How North Carolina schools can confront sexual violence earlier

A recent lawsuit against the North Carolina School of the Arts revealed decades of sexual harassment and abuse dating back to the 1980s. The seven alumni in the lawsuit were all part of the school’s dance program, but the film studies and drama departments were included in the action. It’s possible that more plaintiffs will join the case as it goes through the North Carolina courts.

A Sunday Charlotte Observer and News & Observer of Raleigh report revealed additional troubling details of an investigation at the school that failed its students, despite at least two dozen accusations and more than 50 phone calls to the UNC System. Some of the accused still teach at the school. System leaders need to review the allegations and initiate another investigation immediately.

While this story is new, the pervasiveness of sex abuse in schools is not. Reports of sexual abuse have come from Myers Park High School in Charlotte, Cape Fear Christian Academy in Harnett County, Tarheel ChalleNGe Academy in Stanly County, and Asheville School in the last few months.

People 12-34 are most likely to experience sexual violence. One in four girls and one in 14 boys are sexually abused before 18, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control. Ninety-one percent of these survivors have previously met their abusers, and about a third are family members. Demographics trends show that higher levels of abuse are reported for children in poverty.

The Orange County Rape Crisis Center is one organization stepping up to educate students, parents and school faculty on how to address sexual violence through open communication between parents and children. Rachel Valentine, the group’s executive director, says teaching younger children about body autonomy is only part of the way to combat sexual abuse before it happens or escalates.

“Our goal is to teach the children the skills to notice when something doesn’t feel right, to know how adults should behave around them, so that they can notice that when adults are not doing that,” Valentine says, “and then to know how to say something in a way that the adults around them who are ready and willing to protect them will get the picture.”

The rates of reported sexual violence against folks under 18 has gone down 62 percent since 1990, but the numbers have stagnated over the last few years. In North Carolina, the decrease of reported child sex abuse hasn’t been as drastic as neighboring states like Virginia, Georgia, and even South Carolina.

While there’s no clear answer for the decline — increased surveillance, economic improvement, and increased awareness and resources for family are all factors — there is significance in how education on sexual health and communication can be preventative measures.

OCRCC’s curriculum starts in elementary school, with age-appropriate discussions on when it’s appropriate for someone to touch to their sex organs (if they need help going to the bathroom, or if they’re sick), when adults can ask them to keep secrets (never, unless the secret is a “surprise” where the end result is positive), and identifying adults they can talk to if something begins making them uncomfortable.

Parents and educators are taught at this time, too. Valentine says that the center sends information home in bite-sized pieces when children go through the curriculum, but their biggest allies are teachers and counselors who hear the information.

Ideally, students begin learning about the importance of consent when they’re young, before going through more thorough sex education in upper grades. In practice, time, money and resources are scarce: OCRCC is one of only six standalone rape crisis centers in North Carolina, and has faced budget cuts in the last year. There is no set state curriculum for sexual health, and there are no requirements for students in private or charter schools to receive this sort of education.

Reports of child abuse have decreased during the pandemic, based in part on the absence of other adults in a child’s life who they can trust; normally, teachers and administrators make a fifth of all child abuse reports. Better education for children on body autonomy and the necessity of communication will help decrease those numbers, but the adults in their lives need to show that they’re willing to listen.