Should My Teen Talk to School Officials About Sexting?
TL;DR
Escondido criminal defense attorney Richard S. Sterger says that when a school is investigating a sexting or sexual misconduct allegation, a teen should not talk to administrators. School staff are mandatory reporters, so the matter will almost certainly reach law enforcement and child welfare. None of the protections that apply to police questioning of juveniles, including Miranda, apply to a school administrator. He acknowledges that as a father of five, this is a hard message to give his own kids.
- School counselors, coaches, teachers, administrators and nurses are all mandatory reporters, so a sexting allegation raised at school is likely to be reported to police and child welfare services rather than only to parents.
- Protections that apply when police question juveniles, such as required phone calls, parent notification, recorded interviews and limits on psychological techniques, do not apply to a school administrator.
- A school administrator does not have to Mirandize a child unless police ask the administrator to conduct the interview, which makes the administrator an arm of law enforcement.
- Statements a teen makes to an administrator are likely to make it through to law enforcement.
- Sterger has no problem with a teen talking to people whose communications are protected, such as a priest, doctor or psychologist, but not a coach or administrator.
Can a school sexting accusation become a police investigation?
Richard S. Sterger: That has to do with the mandatory reporting laws. Schools, whether it's the school counselor, coach, a teacher, an administrator or the nurse, are all going to fall under being mandatory reporters.
In my generation, a kid got in trouble in school. It didn't matter what it was. It was an argument, a fight, an allegation. The first person that was called were the parents. That's not who's called today. The police are called, and child protective services or CWS, child welfare services, are going to be called.
That's not people abandoning their duty that they used to have to these kids. It's that we live now under mandatory reporting statutes. It's not necessarily that the police have to be involved, but definitely child welfare, because if a kid is in a position that they're being sexually exploited, then that's how these are treated because they're minors.
Should my teen talk to school administrators before a lawyer?
Richard S. Sterger: If the allegations involve some kind of allegation around sex or sexual misconduct or child pornography, or I should just say sexting, because I know people in a lot of situations don't consider it pornography between these kids, we know that law enforcement's going to be involved. We know that child protective services is going to be involved because the administrators are mandatory reporters. So the administration is not the proper venue for it to be handled.
There's huge problems with this, because unlike the way juveniles are protected in the way that police handle them (required phone calls, notification of parents, inability to conduct unsupervised interviews, requirements to record interviews, requirements not to lie or use psychological techniques on juveniles when they're in custody, in questioning), none of that applies to a school administrator. None of the constitutional protections apply to the school administrator.
There are cases where it could be. If the police were to say to a school administrator, "Hey, conduct this interview for us," now they're acting as an arm of law enforcement. But otherwise, the school administrator doesn't have to Mirandize a child.
Why is it so hard to tell your teen not to talk?
Richard S. Sterger: As a parent, I have this conflict about the idea that my 16-year-old is telling an administrator, "Look, I'm not going to talk to you." There's two sides to this. One is I don't think the administrator should be asking these kids these questions, because they are placing these kids in jeopardy of making statements that they otherwise would be advised not to make to law enforcement. And those statements are going to make it through to law enforcement.
If we have those protections in place for law enforcement, administrators who know that this is going to be referred over to some type of investigative agency shouldn't be doing the investigation themselves. I think they need to remove themselves from it.
Now once it happens, it's my 16-year-old kid, who I've told to listen to adults, to tell the truth. How do I properly tell them don't talk to administrators at the school? Because not everything that administrator could be investigating necessarily brings in law enforcement. It's a tightrope, and I can understand how parents are really confused. Unfortunately, it does create this kind of antagonistic situation between school administrators and parents that are just trying to protect their kids.
These ones are close to me. I got five kids. Three of them have made it through high school. I got two that are in middle school still. I can't separate being a lawyer from being a parent. Even knowing what the rules are, I'm grappling with this, because the last thing I want is my 12-year-old kid popping off to an administrator like, "I'm not talking to you. My dad says." That's the last way I want my kid behaving.
People are so afraid of what happens to their kids in this context. And the statistics are crazy. 90% of children who are sexually assaulted are assaulted by somebody they know. But what is it that a parent will get in trouble for? A parent will get in trouble for their eight-year-old or nine-year-old being off playing by themselves out on the street, where they're really not at risk.
So our response to that is we put them in gymnastics. We put them in music lessons. We put them in sports training. Those are all the places where the people they're told to trust are. Are you supposed to go to your administrators to solve problems, but then you can't talk to your administrators? What a confusing environment for parents and for kids.
What should my child do if an administrator starts questioning them?
Richard S. Sterger: If I had parents sitting in front of me, or if I was talking at a school in front of a board of administrators, I would be very clear. Your kids shouldn't talk to administrators if they're investigating something that could potentially be a crime. They are not law enforcement. They are not investigatory bodies. Anything that is said, you don't have the same types of constitutional protection. So, no, your children should not be talking to administrators, and it sounds awful to say that.
I really empathize with parents on this. But at the end of the day, my mission and my desire to make sure that fair outcomes, just outcomes come out of these things requires me to tell people: you don't want your kids talking to school administrators in these types of situations. You don't want them talking to their coach.
I have no problem with them talking to their priest, to their psychologist, to whoever they have a relationship with where what they say is protected. Their doctor, their psychologist, their priest have protection around the communications that are made with them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will a school call the police about a sexting allegation?
Very likely. Counselors, coaches, teachers, administrators and nurses are mandatory reporters, so Richard S. Sterger says the police and child welfare services are the ones who get called today, not just the parents.
Does a school administrator have to read my child their Miranda rights?
No. According to Sterger, a school administrator does not have to Mirandize a child, and the protections that apply to police questioning of juveniles do not apply. The exception is when police ask the administrator to conduct the interview, which makes the administrator an arm of law enforcement.
Can what my teen tells the school be used by police?
Sterger says statements made to an administrator are going to make it through to law enforcement. Because administrators know the matter will be referred to an investigative agency, he believes they should not be doing the investigation themselves.
Who can my teen safely talk to about the situation?
Sterger has no problem with a teen talking to a priest, doctor or psychologist, because communications with them are protected. He advises against talking to school administrators or coaches in these situations.
Edited for length and clarity from a recorded conversation with Richard S. Sterger. Watch the full interview on YouTube.
