The Toast: *exits, pursued by bear hugs*

So long, everybody! This feels like the last day of summer camp when we're all crying and hugging and promising to keep in touch. WE CAN DO IT, WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY. See you all on #ToastieTwitter!

"Three foggy mornings and one rainy day will rot the best birch fence a man can build, and you’ve just built a birch fence with your own two hands."

WHY DID THIS MAKE ME CRY.

GOD DAMMIT, ROBERT.

I don't know, I don't have 2020 vision.

(I got to say this in actual real life to my actual dad the day before yesterday, and it was the crowning moment of my year.)

It doesn't really matter if you believe them or not. Once an abuse accusation has been made, since you're an adult in position of responsibility working with students, that's the perspective you have to come at this with. Not "who should I believe?" but "what are the responsibilities I have in this situation and how can I keep everyone safe?"

Is this a theater tech crew as part of a high school? Are these college-age kids, or minors? If it's teenagers in a school, you should escalate this to at minimum to a guidance counselor. What kind of abuse has been reported? If it's anything involving physical or sexual violence, if it's a minor, you are almost certainly legally required to report it, and your school should have a policy in place for how to escalate that. Your guidance counselors or HR staff should know what the policy is and can tell you what you need to do next.

It's not your job to determine what happened, but to get this information to the people who do have that job, so everyone can be safe. If the abuse reported is emotional abuse among adults, then it's not necessarily something you have a direct role in preventing and stepping back might be the path of least harm, but make sure you're doing what you can to minimize harm if the accusations are true.

It's normal to harbor doubts and to want to trust the student you already had faith and confidence in, and you might be completely correct about who to trust, but since you're in a position of responsibility, you have to make sure that if the accusations are true, you've protected everyone you're overseeing to the best of your ability.