A Step Forward in Grooming Prevention

What Parents & Survivors Need to Know

Children spend most of their waking hours in school, and we entrust schools to keep them safe. But in recent years, we’ve seen too many headlines about teachers, coaches, and other trusted staff using their positions of power to groom and abuse students. The number of blogs I have written on school officials has been sickening. California just took a major step forward with the Safe Learning Environments Act (SB 848), a law designed to help schools detect and stop grooming behavior before it turns into sexual abuse.

At Andreozzi + Foote, we have represented countless survivors whose abuse could have been prevented if school officials had recognized the red flags. This law is an important model for the rest of the country and one that parents should be aware of right now.

What the Safe Learning Environments Act Does

SB 848 requires California public and charter schools to update their Comprehensive School Safety Plans to ensure sexual misconduct is dealt with promptly. The law will:

• Educate students about grooming behaviors including boundary-crossing, inappropriate gifts, and attempts to isolate students.
• Train staff annually on spotting and reporting warning signs of grooming.
• Create clear protocols for reporting suspected abuse or misconduct, including protections for whistleblowers.
• Document compliance and report to state officials.

For the first time, schools will be held accountable for proactive prevention not just responding after harm has occurred.

Understanding Grooming and Why It’s So Dangerous

Grooming is the process by which predators gain a child’s trust (and often the trust of adults around them) to normalize inappropriate behavior and make abuse easier to commit. It can look like:

• Special attention or favoritism
• Secret texting or social media contact
• Offering gifts or money
• Gradually escalating physical contact

Child USA reports that 90% of children who are sexually abused know their abuser, often in a position of trust. Educating children to spot and report these behaviors before abuse happens is one of the strongest tools we have for prevention.

Why This Matters for Parents, Students, and Schools

Parents now have a legal framework to ask: What is my school doing to protect my child? Students will be taught not just “stranger danger,” but the real-world reality that danger often comes from someone they know. And schools that fail to comply with the law may face serious liability. Additionally, anytime mandatory reporting polices are strengthened it lessons the pockets of silence that sexual misconduct historically falls into.

Civil Justice When Schools Fail

Even with better laws, some schools will still fail to act and when that happens, survivors deserve justice. Our firm has taken on school districts across the country for failing to protect children from abusive teachers and staff. These civil lawsuits not only provide survivors with resources for healing but also force schools to change policies and prevent future harm.

Take Action

• Parents: Ask your school how they are implementing SB 848. Request a copy of their grooming prevention curriculum.
• Survivors: If your school failed to act when you or your child reported abuse, you may still have legal options — even if the abuse happened years ago.
• Educators: Get trained, know the red flags, and speak up when you see them.

If you or someone you love was harmed by a teacher, coach, or school employee, we are here to help. Contact Andreozzi + Foote today for a confidential consultation. 1-855-753-5458