Jessica Chasmar has published what should be a blockbuster of a story. Whether it gets any traction remains to be seen but she is reporting that “[a]t least least 135 teachers and teachers’ aides have been arrested so far this year on child sex-related crimes in the U.S., ranging from child pornography to raping students.” She did what the Twitter account, Leave Public School has been doing since 2018, compiling published news reports about the arrests of teachers and teachers’ aides on child-sex related crimes in districts across the USA. As she notes, the problem is bad but might be worse than we know since arrests that “weren’t publicized were not counted in the analysis, meaning the true number may well be higher.”
Chasmar found that “at least 135 teachers and teachers’ aides have been arrested in 41 states between January 1 and May 13, which works out to about an arrest a day on average.” The story quotes Erika Sanzi, Director of Outreach for Parents Defending Education, as saying that “the issue of teacher sex crimes against students needs to be more thoroughly examined by the federal government. She cited the Department of Education’s 2004 report, which claimed that nearly 9.6% of students are targets of educator sexual misconduct sometime during their school career.” In statement Sanzi wrote,
Educator sexual abuse is a major problem that largely gets ignored because it’s so uncomfortable to talk about,” Sanzi said in a statement. “While a very small fraction of educators and school employees prey on the children in their care, one bad actor can do damage to many students.
The last serious study of this problem was conducted before smartphones existed. That technology has made it much easier for adults to contact and create a sexual relationship with students.
Chris Rufo says that the lack of attention to this issue is a “travesty.”
The HB has been covering this issue for a few years. See the resource page for more.
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Public schools masquerade themselves as having their children’s best interests at heart while hiding information about children from their parents. Is there any wonder that we’re in this situation? It is time for parents to start leading their children’s education and stop handing that job over to the state.
When I was in seminary (ages ago), we used to say that ministers and churches shouldn’t tell families how to educate their children. I’m not sure now that our churches shouldn’t encourage our families to avoid public school and offer to foot the bill for families to either homeschool/private school.