Case Studies

Some of the most recent cases of school sexual abuse include the following:


  • In 2002, a California high school teacher ran off to Las Vegas with one of her 15-year-old students;

  • The same year, a Louisiana teacher was accused of having an affair with a 14-year-old student;

  • In the Bronx, one teacher was charged with the statutory rape of a 16-year-old former student;

  • In March, a 20-year-old Anderson, Ind. choir aide was charged with allegedly raping a 16-year-old female student—the two had a consensual relationship for three months before the girl asked to break it off;

  • A week earlier, an Indianapolis Public Schools substitute was caught having sex with a 15-year-old student in a vacant classroom;

  • A Washington state teacher was convicted of 10 counts of sexually exploiting minors by persuading them to pose nude for him—he then uploaded some of the images to a Web site;
     
  • Also in Washington, state officials say 159 coaches of girls sports have been fired or reprimanded over the last decade for sexual misconduct;

  • An investigation found more than 60 instances in the last four years of Texas high school and middle school coaches losing jobs as a result of allegations of sexual misconduct.
    • BattleGround

    In 2005, 28 percent of students ages 12–18 reported having been bullied at school during the previous 6 months.

    Of these students, 53 percent said that the bullying had happened once or twice during that period, 25 percent had experienced bullying once or twice a month, 11 percent reported having been bullied once or twice a week, and 8 percent said they had been bullied almost daily.

         During the 2005–06 school year, 86 percent of public schools reported that at least one violent crime, theft, or other crime occurred at their school.

    In 2005, 8 percent of students in grades 9–12 reported being threatened or injured with a weapon in the previous 12 months, and 25 percent reported that drugs were made available to them on school property.

    U.S. Department of Education
    Institute of Education Sciences


    Bullying is a very real problem for your kids in school. It's one of the main reasons that we originally pulled our youngest daughter from public school. She was a minority in her class, and was the constant target of discriminatory namecalling. Both of our middle daughters were attacked by gang members, so that we wound up in mediation on several occasions. We live in the Heartland of America, middle Tennessee, where you wouldn't think such things could happen.

    Somehow, trying to work with school officials never solved anything.

    Other key findings

    Half of all teens—and 60 percent of high school teens—report that drugs are used, kept, or sold at their schools.

    Students at these schools are three times more likely to smoke, drink, or use illicit drugs than students whose schools are substance-free. Contrary to popular belief, relatively few students who experiment with a substance stop its use, at least through high school.

    Of those who tried cigarettes in school at some time, 86 percent are still smoking as seniors. Of those who have been drunk, 83 percent continue to get drunk as seniors.

    Of students who have tried marijuana even once, 76 percent are still using it in the twelfth grade.

    By completion of high school, 70 percent have smoked cigarettes, 81 percent have drunk alcohol, 47 percent have used marijuana, and 24 percent have tried another illegal drug.

     http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/prevalert/v5/5.aspx
    Underage Drinking
    • Three out of every four students (75%) have consumed alcohol (more than just a few sips) by the end of high school.
    2005 Monitoring the Future
    • In 2005, more males than females ages 12-20 reported current alcohol use (28.9% vs. 27.5%), binge drinking (21.3% vs. 16.1%), and heavy drinking (7.6% vs. 4.3%).


    2005 SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health
    • Young adults ages 18-22 enrolled full-time in college were more likely than their peers not enrolled full time to use alcohol in the past month, to binge drink, and to drink heavily.

    2005 SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health
    • About two fifths of students (41%) have consumed alcohol (more than just a few sips) by 8th grade.

    2005 Monitoring the Future
    • More than half (58%) of 12th graders report having been drunk at least once in their life. One fifth (20%) of 8th graders report having been drunk at least once in their life.

    2005 Monitoring the Future
    • In 2005, 85.6% of youths ages 12-17 reported that they strongly or somewhat disapprove of peers having one or two drinks of an alcoholic beverage nearly every day.

    2005 SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health


    http://www.sadd.org/stats.htm

    A Partial List of Recent Violence

    within a two week time frame

    January 5, 2006 : Four students and five adults were arrested after a major fight at a high school in Wichita. The incident apparently started with students but spread to parents and reached a total of 15 people engaged in the fight before security restored order.
    1/9/06:     Two JFK High in Patterson, NJ students were stabbed in an after school fight and fled back into the school. Both were transported to hospitals.
    1/10/06:     Students in Coral Springs, FL reported that a student brought a knife to school because there was a rumor about a fight. Shortly after school the rumor came true and the teen with the knife stabbed another teen. One student is in the hospital and the other in jail.
    1/10/06:     Two Sunrise, FL 7th grade students are in jail after a fight that involved a razor blade that left one of the students with 14 stitches. Students reported bullying was involved and that both boys had been fighting off and on for about a week before the bloody incident.
    1/11/06:     In separate incidents at different schools in St Louis, a 12 year old attacked a teacher who was left with a concussion and an 18 year old student attacked a teacher who has been left with stitches in his face. Both students face criminal charges.
    1/11/06:     Five students in LaGrange, NY were arrested for fighting. One of the students' father was also arrested for attacking a deputy and an SRO who trying to detain his daughter.
    1/12/06:     Three Chicago high school students were taken to the hospital for treatment of wounds suffered when another student fired a pellet gun into a crowd of students.
    1/12/06:     In the UK about 40 students participated in a massive fight with make shift weapons including sticks and bricks. The fight was eventually broken up by teachers and the Headmaster. Three boys were taken to hospital. Ages of the fighters ranged from 12 to 15 years.
    1/12/06:     A fight broke out at a St Paul high school basket ball game. It was broken up by staff but the fight continued outside and left a 17 year old student shot and in the hospital in critical condition.
    1/12/06:     A 14 year old student at Sylvan Hills Middle (Arkansas) assaulted a teacher, slamming her into the wall, desk and file cabinets. The student, whose record indicated violent outbursts, is in jail.
    1/12/06:     The mother of student at a Detroit high school is in jail after stabbing two other students at the school.

     1/13/06:     A 17 year old student is in a Detroit jail after firing a gun inside his Detroit high school. Police believe he was firing into the air to warn others.
    1/13/06:     A 15 year old student of     Milwee Middle School was shot by a Seminole County Sheriff's SWAT Team. The student was brandishing a 9mm look-a-like toy gun which he was representing as a real one. The student later die of his injuries

    1/17/06:     A fight started at a high school basket ball game in Calumet City but ended after the game with a 17 year old student severely beaten and stabbed and three other students under arrest.
    1/20/06:     A group of students on their way to Hillcrest high in Queens, NY were attacked by a gang wielding hockey sticks and possible other weapons. Two wounded students stumbled into the school where administrators called 911. Four students were taken to the hospital. Five member of the attacking gang were arrested. They are not students at Hillcrest.
    1/23/06:     At     Milwee Middle School ( see deadly shooting 1/13/06 above) a female student called in a very specific bomb threat. She was caught on the 7-11's video camera making the call to the school. She was later arrested.

    1/25/06:     At     Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, a 17 year-old former student enters school with a pellet gun and discard 8 rounds in a class with students. Bowmanville High School, Vincent Massey Public School and Central Public school of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board went into lockdown mode for about 20 minutes after a suspect, allegedly a former student at the high school, walked into a classroom at 9 a.m. and started firing. The suspect walked out of the school and discharged the weapon again in a nearby, empty field, according to police.
    February     10, 2006: Indianapolis, IN An IPS Police Officer confronted an intruder at a pep rally. After a brief struggle the teen got into a car and attempted to run down the officer who fired several shots into the car in self defense. A 17 year-old student surrendered to police a few hours later.

    2/13/06: Buffalo, NY Last week fights in two different schools resulted in seven suspensions--all were female. This represents a growing trend around the country. As of this date, Buffalo schools have suspended 577 girls for fighting, assault or physical contact. This is about 6 every school day.     See article " Violence among Girls on the Rise ".

    2/16/06: Albany, NY A fight broke out at Albany High School that sent one student to the ER for stitches. " They're gonna need to start kicking people out of school 'cause it's crazy. There's no control over anyone," said the student who was injured during the fight.

    2/16/06: Vernal, UT Police arrested a student who was planning a major assault against teachers and fellow students. Police found detailed threats in a chat room. The student admitted the plans were real. Police said the most disturbing thing is the number of other students who knew about the plot over a month but never came forward or talked to anyone else.

    See " Kids are the Keys '     This is just the first two weeks of the new year and only what was reported. Some will argue that not all of these are school related because the students were on their way to school or on their way home from school. The legal standard for "school activity" is threshold to threshold. However, the intent of this article is not to assess blame or responsibility but to bring awareness of the violence that students face everyday. Going to school should be privilege, where young people can learn a curriculum and socialization. It should not be a an experience of being forced to go into a fearful environment where more and more students are carrying weapons for self defense or dropping out to avoid injury.

    http://www.keystosaferschools.com/violence-snapshot-2006.htm
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