2010 Article: "Forgotten Study: Abuse in School 100 Times Worse than by Priests"
according to Charol Shakeshaft, the researcher of a little-remembered 2004 study prepared for the U.S. Department of Education, "the physical sexual abuse of students in schools is likely more than 100 times the abuse by priests."
Catholic commentator George Weigel referred to the Shakeshaft study, and observed that “The sexual and physical abuse of children and young people is a global plague” in which Catholic priests constitute only a small minority of perpetrators.
Weigel observes that the findings of Shakeshaft’s study do nothing to mitigate the harm caused by priestly abuse, or excuse the “clericalism” and “fideism” that led bishops to ignore the problem, [however] they do point to a gross imbalance in the level of scrutiny given to it
I looked a little further into the study.
The 2004 Study for the D.O.E.
The Department of Education contracted with Dr. Shakeshaft to review what is known about the prevalence of sexual abuse against students by school employees. This was due to a provision in the No Child Left Behind Act:
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 -- Public Law 117-110
SEC. 5414. STUDIES OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE.
(3) SEXUAL ABUSE IN SCHOOLS- A study regarding the prevalence of sexual abuse in schools, including recommendations and legislative remedies for addressing the problem of sexual abuse in schools.
Results
Table 5: Percent of U.S. Students Who Have Experienced Educator Sexual Misconduct by Method
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9.6 percent of all students in grades 8-11 reported sexual misconduct physical or otherwise by teachers, coaches, or other school employees
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6.7 percent reported physical sexual abuse only
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8.7 percent of respondents reported "noncontact" sexual abuse only
The D.O.E. declined to follow up with a national study
[In 2004 Dr. Shakeshaft received] a letter stating that the Education Department "has not made plans to conduct further work on a national study on sexual abuse in schools"
The D.O.E. declares verbal, visual and auditory child sexual abuse is not abuse, making the study too damned thorough
Rebuttal by D.O.E.: Screen capture
the author’s findings are in part broader than the congressional mandate and therefore could be perceived by some as insufficiently focused
the author focuses in large measure on a broad set of inappropriate behaviors designated as “sexual misconduct,” rather than [only] “sexual abuse”
I speculate the quibbling over the term "abuse" hides the fact that the Swamp did not care whether children were sexually 'abused' nor 'maltreated' in a sexual way, such as by being propositioned by a member of those in the community considered "trusted," or placed in pornography, etc.
In my opinion including "sexual misconduct" in the study clarifies how bad the problem is. Dr. Shakeshaft presented the results so clearly a 10-year old could understand them: approximately 7% physically sexually assaulted only, 9% hands-free abuse only, 10% one or the other or both.
Another article after the report came out:
"Has Media Ignored Sex Abuse in School?" (2006)
Any institution that has allowed children to be harmed by predators deserves to be taken to task for it. No institution should get a pass. And no profession should get a pass. Not preachers, not priests — not even teachers.
the first thing that came to [Dr. Shakeshaft's] mind...were the daily headlines about the Catholic Church.
did media outlets start hounding the worse menace of the school systems, with headlines about a "Nationwide Teacher Molestation Cover-up" and by asking "Are Ed Schools Producing Pedophiles?"
That treatment was reserved for the Catholic Church, while the greater problem in the schools was ignored altogether.
In 2014 the government ordered this useless report on "how states, school districts, and the federal government address child sexual abuse by public K-12 school personnel."
- Report: "CHILD WELFARE: Federal Agencies Can Better Support State Efforts to Prevent and Respond to Sexual Abuse by School Personnel" Link: PDF Warning
The Conclusion is a big box of nothing, and concludes with CYA (cover your ass, a.k.a. don't lose federal funds, and under no circumstances open the school up to a lawsuit for "discrimination") :
Finally, limited understanding of how Title IX requirements apply to allegations of suspected sexual abuse or misconduct by school personnel against K-12 students may hinder state and local efforts to properly address such cases, prevent such behaviors and actions in the future, and ultimately protect children from harm. [What??]
For those who don't know, Title IX is a civil rights law to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded schools including activities. Text of the law here: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7455551
Here is the D.O.E.'s Office of Civil Rights' "Guidance" to Title IX: PDF Warning
Basically, the "Guidance" is that schools are required to conduct a Title IX discrimination investigation after a CSA allegation to both downplay CSA as "harrassment" and to be able to show a piece of paper indicating they took steps to "provide a safe and nondiscriminatory environment for all students, free from sexual harassment and sexual violence." Just to add, many in education are wonderful people and not pedophiles, of course.
The D.O.E. liked the report --- especially it seems Title IX is important to them. The conclusion of the report and the D.O.E.'s response seem a little well synchronized, maybe?
I wonder why Title IX documentation for continued funding is more pressing than a school personnel CSA prevalence study, or national and international background checks every six months for school system employees?
I welcome criticism from people more familiar with this issue, please try to keep it positive though! It seems this has long been a rampant problem, completely hidden in its scope, from the public. Does anyone have any ideas on how to attempt to fix this?
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BigDaddy69 ago
Basically, there are two main problems with the US education system: To have a functional educational system you need male teachers, but men aren't stupid enough to work a high stress, high skill job for shitty compensation, and men are also significantly more likely to be pedophiles than women.
For the amount of work they do and the qualifications needed, teachers get paid like shit, and the profession ends up attracting stupid people who don't understand the value of their work and pedophiles who see access to children as compensation.
If you want to get pedophiles out of the education system, make them compete with actual professionals who expect compensation in the form of money, and not in the form of access and authority over children.
DonKeyhote ago
Paid like shit huh? The most powerful union in america? Stalwart Democratic voting bloc? Yeah theyre victims. Qualifications needed: bachelor's degree. big fucking shit.
10% is RIDICULOUS just like 1/5 girls getting raped in college.
Theres no such thing as discrimination against girls. Nobody wants to see them suck at sports but now budgets are split to let them. Title IX is one of the dumbest laws ever.
The solution is private schools that will fail if they don't perform OBVIOUSLY, the dept of education is a recent invention