A recent rise of stories in the news about teachers sexually abusing students has many wondering why the Utah State Office of Education is lining up defense attorneys to protect bad-acting teachers rather than children.
Recently, Brianne L. Altice, 34, a teacher at Davis High School, was arrested on suspicion of having sex with one of her students, a boy who was, at the time of the alleged sex, only 15 years old.
It’s just the latest accusation of sexual abuse by a teacher on a student. This year alone, a quick search of Utah news shows at least four other incidents of sexual abuse by a teacher (in Riverton, Kaysville, Ogden, and Provo).
If these were all the instances of sexual abuse by teachers, we might have reason to be concerned. However, studies indicate that only a very small of students who have been sexually abused by teachers come forward. According to Charol Shakeshaft of the Department of Foundations, Leadership and Policy Studies at Hofstra University,
Only about 6% of students report sexual abuse by a teacher or other staff member to someone who can do something about it. The other 94% don’t tell anyone, or, if they tell, they talk to a friend about it, and then swear the friend to secrecy.
In other words, for every case of a teacher’s sexual abuse of a student, there are at least fifteen others where a victims who remain silent. An Associated Press review found that between 2001 and 2005, 2,500 teachers were punished for sexual misconduct. In an interview in 2007 Shakeshaft concluded from her report to Congress commissioned by No Child Left Behind and 15 years of studying this issue, Shakeshaft that 3.5 million of then current US students had likely been victims of educator sexual abuse.
That’s a problem that dwarfs the sexual abuse scandals of the Catholic Church, and yet, thousands of articles ran during the high point of the priest sex abuse scandals.
So, naturally, it’s a surprise to hear that there are many in the Utah Office of Education who are opposed to reforming teacher license standards to prevent felons and sexual predators from getting a job in Utah schools.
I know. When I first heard that there aren’t sufficient laws, rules, or license standards that would prevent criminals, predators, or pedophiles from being in the classroom, I did a double take.
Here are two examples. Other than a few specific prohibitions in statute, there is no codified standard about if, when, and how an educator who has been convicted of any felony can have an educator’s license. Despite being a Utah class A misdemeanor (just less than a felony), there is no rule for what should happen when a teacher is caught looking at porn while on the job
It’s ridiculous. And our systems should do a better job of protecting children. When asked, Jennifer Johnson, Utah Board of Education member said that:
From what I have seen in the cases brought to the State Board of Education in closed session, it is my personal opinion that we are not doing enough to prevent and discipline educator sexual misconduct.
A less noticed issue than President Obama’s healthcare fibs, but one that may be more important to children and parents of children in the Utah educational system: why is the Utah Office of Education lining up defense lawyers and bureaucrats to protect teachers over children?
Utah State Board of Education member Leslie B. Castle, arguing for reforming Utah’s teacher license standards, believes that lower standards puts teachers above students and denigrates good teachers:
The education community must not value a teacher’s right to a license at the expense of a child’s right to be free of violence, free of sexual exploitation and free of emotional harm in the classroom. Dedicated, honorable teachers should not have to share their profession with criminals and predators, and parents deserve to trust that their children will be safe at school.
About Daniel Burton
RSS - Posts
Before trying to push this, you need to ask a few more questions.
Does this happen more often than it used to, or is it merely reported more often now? Talk to your parents and they’ll probably tell you that student-teacher relationships aren’t new. Your grandparents may confirm it too. Despite sharply declining violent crime since the early 90s, lead stories on the evening news make us feel like there’s thugs everywhere. We need to be sure this isn’t the case with student-teacher relationships lest we overreact.
How many of the students are willing participants? It doesn’t change either the inappropriateness of an authority figure engaging in a relationship nor the illegality of breaking the age of consent, but it absolutely does color the nature of the charges. There’s a difference between a “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” situation and a “Lolita” one. I’d still slap my kid upside the head for being so stupid because wouldn’t automatically assume that they’ve been truly victimized, not just under the current definition in the law. I’m not about to let them dodge their culpability in the situation. Society at large shouldn’t keep telling that that a stupid decision makes them a victim. It’s not psychologically healthy for a kid that’s probably already feeling a pretty goodly amount of guilt.
I don’t think a hard-and-fast standard to bar felons and sex offenders is a good rule. Public urination can force you to be a registered sex offender. You could be a felon for having a lobster of the wrong size. Would either of these offenders be dangerous to students? Probably not. And how many of the accused and/or convicted teachers have a criminal history? I’m guessing most of them are first-time offenders. It’s a feel-good standard that probably does more harm than good.
I think maybe your urge to do something is leading you to make some hasty decisions.
Jesse, thanks for chiming. A couple of responses:
1. I don’t think it matters a bit if children are willing participants. Realize that the statistics I am referring to stretch all the way to kindergarten. At that young age, I don’t think it weighs in at all. Even if we were to ignore older students and just look at younger students, it’s totally inappropriate for teachers who see children as sexual objects to be in the classroom.
2. As for high school students, it has already been determined that teachers have a relationship of authority with students and the use of that authority sexually has already been determined in this and other contexts (I mentioned the Catholic priest scandal) to be morally repugnant. Even at the collegiate level there are restrictions against it. I know of at least one teacher at the graduate level who lost his job due to such a relationship, and another university I know doesn’t even allow TAs to have relationships with students. (And this doesn’t even mention that sex with under individuals 18 is statutory rape in some states).
3. I don’t see this as an overreaction. If anything, it’s an underreaction. Preventing teachers who act on their sexual inclinations with or against students affects a child for a lifetime. As the meme goes, “one cannot unsee what has been seen.” Parents may be bad parents, but teachers can still be good teachers. And bad teachers have no place in the school system.
4. Felonies for a lobster the wrong size? You got me there. You’re going to have to show me more. That seems like a bad law in the first place–get that law fixed or get the conviction of that felony (seriously? A felony?) overturned on appeal, but higher restrictions on teachers are a no brainer. And public urination? I think circumstances do matter, but if a teacher isn’t expressing the common sense to get out public before…well, common sense.
5. Last, in reading the whole post, I think you’ll note that this is not based on just a few articles in the news paper. Two Board of Education members have indicated that the problem is far more widespread than the public hears about, most of which is hidden from public view in, as Johnson calls them, “closed session” meetings. Further, my understanding is that when disciplinary situations arise, the disciplinary party is also the party assigned to protect the accused malefactor–in essence, a conflict of interest that amounts to the fox guarding the hen house.
1) For older children, it does matter. There’s a difference between making a crappy decision and a compelled decision. Blame is not a binary assignment; it can sometimes be shared. I’m not arguing that this makes it more appropriate. I am arguing that telling kids who make a bad decision that they are victims shields them from considering changing themselves to no longer make those bad decisions. That’s bad.
2) Not sure what you’re arguing here exactly. I don’t see a counterpoint to anything I argued.
3) I’m leery of anything resembling a panic. It leads to emotionally-charged decisions and feel-good measures that do, well, not much.
4) I purposefully picked one of the more ridiculous felonies. There’s thousands more. It would take decades to undo that kind of ridiculousness, and it’s why we can’t automatically assume that felon is a synonym for dangerous. We also can’t expect people to be completely perfect individuals. If someone got drunk in public at 22 in a stupid mistake, why should that condemn them for life? I can’t support a legal system this vindictive.
5) The question is if it happens more today or if we’re just more aware of it. Until that question gets an answer, we’re making assumptions about increased frequency based on visibility. I can’t get on board with making decisions in the absence of data. Questions about how these situations are handled are a different thing entirely.
Jesse, I’m only going to respond to #5. I think you make decent arguments on the rest, and if I disagree, there’s no reason to belabor it. .You’re ok with teens having sex with their teachers, classifying it as just inappropriate, and I see it as abuse, not just a bad decision. Rational minds can disagree
On your point #5, I don’t think there’s any argument in what I say that indicates that it is happening more today than in previous years. If anything, it’s only our awareness that is increased. Further, I think that I’m using citations that are, several years old (where “several” means at least six) indicates that it was bad six years ago and even if it’s better, it’s still far too much to be complacent.
Are there more stories in the news lately? It may be just because it’s salacious, and salaciousness sells papers. It doesn’t mean that there are more or fewer instances of teachers abusing children. However, it does indicate that we need to heighten our awareness that it does happen and work to educate–and restrict–teachers from participating in such behavior.
Whoa now. I didn’t say that at all. I’m not okay with it. I’m in favor of firing the teachers and subjecting them to the full force of the law. I am saying the the teacher’s culpability in the situation doesn’t erase any culpability that the student may have. I’m also saying that if we keep on telling the student they are a victim, they may not see their own poor choices that lead to the situation. As I said before, blame is rarely a binary thing.
I don’t even know that awareness has increased. My mom told me stories from her time in high school (in the 60s!) when it was well-known that teachers and students were having inappropriate relationships. Heck, some of them got married after graduation. Maybe we’re just not willing to look the other way any more. Maybe we’re less willing to hold kids accountable for their part in the play. At any rate, I don’t think the rate at which it happens has changed, but our reaction to it sure has.
My apologies if I read further into what you were saying. It wasn’t my intention.
Recognize that my post isn’t intended to address what culpability high school students should have. For one, students are not employees of the public school system, but the underage beneficiaries. As minors, their rights, protections, and responsibilities are different than adults. Whether those should be changed is not really I’m here to address.
Teachers, on the other hand, are different. They are adults, usually much older, and stand in a position of authority. They are the responsible party between the two, and they need to know that there are firm and hard consequences for their behavior. Loss of a license, or prohibition from getting one, is not too hard a punishment. Bringing allocation of blame into a situation where one party has a clear expectation of superior judgment is, for lack of a better comparison, like blaming a rape victim because of how she dressed. I agree that children need to be taught responsibility, to be safe, and to talk to their parents, but we’re not just talking about older teens that have sex with their hot teachers a la Van Halen. We’re talking about children between the ages of 5 and 18 who are abused, touched, shown pornography, molested, and raped, as well as any other iteration of sexual deviancy. No matter how you cut the cake, the teacher is more responsible, not to mention a public employee.
I recognize that your main point is to high school students, but the policy affects a lot more than just them. And even among them stand vulnerable individuals who are regularly victimized by predators masquerading as teachers.