I am sickened.
I am heartbroken.
I am outraged.
I feel helpless.
Has it been so long ago since we were children that we are unable to see how precious they are?
Are we so self-consumed that we just don't care?
Is caring really going to take away that much from our precious "Me" time?
Is tending to our Facebook farms really more important than tending to the well-being of our children?
Is reconnecting with friends from our childhood worth sacrificing the childhoods of our children?
Do we just not know?
If you don't know, please allow me to help make you aware...
Our children are being preyed upon by the very people you trust to care for them - teachers, coaches, and other school employees.
27, 000 hours - 3240 school days - the equivalent of over three full years 24/7 - children are at school from 1st - 12th grade. That doesn't account for before or after school practices for extra-curriculars, Saturday games and tournaments.
3240 SCHOOL DAYS!!!
And during that time, 4.5 million students are sexually assaulted by a school employee!
4.5 million
4, 500, 000 children
4, 500, 000 children in the United States
4, 500, 000 children in the United States under our watch!
Now let me guess, you are bothered by these statistics but it is different where you live, right? I mean, the teachers at your child's school are really good. In fact, your child's teacher has won several awards. Besides, you aren't worried. You know her teacher - he's a nice man who is married and has his own kids.
Did you know that...
- almost all educator-student predators are heterosexual?
- most are married or living in a heterosexual relationship?
- educators who prey on elementary through middle school children are often considered exceptional teachers, earning a disproportionate number of awards compared to their non-predator counterparts?
I'll bet you did not know that.
Wait, I know what you are going to say.
"That is awful! But once these teachers are discovered, there teaching careers must be over, right? If something like that was going on at my school, I would know."
A study of 225 cases of educator sexual abuse in New York showed that:
100% of the accused admitted to physical sexual abuse of a student
0 were reported to authorities
2 lost their teaching license
34 were terminated
45 only received a formal reprimand or suspension
56 teachers admitted to physically sexually abusing a student and received no consequence
88 chose to leave the district - most with good recommendations and their retirement packages intact
Superintendents reported that 14 of these teachers who admitted to physically sexually abusing a student were teaching in a different school district!
Applying those statistics to the general population would mean that the educators responsible for sexually abusing 280, 080 of our children are known to be teaching in a different area!
Pack 4 NFL football stadiums full of school children who have been physically sexually abused by a teacher and tell them all that their predator teacher is still being paid to teach children!
Marinade on that for a moment.
"Yeah, but that's New York - it's a whole different world there. But where I live..."
In a report from Washington state, of 159 coaches fired for sexual abuse of a student, 98 of them were re-employed as a youth coach. That's over 60%!
Are you outraged yet?
I live in a rather rural area of Washington state. Statistically, just within my local school district, 500 students will be sexually abused by a school employee.
500 children in our small town community!
I look at my list of Facebook friends and realize that it is likely that the child of approximately 80 of them will be sexually abused at school by a school employee.
It is highly likely that your child won't be his predators first victim, and that even if you report it that teacher will not receive any negative consequence.
Marinade on that! When your child leaves for school tomorrow, remember that.
