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Preventing Sexual Harassment

COACHES’ CORNER: Procedures

Recommendations for Preventing Sexual Harassment Claims
in Schools and Athletics

Teachers and athletics personnel should: 

  1. Never use sexually explicit language or tell sexually explicit or off-color jokes in the presence of students. 
  2. Never display sexually explicit pictures or materials on school property and should never show such materials to students under any circumstances. 
  3. Avoid engaging in excessively personal conversations with students, in person, on the phone, or by texting, email, or through social networking including such conversations late at night. 
  4. Avoid sending excessively personal letters, cards, gifts or email messages to students. 
  5. Avoid commenting on students’ physical appearance, including manner of dress and physical attributes.
  6. Avoid, to the greatest extent possible, physical contact with or touching of students. 
  7. Avoid giving students rides home alone or even in groups where eventually only one student will remain alone in the car with the adult. 
  8. Avoid off-school-property, one-on-one meetings alone with students, especially in the home of the student or of the adult. 
  9. Never plan or take unchaperoned school or athletic trips. Even on properly chaperoned trips, they should exercise a greater degree of caution and propriety regarding interaction with students on the trip. 
  10. Never date students under any circumstances. Issues of power differential, consent, credibility and appearance of impropriety make such relationships untenable.