policies (do they follow them?), Training (not just mandatory reporting), Hiring practices (not calling references), Response
• Grant from the Centers for Disease Control to study the effectiveness of Presidium training