Teachers and Coaches with your Children

Do educators and coaches need clear boundaries on how they communicate with your child?
We think so! When you look at all the sexual abuse reports between school staff and students, we have to ask if maybe we got a little too casual about letting kids interact with adults online.
Although most adults are trustworthy, the few that are child predators do such harm that we all need to find safer ways for school personnel to communicate with kids.
The bottom line is school staff should never use personal email, personal texting, personal social media or video app accounts to contact students. These channels are too private to protect kids. Child sexual predators exploit this privacy to gain the trust of a child or teen. Once grooming starts, it can be difficult to manage.
As a parent or professional, you have the power to insist on rules such as these:

• No calling or texting through personal numbers between kids and teachers, coaches, and adults in similar roles.
• No sharing cell phone numbers for any reason.
• No sharing personal email addresses or user names.
• No connecting with students on social media or video streaming apps, regardless of who initiates the request.

Your can get more info about safe communication policies in schools here.
There are better communication platforms that parents can insist that schools use. For example, your school might already be using Remind, a messaging app that helps teachers, students, and parents communicate.
Some of the safety features of Remind:

• Students under 13 must have parent permission to join Remind. They can only receive messages; they can't participate in 2-way conversations or start their own messages.
• Contact information like phone numbers and email addresses stays private.
• Messages are automatically recorded. They can't be edited or deleted. Administrators can access the history of messages sent.

Even with these precautions, parents should regularly monitor the messages going between students and teachers on Remind.
Let's work together to establish safe communication policies in schools! Every child deserves protection.
Kindly,
Kristen

protectyoungminds.org