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WVC golfers fall short of PIAA goals at East Regional

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Bill Jones: Let’s work together to boost Wyoming Valley’s high school graduation rates

<p>The names and circumstances might change, but the stomach-churning accusations sound strikingly familiar.</p><p>An area teacher or coach gets charged for supposedly engaging in an inappropriate and ultimately sexual relationship with a student.</p><p>It happened &#8211; again &#8211; in Wilkes-Barre last week, as prosecutors filed multiple corruption of minors charges against 36-year-old Robert J. Havard Jr., who had been serving as a Coughlin High School soccer coach. Havard, an elementary school teacher in the district, allegedly attended a 2008 house party at which he urged a 16-year-old girl to perform oral sex on him. Prosecutors say the coach, a high school teacher at the time of the alleged incident, had been texting and flirting with the girl for months prior to the encounter.</p><p>Havard, of course, might be innocent. That&#8217;ll be determined in the justice system; his preliminary hearing is set for Thursday.</p><p>Similar cases, however, crop up too frequently in Luzerne County and elsewhere to be dismissed as random, rare occurrences.</p><p>Area residents would be justified in questioning whether a cruddy culture in particular school buildings, even districts, allows this bad behavior to go undetected. They should pressure workers in our schools to be vigilant in policing their ranks.</p><p>A 2004 survey of eighth- to 11th-graders indicated that almost 7 percent, or nearly 3.5 million students, had unwanted sexual attention from an adult while at school, including touching and forced kissing.</p><p>&#8220;While predators are the adults who abuse, adult bystanders also contribute to an unsafe environment,&#8221; wrote educational leadership professor Charol Shakeshaft in a <a href="http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/prevention/child_abuse/sexual_misconduct_warning_signs_shakeshaft.pdf" target="_blank">February 2013 article</a> in Kappan Magazine. &#8220;When I talk with teachers in schools where an abuser has been arrested, I hear admissions that they had suspected something but, because they were not completely sure, did not want to say anything.&#8221;</p><p>Teachers <em>must</em> speak up. Likewise, they have an obligation to take seriously students&#8217; chatter about possible educator sexual misconduct. &#8220;All rumors should be investigated,&#8221; states a brochure titled &#8220;Recognizing and Reporting Sexual Misconduct Under the Educator Discipline Act.&#8221;</p><p>The brochure, a publication of Pennsylvania&#8217;s Professional Standards and Practices Commission, encourages teachers and administrators to be on the lookout for the following potentially telltale behaviors of adults who engage in sexual misconduct.</p><p>&#8226; Spending more time with children than other adults.</p><p>&#8226; Fostering close personal relationships with students.</p><p>&#8226; Singling out students for special attention or privileges.</p><p>&#8226; Making off-color remarks in class.</p><p>&#8226; Engaging in peer-like behavior with students.</p><p>&#8226; Giving gifts to students.</p><p>&#8226; Oversharing personal information with students.</p><p>&#8226; Spending time alone with students.</p><p>&#8226; Exchanging personal notes, texts, emails or other communications with students.</p><p>&#8226; Engaging in flirtatious behavior with students.</p><p>If you have concerns about a school staffer&#8217;s behavior, report it.</p><style>
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Our Opinion: Teachers obligated to report peers if they suspect sexual misconduct, hear student ‘rumors’