A Closer Look at Educator Abuse

By Kim Kang, Hindsight Community Fellow, November 29, 2011 at 1:30 pm

It’s a parent’s nightmare, finding out her child is being abused by the very person entrusted with the child's safety and education. It is particularly disturbing when it’s a child with special needs. This was the case with Kelly Chaffin, an Ohio teenager, who endured verbal abuse for at least three years from her special education teacher and classroom aide. 

Closer to home and not so long ago, Minnesota had the case of Kyle Herman, a Spring Lake boy with Down Syndrome who was in Kindergarten when he was verbally and physically abused by his teacher.

Someone in the school reported the teacher’s abuse, but Kyle’s parent’s had no idea a child abuse investigation was in process for nearly two years. At that time, Minnesota schools were not required to notify parents that a child abuse investigation was being done. Of course, that changed in 2010 when Kyle’s parents came to the state legislature to help pass a law requiring schools notify parents within 10 days of an abuse report against a teacher and be told the outcome of the investigation within 10 days after its completion.

For children with special needs who have behavioral challenges, a line can also be crossed by untrained teachers when using seclusion and restraint procedures. Minnesota passed laws in 2009 to spell out training and reporting requirements in this area, but prone restraint for emergency use has been extended until August 1, 2012. This type of restraint where a child is placed facedown and held can be dangerous if used by untrained school personnel. In other states, adults have sat on top of children and suffocated them to death.

Minnesota laws continue to be few, however, when it comes to abuse by teachers. Schools remain an untouchable domain. In fact, the Minnesota Department of Education is assigned to investigate allegations of child abuse by school professionals, keeping the entire process “in-house”—much like churches investigating their own clergymen for sexual abuse. It’s time to look at violence prevention and safety in our schools not only from students endangering each other, but adults we entrust them to everyday.

Posted in Education | Related Topics: K-12 education  Classroom Methods  Education Administration  Community Safety