Safeguarding against child sexual abuse in schools in an age of social media

Conviction of Bronwen James

Last week, Bronwen James, a teacher at Bitterne Park School in Southampton was convicted at Winchester Crown Court of sexually abusing a teenage boy. She had also previously admitted guilt for sexually abusing two teenage girls. This case raises pressing concerns about how schools can safeguard children from those who abuse their positions of trust. What is particularly concerning is the nature of which James began the abuse.

Dangers of social media and sexual abuse.

It was reported that James began grooming the boy via the social media platform, Snapchat with, what the BBC describe as, 'flirty' messages. Although the abuse started online, James and the boy then had sex at her house several times.  This highlights how abuse can begin outside the traditional realms of educational institutions and then escalate. 

As such, when abuse starts online, abusers are able to groom children without the oversight of colleagues, witnesses of safeguarding procedures, allowing it to occur covertly. This can make it very difficult for institutions to monitor those who abuse their positions of power and for schools to ensure that children are adequately safeguarded. Social media platforms like Snapchat enable messages to 'disappear' after a number of hours which is why abusers may take advantage of this – although messages can be recovered by the police. 

Some may argue that abuse which begins online may provide more concrete evidence than abuse committed in the pre-social media era, although as revealed with James, it also provides an opportunity for abusers. 

Has the government done enough to safeguard children?

In light of the dangers that social media poses to children, the government has recently, in June, announced their plans to ban social media for under-16s as well as placing restrictions for older children. However, restricting children's access to social media may not address every safeguarding risk. One consequence could be that children could move to less regulated online spaces, potentially making them more vulnerable to abusers. 

In addition, more needs to be done to address the risks associated with those in positions of trust and the ways in which social media facilitates their ability to abuse children. Clearly, the vast majority of teachers and education staff have a positive impact on children’s lives and play an important role in supporting their wellbeing, posing no such risk. However, the case of Bronwen James demonstrates how some may fall through the cracks of existing safeguarding procedures. The government has released guidance which requires schools to address staff-pupil relationships and communications as well as allegations against staff and whistleblowing in their staff behaviour policy.

Yet, due to the nature of social media contact which may be hidden and/or occur outside school hours it can be increasingly difficult for other school staff to identify the above concerns relating to grooming and sexual abuse by staff members. It begs the question of how schools can better navigate keeping children safe when initial online grooming can escalate into sexual abuse. More thorough vetting processes, alongside initiatives for schools to collaborate with charities that understand the early signs of abuse in the social media age, could be an important starting point.

Speaking out 

The effects of child abuse perpetrated by someone in a position of trust or authority can be devastating for a survivor. It may not always be possible to recognise at the time that what is happening constitutes abuse, particularly when the behaviour begins gradually through social media.

Speaking out about an experience can be equally difficult. At Jordans our dedicated and specialist team understand these difficulties and why it may be hard to speak out at the time. No matter how long it has been since someone experienced child sexual abuse, it is not too late to contact us and potentially claim compensation.