Stories of School Employee Sexual Misconduct is now accepting:
Unpublished, personal stories between 750-7500 words by victims of school employee sexual misconduct
Letters from loved ones (i.e. children, spouses, parents, siblings, friends) of victims or offenders of school employee sexual misconduct
Letters from school administrators about their experiences with cases of school employee sexual misconduct
Due June 1, 2017
The purpose of this book is to bring awareness to school employee sexual misconduct – which affects an estimated 10% of US students. It will honor the difficult paths that victims of school employee sexual misconduct experience and help victims learn that they are not alone as they heal from their experiences.
Submission guidelines:
Written submissions and art or photography must be your own unpublished work. Stories must be 750-7500 words and must be written in English. Do not use real names of people in written submissions. Art/photography must be submitted in an electronic format at a minimum of 300dpi.
Please send all submissions to and include your "pen name" that you would like to have appear in the book (e.g. John, Sue, Anonymous, etc.). Also copy and paste the following sentence into your email: "I give Billie-Jo Grant, John Seryak and Terri Miller permission and authorization to publish my story/letter contained in this email."
Things to consider as you write:
Describe yourself
Describe the offender
Describe the setting, your school, your community
How did the events transpire? Was there grooming involved?
Did you tell someone? How? Why not? How did they react?
What were your fears?
Was there any legal action, if so please describe the outcome.
What was your healing process like?
How did the misconduct affect you behaviorally, psychologically, and physically?
How did it affect your relationships?
Who were/are your supporters? Who did not support you?
Where did you find strength?
If you would be willing to share your story with other survivors, please do! To protect yourself and others in your story, you may want to omit or change your names.
S.E.S.A.M.E. understands the courage it takes to tell one’s story. We also know in telling one’s story there is a risk in reliving the trauma experienced. In that regard we encourage the writer to have a strong support network during the writing and submission process. Whether it be family, friends, colleagues or mental health professionals, support networks have many benefits.
We respect your right to privacy and confidentiality - you are not required to provide your personal information when submitting a story.
Thank you very much for your time and support on this very important project. Please email bgrant@sesamenet.org with any questions.