Guiding leaders to prevent and address child sexual abuse within K-12 schools: A qualitative study on educators' perspectives

Background

Large organizations for recreation and culture in the U.S. have engaged in several best practices recommendations to keep children safe from sexual abuse. Informed by a deep characterization of such practices, in 2020, a group of researchers published a Leadership Desk Guide encouraging organizational leaders and staff to consider aligning their policies and practices under eight logical and overarching child-safe principles. The feasibility and applicability of such principles within K-12 school settings remained unknown.

Objective

To qualitatively assess the feasibility of applying the Leadership Desk Guide framework to prevent child sexual abuse (CSA) in K-12 school settings, and identify areas for enhancement.

Participants and setting

We obtained information from key stakeholders, including district- and school-level administrators (N = 15) and teachers (N = 20) via online interviews and focus groups.

Methods

Participants were exposed to an overview of the eight Leadership Desk Guide principles and asked about implementation barriers and facilitators. Thematic analysis of responses elicited areas of consensus and salient topics for further consideration.

Results

Results indicated consensus among administrators and teachers regarding the necessity and adaptability of the child safety principles from the Leadership Desk Guide to K-12 settings. Implementation considerations included teachers' work demands, the inclusion of substitute teachers and volunteers in training, and the incompatibility of some recommendations (e.g., increasing direct line of sight) with contemporary challenges (e.g., school shootings).

Conclusions

Findings can help organizations identify and overcome barriers and increase the adoption of child safety strategies to prevent CSA and related boundary-violating behaviors by educators in K-12 schools.