Dive Brief:
- At least 200 students from 67 private schools in New England have accused teachers, administrators or school staff of sexual abuse or harassment in the last 25 years, the Boston Globe reports.
- Some 90 lawsuits or legal claims related to such abuses been filed, and at least 37 school staff have been fired or forced to resign because of the allegations from hundreds of student victims.
- The Globe also revealed 11 cases where private school employees accused of abuses were able to continue working with students by changing schools.
Dive Insight:
The problem of sexual harassment in schools isn't limited to private schools. And despite the majority of attention going to cases in higher ed, sexual harassment in K-12 schools is a pervasive problem.
Some studies say as many as 4 out of 5 American children and teens are sexually harassed at school. A 2011 study by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) found 48% of middle and high school students between the ages of 12 and 18 reported being sexually harassed at least once, usually by peers, during the 2010-2011 academic year. 56% of of girls reported being sexually harassed as opposed to 40% of boys.
A year-long USA TODAY investigation showed some teachers are able to continue in classrooms even after being fired or having their credentials suspended or revoked due to a faulty inter-state tracking system. The exposé found that “fundamental defects” exist in teacher screening systems in over 13,000 school districts around the country, allowing teachers to keep working in new states.
