Sexual Exploitation - Another tool to stop it

Teachers using cellphone text messaging, Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook, and e-mail—to foster inappropriate relationships and perpetrate abuse - is a new problem that needs to be addressed.

Nov 26, 2007 - They are doing so in Texas. In May, Texas passed HB 401 prohibiting sexual solicitation by an educator of a minor through "electronic mail or text message or other electronic message service or system." The bill took effect September 1, 2007.

Some school districts recognize the problem

In Bridge City, the school district has prohibited electronic communication between faculty and students for all except the most urgent matters - like if a student was at risk of physical harm.

What the district has done is create Web pages for all of its teachers, listing assignments and notes on class work.

"We started the policy this year," Bridge City High School principal Gina Mannino said. "If they (students) have a question on their assignments, they should go online and look at their teacher's Web page or call a friend. There should be no major emergency about school work that they would need to call a teacher about."

Bridge City, by far, has the strictest policy in Southeast Texas on electronic communications. But other administrators also discourage calling or e-mailing students unless there's an important matter - such as the student's physical or mental well-being - to be addressed.

TT - Education Week has an article today by Leslie A. Maxwell, "Digital Age Adds New Dimension to Incidents of Staff-Student Sex" that explores the problem. [The article is behind a subscription wall, but you can sign up for two free articles a week.]

“The intimacy that these communications can create, and the blurring of boundaries, are a real danger because it can seem so innocent, and so contemporary,” Mr. Shoop said. “But every school should have a very clear policy on what is appropriate use of technology for teachers and school staff.”

Robert J. Shoop is the director of the Cargill Center for Ethical Leadership at Kansas State University and the author of a book on how school districts can identify and deal with sexual misconduct by educators. The book is called Sexual Exploitation in Schools, How to Spot It and Stop It.

Text of HB 401