The Sexual Betrayal of Children

by Ken Wooden

In the technological age, ensuring the excellence of our schools and students is paramount to our country's future. With passage of “No Child Left Behind,” the issue of educational accountability came front and center before every school district in America.

Curiously, in all the national and local reform discussions, there has been no mention of one very real obstacle to improving the academic performance of students and schools: the tragically high incidence of childhood sexual abuse and its detrimental effect on learning.

According to the American Medical Association, "Sexual assault is a 'violent-silent epidemic,' growing at an alarming rate and traumatizing the women and children of our nation." Over 61% of female victims are children. There are virtually millions of young American students coping with the after affects of sexual abuse. "The mental scars of any type of victimization last a lifetime," says Marilyn Benoit, M.D., psychiatrist and member of the American Medical Association's National Advisory Council on Family Violence.

Years of research, including Fordham University's highly respected "Index of Social Health for Children and Youth," document the multitude of social and personal circumstances that can paralyze a child's ability to learn. High among them is childhood sexual abuse, a core problem that leaves its young victims at much greater risk of learning and behavior problems, poor reading scores, low IQ, and school drop-out, as well as related multi high-risk behaviors like substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and prostitution.

In our quest for long range educational improvement, it is vitally important that we make every effort to prevent sexual abuse and its proven harmful effect on the ability of children to learn. Those who are skeptical of this premise may want to ponder why 4th grade American students rank near the top in worldwide test results, but have dropped to nearly last place by 12th grade. Could there be a correlation between that academic decline and the fact that 57% of sexual assault victims are pre-teens and teens?

Research aside, common sense dictates that a child who has been victimized will find concentrating on the three R's a difficult task. Why then hasn't sexual abuse prevention entered into the discourse on educational reform? It is human nature to avoid distressing problems, and what could be more disturbing than the sexual betrayal of innocent children? Consequently, the issue remains hidden behind a curtain of national denial, virtually erased from the national conscience. Meanwhile, the number of victims continues to rise.

I submit that without prevention programming in the schools, childhood sexual exploitation will persist as a major roadblock in achieving significant improvements in American education. Personal safety programs like Child Lures Prevention’s School Program are easily incorporated into the existing health curriculum and reach all children, even those who are being victimized at home.

In Illinois, an historical safety initiative by Governor Rod Blagojevich provides every elementary and middle school in the state with the Child Lures Prevention School Program. Beginning in January 2006, Illinois schools will begin to implement the Program, providing hundreds of thousands of children with relevant, timely personal safety strategies. My hope is that every state in America will follow suit to comprehensively safeguard its children and youth.

Educational reform that does not include relevant and comprehensive sexual abuse prevention efforts will prove sorely inadequate. Only by confronting and addressing the sexual betrayal of our children can educational advancement begin to resonate in schools across the American landscape.

– Ken Wooden