What does the Supreme Court decision mean?
I am dismayed by the decision. It says to the adults in positions of power at the schools that it’s better not to know when a teacher abuses a student; it’s better not to have a grievance system; it’s better to just keep things quiet because if we don’t know about the abuse, then we can’t be held liable. But school districts can still be liable if a student reports the abuse to someone at school … There is a problem with having kids “report” to a person who is in a position to do something about it — meaning an administrator. Children by and large don’t distinguish between teachers and administrators or between counselors and administrators. When parents and children come to school and tell somebody about a problem, they consider all of us to be the officials. So telling someone about it may not do any good. If that person is not the person who can intervene, the complaint may be lost and the harm to the child will continue. Also, in my studies of 225 reported abuse cases and throug
