Guidelines May Prevent False Accusations

By Christy Watson, (cwatson@oklahoman.com), Staff Writer
Originally published by The Oklahoman, June 17, 2001

James Wilhite remembers being a 25-year-old high school teacher right out of college. "I'm sitting at my desk. A female student comes in with her short skirt and props herself up on my desk," he remembers.

"I couldn't get out fast enough. I don't think the space shuttle could've launched faster than I got out of that room."

It took Wilhite seven years to get his college degree. He wasn't about to screw it up, he said. It's a story Wilhite, now a professor at Northeastern State University, tells his teachers-in-training every year.

The lines can be fuzzy, with teachers caught between genuinely caring for their students but trying to avoid any allegations of impropriety. Lessons for parents and administrators to better protect students from manipulative and sexually aggressive teachers also can reduce the number of teacher-student sexual assaults.

At the University of Central Oklahoma and Northeastern—the largest producers of Oklahoma's teachers—professors offer guidelines to help steer teachers clear of sexual misconduct allegations. The professors and practicing teachers admit, though, the advice isn't always practical. Among them:

Don't put students on your lap, even in kindergarten.
Don't hug students.
Don't put students in your car and drive them anywhere, even if their parents are late picking them up.
Never meet alone with a student of the opposite sex—or even the same sex—if it can be avoided.
When meeting with a student alone, leave the door open.
Use caution when dealing with students who have been victims of abuse. They may unintentionally make allegations of misconduct.

"I tell the kids that if anyone perceives you have had an inappropriate relationship with a student, whether you're guilty or innocent, you're toast because in the eyes of those parents you did," Wilhite said. "At that point, you've got yourself in a bind."

The pointers for students also can be valuable for parents.

Lesley March, a Grady County prosecutor, said parents should be on the lookout for "unusual relationships" formed between students and teachers, particularly coaches and other teachers in charge of extracurricular activities.

"If a child seems obsessed with teachers or talks with them and about them all the time, start asking questions," she said.

"We trust teachers. It's like a doctor. We think a doctor is going to take good care of us and always have our best interest at heart. But parents just really have to be cautious these days."

School officials, researchers and counselors offer other tips for parents to look for that may indicate abuse:

Aggressive behavior
Sudden mood changes
Appetite loss
Withdrawal or change in attitude toward family or friends
Changes in behavior or academic performance at school
New clothes or extra money
Sexual behavior or use of sexual language
Refusal to attend school
Nightmares

Weldon Davis, principal at Northwest Classen High School, said most teachers are wonderful, but some new teachers simply aren't prepared.

"I don't think we teach those young people coming through the colleges enough about the problems. They need to talk about how they shouldn't tell dirty jokes or use profanity."

But that won't scare him away from hiring young teachers, David said. Districts, particularly urban districts such as Oklahoma City, need young teachers with innovative ideas, he said.

Apache Superintendent Cory Ellis, who just finished his first year on the job, is vowing to improve hiring procedures to make sure his district never inherits another school's problem teacher.

A former Apache teacher, Donald "Kip" Boggs, is charged with sexually assaulting two students. March, who is prosecuting Boggs, believes there are more victims.

Ellis said he doesn't know whether the rumors are true.

"But I know I'm not going to do that to somebody else," he said. "I've learned a lesson: I'm pretty forthright when anyone calls me for a reference. I talk about their good traits and their bad traits," he said.

Ellis said he'll no longer rely only on background checks and provided references. He'll be talking to other people who know the applicant.

"I'm sure if they put them on the reference list, they're only going to say good things."