Sexual Misconduct Cases Reported at Smyrna, Georgia Schools

A middle school in Smyrna has come up in an investigative report which documented thousands of sexual misconduct cases in Georgia’s public schools, most of which were never reported to parents as a whole.

According to the CBS Atlanta report, Campbell Middle School had over a dozen student-on-student sexual misconduct cases during the 2013-14 school year. Statewide, some 3,000 such cases were reported to the state Department of Education during the same time frame.

In Cobb County, around 300 cases were reported last year, the vast majority of which were handled internally through the discipline office and required no contact with the police.

Cobb County refused to provide documentation to CBS Atlanta, but records provided by Gwinnett County show that the cases range from sexual harassment (such as mooning a classmate), to sexual battery (such as a student rubbing his pencil along the groin area of other students), to outright sexual offenses (such as sexting or public groping).

School districts are not required to publicize details of the cases to parents whose children were not involved in the incidents, despite 60 percent of the cases being reported in elementary and middle school settings. The Department of Education will provide the information if parents ask, but parent’s usually don’t ask because they don’t know incidents are occurring, CBS Atlanta said.

Parents can help their kids by talking openly about sexuality, answering any questions youngsters might have, and explaining that some parts of the body should not be touched by other kids. Parents should also encourage their kids to go to a trusted teacher and report any incidents they witness or are involved in.

On Tuesday, Cobb County Schools provided Patch with the following statement regarding the allegations and the CBS report:

Cobb County Schools takes very seriously sexual misconduct cases reported within the district. The legal definition used by the Georgia Department of Education recently changed, and according to Darryl York, Executive Director of Policy, Planning and Student Reporting, that meant that offenses previously reported were done so using a more broad, and somewhat misleading definition of sexual battery. The new definition clarifies sexual misconduct into three distinct categories: sexual battery, sexual harassment and sexual offenses. York says Cobb County Schools has to match its definition to that of the state’s, which now allows the district to clearly indicate which of the three categories applies to the individual incidents. The clarified definition of sexual misconduct aids in clearly representing the type and level of offense. Superintendent Chris Ragsdale says “We are very cautious and deliberate about making sure students are protected and safe at all times when they’re in school.” Student safety is the paramount concern of schools within the Cobb County School District.