Heres How to Keep Your Interactions with Students Safe

 

Every year the Association represents colleagues of yours who have been accused by students or parents of inappropriate interactions. Most of the time these accusations are unfounded, and are usually the result of actions being misinterpreted by the student and/or unintended by the educator.

Some time ago the Seattle Times ran a series of articles about Coaches Who Prey. In the series, the Time accused the union of protecting teachers who were found to be guilty of sexual misconduct with students. This is simply not true. Your union does not condone the illegal and unprofessional behavior of members, and we do not protect those who have been found guilty so that they can get jobs in other school districts.

 

What we do, however, is ensure that members have the right to due process, that they are treated fairly, and that a thorough investigation is conducted. When an accusation is found to be false, we protect the privacy rights of those individuals by fighting attempts to make those false accusations public. The courts have ruled in our favorthere is no compelling public interest in disclosing the names of school employees who have been falsely accused of sexual misconduct with students. To do so could ruin the careers and lives of many fine educators who were completely innocent.

 

The other thing we do is educate our members on ways they can reduce the risk of an accusation of misconduct. While its never possible to completely eliminate the chance of being falsely accused, there are some things you can do to minimize the risk:

 

Touching Students

●           Touch only safe areas, such as shoulders, arms, upper back.

●           NEVER touch a student while disciplining or redirecting him/her.

●           Touch all students, male and female, in the same manner.

●           Keep the touch very brief, such as a pat on the back.

●           Students should be the ones to initiate a hug.

●           Keep any hugs very brief, and if possible, make it a side hug instead of a front hug.

●           Be sensitive to students who react negatively to being touched.

 

Verbal Communications

●           Be sure to talk to all students in the same manner.

●           Avoid comments that might be interpreted by others as being sexist or sexual in nature.

●           Avoid good-natured joking that could be misinterpreted by students.

●           Compliment students on school-related performance rather than on physical characteristics (such as their outfits or hairstyles).

 

Written Communications

●           Write with the idea that whatever you say should be able to be read by the students parents and your administrator.

●           If you correspond with kids at their home, write short notes on a postcard instead of writing a letter in a sealed envelope.

●           Keep email communications brief and related to school rather then personal issues. Print out copies and save for your records.

●           If you receive inappropriate notes/emails from students, inform your administrator immediately.

 

Extracurricular Activities

●           Avoid seeing students outside of school sponsored activities.

●           Make sure you have other adults with you.

●           Always get signed parental permission and permission from your administrator first.

●           Never transport a student alone in your vehicle unless it is an absolute emergency.

 

Interacting with Students

●           Try never to be alone with a student.

●           If this is unavoidable, make sure your door is open and you are visible to others walking by.

●           If you must meet with a student alone, arrange to meet in a visible location within the school.

●           Be aware of spending unequal amounts of time with individual students.

●           Treat all students in the same manner.

 

You can obtain more information on this topic by clicking here. You will be redirected to WEAs website. As always, if you are accused of acting inappropriately towards a student or have any questions or comments, contact the Cascade office immediately.

 

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