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Education Week Profiles Effects of Technology on Sexual Misconduct in Schools
The national newspaper Education Week (edweek.org) published a story last month that investigated how technology has affected incidences of inappropriate sexual misconduct in schools. The article explains that widespread use of cell phones, text and picture messaging, and social networking websites like MySpace has enabled potential child predators and sexual abusers to contact children directly in ways unimaginable even a few years ago. A state education official in Texas explained this phenomenon to the newspaper. "Suddenly an educator has all the opportunity in the world to have direct contact with a student outside the school setting," said Doug Phillips. "They don’t have to call the home directly anymore and hang up when the parent answers. They can just send the kid a text message."
The article highlighted the recent sexual misconduct allegations brought against Bradford teacher Richard A. Foster. Education Week explained that in this case, as in many others, text and picture messages that allegedly were sent between the accused and the victim will now be introduced as evidence in court proceedings. The full article is available at the web address below. You must register online for free with Education Week to view the text.
