AP story unfairly singles out teachers
A recent Daily Herald front page was more than a little tabloidy with the side headline of "Dirty little secrets." The AP sexual crimes story announced a "wide spread problem" introduced by a truly sad story. Then my questions began, because that situation happened 40 years ago, yet is 20 percent of the report.
And 2,500 teachers (actually 2,575) over a five-year period, punished for crimes, are a serious concern. That represents 515 cases a year and too many out of the 3 million teachers. In perspective, that is a bit over one case for every 6,000 employees.
For comparison, I tried to compare that number with other individuals who work with young people, such as Scout leaders, coaches, private school teachers, youth ministers, priests and ministers, but the figures are not readily available for individuals in private and religious venues. Yet as the American Federation of Teachers said, one incident of abuse is one too many.
Yet, I wonder if the AP will do a 5-year study on each of these occupations of trust, and will the Daily Herald pass on the information on the front page with sensational headlines?
Also, I think sociologists would tell us that many more than 1 out of 6,000 families experience sexual abuse each year.
In the article, a California lawyer who specializes in investigating abuse in schools thinks that every school system in the nation has at least one perpetrator. Using the AP statistics, she must mean systems with more than 6,000 teachers and therefore large city systems. That, too, is sad.
Yet it is fair to wonder if 1 in every 6,000 lawyers in the nation were convicted of crimes in any given year, would it be touted by the AP as "a nationwide problem?"
I believe the Herald should carefully analyze stories like this taken from the AP that unfairly portray the complexity of public education and the behavior of its employees. Otherwise, many will use this sensationalized information to continue attacks on teachers and the public schools.
A bit of perspective, please.
David Kives
Hoffman Estates