“John schools” are programs for men arrested for buying sex. They focus on providing education and/or therapeutic treatment for sex buyers, and the generic term covers a broad range of content, delivery modes, and how the programs fit within justice system options for sanctioning and educating offenders.  In-person programs have been established in more than 70 locations in the United States, and have served sex buyers who have been arrested in more than 235 cities and counties.

John schools may be structured as a condition of a criminal sentence, in which mandatory participation is combined with other sanctions (such as fines and probation), or may be offered as a diversion option, resulting in reduced penalties or dismissed charges if successfully completed. Some john schools are one-day education classes, while others are designed as multiple-session counseling or education programs. The programs are financed by the fees or fines that arrested sex buyers pay (typically, about $400, and ranging from $0 to $1,500) for soliciting prostitution. The fees or fines usually cover all program costs, and often produce excess revenue used to fund survivor support programs.  In addition to on-site classroom participation, john schools can be accessed from any location as online courses. At least eight online versions of john school courses are available nationwide, and courts in jurisdictions without traditional, in-person programs have accepted online courses to meet sentencing conditions or diversion program requirements.

A typical john school curriculum includes these topics:

• Health consequences
• Impact on communities
• Impact on prostitution and sex trafficking survivors
• Crime victimization risks
• Legal consequences

Other topics presented in john schools include:

• Male development, decision making, and responsibility
• Developing and maintaining healthy relationships
• Anger management
• Human trafficking
• Dynamics of pimping
• Sexual addiction
• Impact on spouses, children, and relationships

Variations on the one-time classroom model include:

• Multiple individual or group counseling sessions, such as those in:
  • Grand Rapids, MI
  • Kansas City, KS
  • Salt Lake City, UT
  • Seattle, WA
• A video john school in which a DVD recording is presented to arrested sex buyers while they await processing
  • Cook County, IL IL)
• Online versions of john schools, such as:
  • Advent eLearning
  • American Integrity Courses
  • Court Solutions Online
  • Logan Social Services
  • Life Wisdom Foundation
  • North American Learning Institute
  • ProProfs Store
  • Online Court Ordered Classes
• A “roadside john school” involved a condensed presentation given to men suspected of soliciting prostitution, but who were not arrested:
  • Tucson, AZ

To learn more about john schools and how they have been implemented, please see our Tactic Summary document (March, 2023).  To access additional information about specific programs and the U.S. cities and counties where john schools have been used, you may open the “Browse Locations” window, and then select “John School” from the “Tactics” list. Similarly, the locations where john schools have been used may be mapped on Demand Forum by choosing “John School” from the list. Additional resources that can help to start, improve, and sustain john schools are provided in the links to program examples below, and on the web pages for each city or county that has implemented these programs.

Seattle, WA

Organization for Prostitution Survivors

• • • Stopping Sexual Exploitation: a Program for Men
    • Stopping Sexual Exploitation: 2019 Program Evaluation

Kansas City, KS & Kansas City, MO

Veronica’s Voice

• • Veronica’s Voice John School Overview
  • Johnz School Program Evaluation: 2008-2014

Modeling Equality & Veronica’s Voice (program adapted from SSE Program, Seattle, WA)

• • Stopping Sexual Exploitation: a Program for Men, Kansas City MSA
  • Stopping Sexual Exploitation: A Program for Men

Los Angeles, CA

• About the Prostitution Diversion Program