Predators In Our Schools

Her lips were as soft as pillows. Her breasts were as sweet as honey. After weeks of observing him from afar, she devours him with her lustful ways overwhelming him with her sexual power. It sounds like a chapter from a romance novel. Unfortunately, it's a scenario played out in real life for a 17 year old male student who was seduced by a female teaching assistant from his high school. According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, early this year Pike High School teaching assistant Taine Abdullah picked up this student from his home and they went to see a movie. After the show she gave the young man a fat, juicy french kiss then dropped him off back at home. When I was in high school a french kiss from a girl would set a boy's body on fire. Imagine how this kid's hormones felt after that surprise at the end of a date with a fully developed 40 year old woman. The macho, earthy, human side of me is tempted to say, "Not bad young fella. You've had a cougar experience and survived." Then I remember the boy is a student and this teaching assistant is supposed be a mentor. The father in me says, "We must protect our children from these predators."

"I don't want anything to happen to her because I love her." That's what a teenage girl told Metro Police after her basketball coach was arrested for child seduction last December. Sarah Strahm was hired by Pike High School last spring to turn the program around. She came from Ben Davis High School which was fresh from an undefeated season and ranked as the number one girls hoops team in the nation. By all accounts the Pike girls really responded to Strahm on the court. The were playing better than in previous years and seemed poised to return to a being a respectable program. Detectives claim Strahm had sexual contact with the victim on five occasions. Across town at Warren Central High School two swim coaches Seth Sexton and Matthew Brown were arrested in January. They were accused of having sex with two different girls on the swim team.

The number of Indiana children who were victims of maltreatment in 2007 was 18,380 according to the Administration for Children and Families a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. From that number 15.6% of the children were also victims of sexual abuse. The recently reported cases of adults, specifically, coaches and teachers having sex with Hoosier children shows that parents must show more diligence. Parents are called upon to do a better job of knowing the types of adults their children are around at school and during other activities. In most cases of child seduction the adult is someone the victim and even their parents trust. Parents must have open communication lines with their children so that when red flag activity or conversation starts between an adult and their child they can intervene before it goes too far. Many of us have the good touch, bad touch discussion with them when they're in grade school, but what about the more sophisticated forms good touch, bad touch that takes place in high school. We must talk to our girls and boys about inappropriate conversations, emails, text messages and photos that adults should not exchange with children. We must return to being overly protective as we were when they were young. Doing so could save our children from predators.