And now ladies and gentlemen, your 2 mins. of fear: Sexual misconduct plagues US schools

[devilgrrl]

Sexual misconduct plagues US schools
By MARTHA IRVINE and ROBERT TANNER, AP National Writers 46 minutes ago

The young teacher hung his head, avoiding eye contact. Yes, he had touched a fifth-grader's breast during recess. "I guess it was just lust of the flesh," he told his boss.

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That got Gary C. Lindsey fired from his first teaching job in Oelwein, Iowa. But it didn't end his career. He taught for decades in Illinois and Iowa, fending off at least a half-dozen more abuse accusations.

When he finally surrendered his teaching license in 2004 — 40 years after that first little girl came forward — it wasn't a principal or a state agency that ended his career. It was one persistent victim and her parents.

Lindsey's case is just a small example of a widespread problem in American schools: sexual misconduct by the very teachers who are supposed to be nurturing the nation's children.

Students in America's schools are groped. They're raped. They're pursued, seduced and think they're in love.

An Associated Press investigation found more than 2,500 cases over five years in which educators were punished for actions from bizarre to sadistic.

There are 3 million public school teachers nationwide, most devoted to their work. Yet the number of abusive educators — nearly three for every school day — speaks to a much larger problem in a system that is stacked against victims.

Most of the abuse never gets reported. Those cases reported often end with no action. Cases investigated sometimes can't be proven, and many abusers have several victims.

And no one — not the schools, not the courts, not the state or federal governments — has found a surefire way to keep molesting teachers out of classrooms.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071021/ap_on_re_us/teacher_sex_abuse_8

[The Straight Story]

1. Well, since they are having sex anyway - despite the wishes of parents and govt, let's help em out

with condoms, birth control, and special rooms for teachers and kids.

:)

[LisaL]

6. Right. Birth control is sure going to come handy for those 11

years old.

[SteppingRazor]

2. When asked why he robbed banks, John Dillenger allegedly said...

"Because that's where the money is."

If you're a pedophile, you're going to try to land an occupation that puts you around kids. Thus, while tragic, it seems self-evident that the teaching profession would have a higher rate of pederasts than most ocupations.

[rucky]

4. I used to be a male teacher.

(I'm still male, btw). There is such a stigma among some parents and colleagues, and it's a shame that cases like this really screw it up for the men that go into teaching for the right reasons. At the same time, we complain about a shortage of male role models for the growing number of kids with absentee dads.

I'm not trying to shoot down your assertion. Just saying that the bad apples really are screwing up the entire teaching profession.

[SteppingRazor]

5. Oh, I wholeheartedly agree with you.

I'm certain this is, in relative terms, a small amount of the total number of teachers, and that most of them are decent folks. But, yeah, they're really screwing things up. Hell, look at priests. Most of them are nice guys too, but you can't convince most people of that these days.

[monktonman]

3. Seems like they have a catholic church like problem

Not to down on Catholics.
If the guy in the beginning of the article admitted to his boss
he had touched a girl in an inappropriate way, he should never had been allowed to teach
somewhere else.
Thats fucked up.