Illinois Parents Want To End Educators Having Sex With Students
Illinois Parents Want To End Educators Having Sex With Students
The Issue
What Illinois Parents Should Know
In recent years, Illinois has been in hot water involving educator sexual abuse. In 2018, Chicago Tribune released its ‘Betrayed’ series revealing that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are failing to protect students from sexual abuse and assault. These findings drove demands to Illinois lawmakers to address educator sexual abuse. Since then, there are now two bills that help protect children from educator sexual abuse: Faith’s Law and its Trailer bill signed by Gov. Pritzker in 2021. These bills ensure training on grooming and allow school districts to request and receive more in-depth knowledge about educator employment histories. One loophole for predatory educators did not get closed: Current Illinois law allows sex between teachers and students older than 17.
Why Illinois Parents Should Care
As parents, we rely on our educators to provide our children a safe environment in schools. According to the CDC, in over 90% of circumstances, the child is being sexually abused by someone they know, which includes family members, babysitters, coaches, and educators. With children spending most of their time away from home to attend school, predatory educators have built-in access to our children in 4,000 schools in Illinois (US Census Bureau). According to Tania Haigh, KIDS TOO Movement founder and co-founder of Parents Against Child Sex Abuse (PAXA), “Parents send their kids and teens to learn in a safe school environment - not to get preyed on by adults. We want Illinois lawmakers to prioritize protecting all students over the bureaucratic status quo that gets in the way of progress. It’s time to stop making schools an easy pathway for predators.”
What's Happening Now
A bill, HB 3290, was introduced by Illinois Representative Katie Stuart, that criminalizes educators who commit a sexual act to students between ages 18-22 attending classes at a public/nonpublic secondary school, and the accused held or holds a position of trust, authority, or supervision in relation to the victim in connection with an educational or extracurricular program or activity at the time of the commission of the act, regardless of the location or place of the commission of the act. Last week, HB 3290 was assigned to the Rules and Regulations committee, often known in law-making as the place where bills get sent to never see the light of day.
To date, fifteen states and the District of Columbia have already passed similar legislation to HB 3290. For example, Florida passed HB 495 to prevent inappropriate relationships between teachers and students. The other states include: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming.
We Want To Demand Criminalizing Educators Having Sex With Our Kids
There are many reasons why becoming a teacher is appealing to a predator:
- Maximum access to children away from parents.
- Leverage the most revered and noble profession that has built-in positions of authority and trust with children.
- Recognize that Background Checks don’t necessarily catch their predatory histories; if caught, resign from the teaching position at the school so they can move to another school district and maintain a teaching license.
- Manipulate the child to take the blame (if there is an allegation by a student); assert that misconduct was a “misunderstanding”; and use old tapes to insinuate the concept of “false accusations.”
- Count on protections by Associations that include benefits to secure legal counsel and maintain employment in sexual misconduct cases.
We Want To Hear From You
In Chicago, we've seen stories like this one, 'Illinois law allows sex between teachers and students older than 17', and we know it's a common predatory tactic across the country. If you are a survivor of educator sexual abuse, we'd love to hear from you. Please email us: info@kidstoo.org.
About The KIDS TOO Movement
KIDS TOO, powered by Parents Against Child Sex Abuse (PAXA), is a movement that empowers parents to elevate child protection in the areas of online safety, child sexual abuse, and child poverty.
87
The Issue
What Illinois Parents Should Know
In recent years, Illinois has been in hot water involving educator sexual abuse. In 2018, Chicago Tribune released its ‘Betrayed’ series revealing that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are failing to protect students from sexual abuse and assault. These findings drove demands to Illinois lawmakers to address educator sexual abuse. Since then, there are now two bills that help protect children from educator sexual abuse: Faith’s Law and its Trailer bill signed by Gov. Pritzker in 2021. These bills ensure training on grooming and allow school districts to request and receive more in-depth knowledge about educator employment histories. One loophole for predatory educators did not get closed: Current Illinois law allows sex between teachers and students older than 17.
Why Illinois Parents Should Care
As parents, we rely on our educators to provide our children a safe environment in schools. According to the CDC, in over 90% of circumstances, the child is being sexually abused by someone they know, which includes family members, babysitters, coaches, and educators. With children spending most of their time away from home to attend school, predatory educators have built-in access to our children in 4,000 schools in Illinois (US Census Bureau). According to Tania Haigh, KIDS TOO Movement founder and co-founder of Parents Against Child Sex Abuse (PAXA), “Parents send their kids and teens to learn in a safe school environment - not to get preyed on by adults. We want Illinois lawmakers to prioritize protecting all students over the bureaucratic status quo that gets in the way of progress. It’s time to stop making schools an easy pathway for predators.”
What's Happening Now
A bill, HB 3290, was introduced by Illinois Representative Katie Stuart, that criminalizes educators who commit a sexual act to students between ages 18-22 attending classes at a public/nonpublic secondary school, and the accused held or holds a position of trust, authority, or supervision in relation to the victim in connection with an educational or extracurricular program or activity at the time of the commission of the act, regardless of the location or place of the commission of the act. Last week, HB 3290 was assigned to the Rules and Regulations committee, often known in law-making as the place where bills get sent to never see the light of day.
To date, fifteen states and the District of Columbia have already passed similar legislation to HB 3290. For example, Florida passed HB 495 to prevent inappropriate relationships between teachers and students. The other states include: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming.
We Want To Demand Criminalizing Educators Having Sex With Our Kids
There are many reasons why becoming a teacher is appealing to a predator:
- Maximum access to children away from parents.
- Leverage the most revered and noble profession that has built-in positions of authority and trust with children.
- Recognize that Background Checks don’t necessarily catch their predatory histories; if caught, resign from the teaching position at the school so they can move to another school district and maintain a teaching license.
- Manipulate the child to take the blame (if there is an allegation by a student); assert that misconduct was a “misunderstanding”; and use old tapes to insinuate the concept of “false accusations.”
- Count on protections by Associations that include benefits to secure legal counsel and maintain employment in sexual misconduct cases.
We Want To Hear From You
In Chicago, we've seen stories like this one, 'Illinois law allows sex between teachers and students older than 17', and we know it's a common predatory tactic across the country. If you are a survivor of educator sexual abuse, we'd love to hear from you. Please email us: info@kidstoo.org.
About The KIDS TOO Movement
KIDS TOO, powered by Parents Against Child Sex Abuse (PAXA), is a movement that empowers parents to elevate child protection in the areas of online safety, child sexual abuse, and child poverty.
87
Petition created on March 17, 2023