A few weeks ago, we provided you with information for preventing abusive and criminal intrusion of online teleconferencing platforms. Such measures help to protect participants in virtual classrooms and online meetings from external threats. It’s just as important to have policies and protections in place to deter child abuse perpetrators from using your technology tools to cause harm to children and others.
School districts should always have a policy against any one-to-one videoconference, texting or phone calls between a staff member and an individual student. The same boundary restrictions you expect your staff to follow in-person on campus need to be applied to the virtual learning situation. These boundary invasions present a particular danger for grooming behaviors by potential molesters in creating environments for concealing abuse. Your ongoing child abuse awareness training should include an emphasis on maintaining appropriate boundaries for distance learning and communication with students.
When a teacher initiates a teleconference for conducting classes, they need to configure the event so that students cannot join the teleconference until the host teacher is logged into the meeting. As the host, the teacher should not admit a student to the meeting until at least two other participants are ready to be admitted. This protocol prevents the teacher from being in a one-on-one situation with a pupil. It also limits the possibility for student-to-student issues which could lead to negligent supervision liability.
It needs to be clear to all users of your online platforms that the virtual environment is an extension of your physical school facilities. The same standards for appropriate behavior and decency must apply to remote interactions. Because videoconferencing will most likely be joined from participants’ homes, teachers, students and parents should be reminded that what happens in the room they sign in from goes could be seen and heard by everyone else on the conference. Other family members in the host’s and participants’ households should be advised they may be in public view. Even inadvertent and unintentional boundary violations in a virtual classroom can be a serious matter, resulting in civil rights and harassment claims.
Additional information on child abuse and molestation prevention can be found on Keenan’s School Safety Center. Training courses on Boundary Invasion and Child Abuse Awareness are available through the Keenan SafeSchools platform.