PREVENTING SCHOOL EMPLOYEE SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers from the School of Education and the School of Medicine, in partnership with CHILD USA, have been awarded funding by the CDC to study the prevention of school employee sexual misconduct.

 

Sexual misconduct by school employees is defined as any conduct directed toward a student which creates a
sexually hostile learning or school environment and includes sexual or romantic advances; sexual violence; sexual conduct that constitutes a crime; sexual touching; indecent exposure of a sexual nature; sexual remarks, comments, displayed materials, printed materials, electronic media, or jokes.

Information on Study

Who:

 

The research team is seeking school districts across the United States to participate in a Centers for Disease Control & Prevention funded study of effectiveness of a program of prevention of School Employee Sexual Misconduct.

What:

 

Participation in the program would include Praesidium online Safety Equation Self-paced training for all staff and administration in the district and surveys of staff, and school policy and practice information sharing.  Learn more with our fact sheet HERE.

Where:

 

Participation in the program would require online trainings and surveys.

When:

 

Training and data collection between September and June in the 2021-2022 & 2022-2023 school years.

Why:

 

This is a free training that could replace other abuse/misconduct prevention trainings in your district.  

The benefits to your school and student populations are outlined below:

  • Nearly 1 in 10 school children (5.5 million children) experience sexual misconduct by an educator at least once in their k12 school lives.
  • Civil suits by those who have been the target of school employee sexual misconduct cost schools, on average, $7,000,000.

 

Resources with more Information

Factsheet on Study

Here is a summary of the goal of the study and other relevant information on the necessity of the study.

Detailed Study Presentation

Here is a PowerPoint Presentation with detailed information on the study.

Sign-up to Learn More

Fill out the form below to learn more or email Dr. Charol Shakeshaft, PhD, Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University at cshakeshaft@vcu.edu

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Note: If you are interested in learning more, we will set up a conference call or Zoom with you.