Reply to MCPS Teacher Charged with 14 Counts of Sex Abuse of a Minor

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I personally think we should not have teachers in a room alone with kids unless there is more than say 10 kids in the room.  If there is < 10 for a lunch bunch or something, then two teachers need to be in the room.   If you want a different number then 10, then that is fine.   [/quote]

HS teacher here.  Your recommendation is totally untenable.  How would we be able to work with students needing help during lunch and after school?  Wait till 10 need it?[/quote]

I said 10, you could make it less as I mentioned.  MAybe just never have an adult alone with a child. I am a scout leader and they won't ever let an adult be alone with a kid under 18 unless it is your kid.  This doesn't just protect the kid, it protects you because sometimes an accusation is all it takes to ruin your reputation.  I said a higher number like 10 because I was struck by the fact that this creep used lunch bunches to tickle and start breaking down barriers with the kid.

In my view, MCPS needs to have some policy about boundaries between teachers and kids.  That policy needs to be taught to all the kids, teachers, and parents regularly.   An ES child needs to know that it is not alright for a teacher to tickle or make them uncomfortable.  The kids, teachers and parents also need to know what to do if something happens.   I am torn a bit because my kid used to hug all the teachers back in early ES, so I hate to go into a draconian set of rules, but after what has happened in the catholic church and scouting organizations, I think you have to take this seriously.

Also, in my line of work, if someone even casually mentions some form of harassment or unethical behavior, I am trained to report it.  That report then has to be investigated.  My guess is that MCPS does not do any training on this topic.  I think any organization that works with kids needs to take child abuse seriously and have specific policies and training.  To me, it is incompetent not to have a detailed program on how to handle these cases.   I don't think MCPS has this, but I welcome information that I am wrong.[/quote]

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/sexualharassment/
Do you honestly think that in a system as large as MCPS, no policy exists?  [/quote]

Thanks. That looks like a vague and weak policy to me.  There is one sentence on protecting people who report abuse against retaliation and nothing about the ability of people to report anonymously.  I don't see any guidelines for what a principal or other employee should do if someone raises a concern to them or they hear of a concern anonymously.  You can infer that the principal should call the office of Diversity or Student Affairs, but it looks like the principal can decide whether the matter warrants more attention.  I personally would require all concerns be reported.  I would not give employees in the school a choice.  That is part of the problem with this case.   I think they need a sexual harrassment hotline and state that they take this seriously and will investigate and reach a resolution on all matters.  I also think the policy needs to mention the police as an option if a crime is suspected or witnessed.  Next, there is nothing about controls about how employees and students can interact.   Can the employee and an single student be in a room after school? Can an employee visit a student's house without the parents present or take a student to their house?  What about training and awareness.  Should teachers be trained every few years to re-enforce the rules and cover the grey areas.  What about training for parents and students.  Do ES kids know what is inappropriate and how to handle it?  Should parents be made more aware of the policy.  I agree that parents need to speak to their kids no matter what the school system does, but the school system should be proactive because these cases impact the school system as well.   Finally, I think MCPS should come to grips with their culture.  They don't like to expose warts so they keep unflattering issues away from the public.  They try to limit and control the policy debate with a "we know best" attitude.   I sense that they don't trust parents and just want to work on their own agenda without being bothered.  I have no doubt that as an organization they don't support child abuse, but at the same time, they need to be more open to the public and parents.  They need to stop worrying about how things look and start building a better relationship with parents and the community.  For me, the relationship is broken.[/quote]

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