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]

The Scouting policy is excellent.  It calls for always being "two deep" in adults when any kid is around.  That is to say, no adult is ever alone with a child.  There must always be two adults present.  This would not be difficult at a school, as teachers could just double up with their next door colleague before and after school or during lunch.  Besides, at many middle schools, appointments are required for children to come in for extra help before or after school because they require a hall pass to get to the classroom.

Also, at our child's camp, the parents, counselors and campers are explicitly told that it is not permitted for camp counselors to be in touch with campers outside of camp.  No contact by facebook, email, text or whatever unless the parents are explicitly asked for permission.  This should be true for all MCPS teachers.

Finally, your point about training is very important.  There have been many student on student sexual harassment issues at Eastern Middle School in the last several years.  These have not been taken seriously.  These incidents have not triggered any additional training on harassment or reporting for teachers or administration.  This is not the way sexual harassment/abuse should be treated.  Any reports should immediately trigger review of standard policies and additional teaching/training for all.  
 [/quote]

I don't think this is an accurate picture of Eastern.

First of all -- these incidents are 10 years old, so it's really pointless to compare them with Eastern now.

Second of all, I know what kind of harrassment you are talking about, as my kid is an 8th grader there, and it was taken very seriously by the administration.  I don't know why you think this wasn't done.
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