School teaches adults to spot sexual predators

It's nice to feel like you make a difference. I didn't really make a difference with this story. My job with this story was just to let the public know that there is a local program that they can attend, regardless of religious affiliation, which will teach how to protect their children.


http://natoday.augusta.com/node/4625

School teaches adults to spot sexual predators
By Lisa Kaylor Staff Writer
Posted November 11, 2008 3:44 PM


Sexual abuse can be a subject no one wants to talk about, but one area school requires anyone working with its children to do just that.
Our Lady of Peace Catholic School requires each teacher and parent volunteer to attend VIRTUS training, a three-hour class designed to teach adults how to spot a sexual predator.
"It's really a nondenominational program that teaches people about the profile of a predator," said Marlee Calloway, the school's guidance counselor and co-teacher of the class. "This program highlights the problem but gives a strategic plan for preventing it from happening here."
Calloway said one in six males and one in four females are molested by age 18.
The school began offering VIRTUS, which means "excellence" in Latin, four years ago in accordance with the Diocese of Charleston, which requires all church personnel and volunteers who have access to children to be trained in recognizing sexual predators.
A main component of the training is a video in which expert psychologists outline the profile of a predator, and sex offenders explain how they got close to their victims.
Predators groom children both physically and psychologically before they victimize them. During physical grooming, the molester first touches the child in appropriate ways, such as a pat on the back, which progresses to tickling or wrestling and then to inappropriate touching as the child becomes more familiar with the predator.
"It lowers the child's inhibition of the adult having their hands on them," Calloway said.
Psychological grooming begins by the predator showing interest in the child, being very friendly and getting to know the child's likes and dislikes. The predator will display concern and care to create a sense of dependence in the child. As the behavior escalates into abuse, the predator may threaten to harm the child or the child's family if the child tells anyone.
The abuser will also groom the community into thinking that he or she is incapable of such behavior.
Teaching parents and community members what to look for in adult/child relationships is only one way Our Lady of Peace has committed to keeping children safe. Each volunteer and worker is required to have a background check through the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. In addition, Calloway teaches the children SafeTouch, a program designed to teach children to protect themselves.
The school has also redesigned classrooms and the building to reduce blind spots and isolated areas that could give a predator an opportunity to abuse a child on school grounds.
"By teaching people about the predators and creating a safe environment, it's less likely a predator would want to come here," Calloway said.
Calloway said the length of the class and the subject matter can be a deterrent to some parents, but many parents have come back and said they were glad they took it.
"It takes something that is so depressing and harmful to society and gives you a plan of offense," she said.
Parents of Our Lady of Peace pupils are not allowed to volunteer in the classrooms, as chaperones, or to help with any school event until they have been through the class.
Classes are free and open to the public. Calloway said she plans to offer another class in December, but other parishes such as St. Mary's on the Hill and Aquinas High School in Augusta also offer the program.
For more information on VIRTUS, visit http://www.virtus.org/.