WARNING !!!
We have always thought that if a school employee took our child off the school property without our permission, he would be fired and charged with kidnapping.
This is not true! There is no law or school rule stating that an employee can not take your child anywhere he wants, whenever he wants. The policy that no employee will take your children off the school property is "assumed" and not enforceable.
This happened to my Traumatic Brain Injury child. Don't let it happen to your child! Demand that the school put it into writing. With all of the rules and laws protecting children, it is unconscionable that a school employee can take your child anywhere he wants.
When your child can't stand it anymore, and finally tells you about these trips, she will be treated like a criminal in her school instead of a victim. The school will not only NOT take action against the teacher, they will flatly refuse to even keep the adult and student in separate rooms! No adult victim should ever be forced to face their abuser on a daily basis, why should a child be forced to?
We must sign our children out of the school for a dentist appointment. We must send written permission for a field trip. We must send written permission for another person, even family members, to remove our child from the school property. Shouldn't other people need your permission to take your child off the school property?
Do you know where your child is?
Please send this to all of your friends, schools and politicians. Something must be done!
Thank you
It is NOT illegal for a teacher to...
... take your child off the school grounds without your permission.
... as many times as he wants.
... when he wants.
... for whatever reason he wants.
... take your child across state lines to his home.
... watch her cringe in fear when she sees her mother driving on the road, duck, and not want to be seen in the teachers car, from fear of the teacher.
... lie to your child.
... lie about your child.
... take your child into an empty room for a class alone and shut the door.
... touch your child.
... tell your child to call him Daddy.
... take your child out the back door into his car so the office staff is unaware.
... take the child to an empty teachers lounge when she wants to call you, not report to the office that the child is out of control, crying in the corner and begging for her mother, then write in his official report that the child is "fine."
... chose his class "favorites."
... take advantage of a mother who doesn't know what is going on, and helps him by telling her child to "Do what the teacher says."
... tell your child not to tell you what is going on, mind manipulate, and threaten..
... upset your TBI child to the point that she must undergo 8 months at a neurological hospital and attempt suicide twice.
It is NOT illegal for a school to...
... refuse permission for you to come in and monitor your child's classroom.
... strongly suggest you find another placement for your child, after she finally breaks down and tells about abuse in the school.
... refuse to keep the child and teacher in separate rooms, so the child will have to leave the school.
... talk about your child by name to other parents.
... lie to others about your child, in order to cover up a situation in the school.
... not tell the District School Board about the accusations.
... not tell the Teacher's Union about the accusations.
... "lose" all your child's records when you ask to see them.
... use "confidential" information from an IEP meeting any time they want, for whatever reason.
... keep a teacher at the school who has been accused of abuse, and keep it a secret.
... walk all over a victim's rights, as long as that child is not capable of testifying, due to her disability.
"They would rather stick their heads in the sand and believe that our son is lying rather than deal with the possibility of a pedophile teaching in their school."
Victim's Father, 48 Hours, 4/16/98
"These teachers [involved in sexual misconduct cases] are not just well protected, they're over protected."
Cathy Burke, columnist, New York Post
"When one has experienced being sexually abused by a person who's in a position of trust or authority, the victim is never really the same"
Donna Covello, SESAME President and Survivor.
SESAME believes the power imbalance between a teacher and a student of any age creates a climate that can facilitate sexually exploitative behavior by the teacher, behavior that is psychologically equivalent to incest.
DEFINITION: Sexual misconduct: "Offensive conduct of a sexual nature [by a school staff person] which may affect the personal integrity or security of any student or the school environment."
(Protecting Our Students, The Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General's Report, 2000)
SCHOOLS, OUR RESPONSIBILITY
". . . the skills necessary to become an outstanding educator are also skills that enable those who would betray their trust and harm children . . ."
". . . one must never stop trying to increase the level of safety in the schools through responsible efforts taken in conjunction with school employees, parents, students, lawmakers and in short all other members of the community."
Doug Bates, Ph.D., J.D. (deceased 5/2000. School teacher, administrator and attorney with the Utah Dept. of Ed. & NASDTEC) - SESAME Winter/Summer 2000 newsletter, p.5
"What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander."
Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor
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