Somehow we must find a way to safeguard children while insuring that witch hunts do not occur

The AP did a series on teachers who were guilty of sexual misconduct this week. While this is a serious issue with dire ramafacations for all involved, I think we need to keep in mind that only a small percentage of teachers are sexual predators. Unfortunately this small percentage of teachers can do damage to a number of students.

One of the issues raised were colleagues and administrators that turned a blind eye to the sexual misconduct. I am sure many of us are asking ourselves how they could do something so shameful. Here are my musings on the subject. An accusation of sexual misconduct not only hurts the teacher the accusation is leveled at it hurts his or her entire family. Everyone wants to believe the best about their friends and co-workers, when questionable actions are open to interpretation it's human nature to accept plausible explanations. And in today's litigious society leveling an unprovable accusation against someone can get you hit with a lawsuit. So what's the answer. I don't know, but hopefully an open and honest dialogue on the subject can provide us with some solutions to the problem.

We also have to acknowledge that sometimes the allegations are false; safe guards must be in place to protect teachers and others who work with children against false accusations. No one wants a witch hunt like The McMartin Daycare Case. Somehow we must find a way to safeguard children while insuring that witch hunts do not occur.