Kotomi Yokokura, a dual-degree Master of Social Work/Master of Social Policy student at the Brown School, recently appeared on the One in Ten podcast produced by the National Children’s Alliance, to discuss how text messaging and social media are changing the landscape of educator sexual misconduct.
“In this study I found that a majority of educators who were disciplined for educator sexual misconduct did use some type of electronic communication or technology to carry out educator sexual misconduct,” Yokokura explained during the episode.
Drawing from her research, Yokokura described how some educators are increasingly using social media and messaging apps to carry out educator sexual misconduct, methods that often make it harder to detect and prevent abuse. She also shared her personal motivation behind the study and emphasized the urgent need for clearer school policies, training around electronic communication use, and improved protections for students in the digital age.
“There needs to be more training, more clear policies around what is considered appropriate electronic communication use, but appropriate student teacher boundaries in general for teachers as well,” she said.
Yokokura also noted that the shift to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has only heightened the risks, increasing students’ exposure to potential abuse in virtual settings.