Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
NEW YORK It can be a malicious rumor whispered in the hallway, a lewd photo arriving by cell phone, hands groping where they shouldn't. Added up, it's an epidemic student-on-student sexual harassment that is pervasive in America's middle schools and high schools.
During the 2010-11 school year, 48 percent of students in grades 7-12 experienced some form of sexual harassment in person or electronically via texting, email and social media, according to a major national survey being released Monday by the American Association of University Women.
The harassers often thought they were being funny, but the consequences for their targets can be wrenching, according to the survey. Nearly a third of the victims said the harassment made them feel sick to their stomach, affected their study habits or fueled reluctance to go to school at all.
"It's reached a level where it's almost a normal part of the school day," said one of the report's co-authors, AAUW director of research Catherine Hill. "It's somewhat of a vicious cycle. The kids who are harassers often have been harassed themselves."
The survey, conducted in May and June, asked 1,002 girls and 963 boys from public and private schools nationwide whether they had experienced any of various forms of sexual harassment. These included having someone make unwelcome sexual comments about them, being called gay or lesbian in a negative way, being touched in an unwelcome sexual way, being shown sexual pictures they didn't want to see, and being the subject of unwelcome sexual rumors.
The survey quoted one ninth-grade girl as saying she was called a whore "because I have many friends that are boys." A 12th-grade boy said schoolmates circulated an image showing his face attached to an animal having sex.
In all, 56 percent of the girls and 40 percent of the boys said they had experienced at least one incident of sexual harassment during the school year.
After being harassed, half of the targeted students did nothing about it. Of the rest, some talked to parents or friends, but only 9 percent reported the incident to a teacher, guidance counselor or other adult at school, according to the survey.
Reasons for not reporting included doubts it would have any impact, fears of making the situation worse, and concerns about the staff member's reaction.
The AAUW had examined the problem previously in 1993 and 2001 and found that more than 80 percent of students reported experiencing sexual harassment at least once in their school career. The new study was not directly comparable because it looked at only a single year, but co-author Holly Kearl of AAUW's Legal Advocacy Fund said the problem had not eased and may have worsened because of the spread of electronic and online harassment.
The report comes at a time when the problem of bullying at schools is in the spotlight, in part because of several recent suicides of beleaguered students.
The AAUW report observes that sexual harassment and bullying can sometimes overlap, such as the taunting of youths who are perceived to be gay or lesbian, but it says there are important distinctions. For example, there are some state laws against bullying, but serious sexual harassment at a level which interferes with a student's education_ is prohibited under the federal gender-equality legislation known as Title IX.
"Too often, the more comfortable term bullying is used to describe sexual harassment, obscuring the role of gender and sex in these incidents," the report says. "Schools are likely to promote bullying prevention while ignoring or downplaying sexual harassment."
Fatima Goss Graves, a vice president of the National Women's Law Center in Washington, said the ultimate goal should be to deter hurtful student interactions however they are defined.
"Schools get too caught up in the label," she said. "If it's the sort of conduct that's interfering with a student's performance, it ought to be stopped."
The survey asked students for suggestions on how to reduce sexual harassment at their schools. More than half favored systematic punishments for harassers and said there should be a mechanism for reporting harassment anonymously.
The AAUW report said all schools should create a sexual-harassment policy and make sure it is publicized and enforced. It said schools must ensure that students are educated about what their rights are under Title IX, with special attention paid to encouraging girls to respond assertively to harassment since they are targeted more often than boys.
Niobe Way, a professor of applied psychology at New York University who has studied adolescent relationships, suggested that school anti-harassment policies might have only limited impact without broader cultural changes that break down gender stereotypes.
"You have a culture that doesn't value boys having close intimate relations and being emotional or empathetic," she said.
I have an 18-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son. I'd say that based upon their experiences, this is probably an accurate description of the daily life of an American teenager (my kids are honor students, and have still experienced this stuff).
It happened to us, we survived it. The major concern I would have would be in regards to teachers sexually or racially discriminating against students (i.e., not putting girls or minorities into science classes for instance). Teenagers making sexual comments to each other? Seems like pretty much par for the course. Wait till college! It gets even better!
It happened to us, we survived it. The major concern I would have would be in regards to teachers sexually or racially discriminating against students (i.e., not putting girls or minorities into science classes for instance). Teenagers making sexual comments to each other? Seems like pretty much par for the course. Wait till college! It gets even better!
Its kind of a bad precedence though if we let this go in high school and college, but as soon I get a job and I tell my hot co-worker she has a nice ass and I get fired. If you get used to behaving this way you won't stop when school is out.
It happened to us, we survived it. The major concern I would have would be in regards to teachers sexually or racially discriminating against students (i.e., not putting girls or minorities into science classes for instance). Teenagers making sexual comments to each other? Seems like pretty much par for the course. Wait till college! It gets even better!
Its kind of a bad precedence though if we let this go in high school and college, but as soon I get a job and I tell my hot co-worker she has a nice ass and I get fired. If you get used to behaving this way you won't stop when school is out.
I'm not aware of too many people going down that path. Few people actually lose their job because of sexual harassment. The office I work in has a lot of younger adults in the their 20s and 30s and in the five years I've been here nobody has been fired for sexual harassment or even accused of it as far as I know. What's being described by the OP is kids being kids, in my opinion.
All i know is this is nothing new. Kids are as vicious as they come. The abusers don't have the life experience to hold their tongues or thoughts. They find what hurts and exploit it. The victims don't have the life experience to let what others say roll off of them.
The new problem is that there are just new outlets for it to happen.
When I see or hear it in my class room I stop it. A lot of the harrassment is happening on FB and by texting. Parents sending their kids to school with an understanding of how they are expected to treat girls would help. And girls acting in a manner that does not invite inappropriate comments would be helpful as well.
When I see or hear it in my class room I stop it. A lot of the harrassment is happening on FB and by texting. Parents sending their kids to school with an understanding of how they are expected to treat girls would help. And girls acting in a manner that does not invite inappropriate comments would be helpful as well.
How would you suggest they do that? when I was on deployment in the Middle East I have seen women in black burkas get sexually suggestive slurs thrown at them.
When I see or hear it in my class room I stop it. A lot of the harrassment is happening on FB and by texting. Parents sending their kids to school with an understanding of how they are expected to treat girls would help. And girls acting in a manner that does not invite inappropriate comments would be helpful as well.
How would you suggest they do that? when I was on deployment in the Middle East I have seen women in black burkas get sexually suggestive slurs thrown at them.
They can do that by their dress, their attitude, their mannerisms, and by the way they present themselves. This goes to their self-confidence, self-image, and self-esteem. All that of course leads back to their parents and upbringing. Lots of kids of course are from one parent situations. Being a generational victim is passed down like the family Bible in some families, regardless of number of parents.
My health and medical sciences classes are about 75 percent girls and the rest boys. I have girls that look like super models that no one dares harrass, sexually or otherwise. I have others that practically have VICTIM written on their foreheads, regardless of their physical attributes.
Children of all genders need role models that demonstrate right vs. wrong. When we grownups observe them doing wrong, we need to have the courage to correct them. I survive in six classrooms of 85 percent non-whites by first showing the kids that I care about them. I work hard on developing their job finding and college admission skills. They learn a little medicine and get a couple of certifications along the way, but helping them get ahead in a world in which the unemployment rate is 50 percent or more is where I earn my keep. I also do not use profanity (you might be surprised that some teachers do) and do not allow the students to use it. Bullying and harrassment is not allowed. I lead by example with firmness but with a calmness that invites conversation. I have girls occasionally ask me about relationship issues. Boys do not ask as much as they think they know it all, but I will let them know in a hurry about how a girl should be treated when I notice there is a need.
It is more difficult than ever to be a teenager, but than just means that we who are responsible need to work harder.
All i know is this is nothing new. Kids are as vicious as they come. The abusers don't have the life experience to hold their tongues or thoughts. They find what hurts and exploit it. The victims don't have the life experience to let what others say roll off of them.
The new problem is that there are just new outlets for it to happen.
I agree 100%, from what I have seen kids dont developy empathy or sympathy until later in life, they can be more cruel and vicious than adults. I think the new outlets like cyber bullying on Facebook and Twitter has made things worse, because now even when you go home after school the bullying doesn't stop.
How would you suggest they do that? when I was on deployment in the Middle East I have seen women in black burkas get sexually suggestive slurs thrown at them.
They can do that by their dress, their attitude, their mannerisms, and by the way they present themselves. This goes to their self-confidence, self-image, and self-esteem. All that of course leads back to their parents and upbringing. Lots of kids of course are from one parent situations. Being a generational victim is passed down like the family Bible in some families, regardless of number of parents.
My health and medical sciences classes are about 75 percent girls and the rest boys. I have girls that look like super models that no one dares harrass, sexually or otherwise. I have others that practically have VICTIM written on their foreheads, regardless of their physical attributes.
Children of all genders need role models that demonstrate right vs. wrong. When we grownups observe them doing wrong, we need to have the courage to correct them. I survive in six classrooms of 85 percent non-whites by first showing the kids that I care about them. I work hard on developing their job finding and college admission skills. They learn a little medicine and get a couple of certifications along the way, but helping them get ahead in a world in which the unemployment rate is 50 percent or more is where I earn my keep. I also do not use profanity (you might be surprised that some teachers do) and do not allow the students to use it. Bullying and harrassment is not allowed. I lead by example with firmness but with a calmness that invites conversation. I have girls occasionally ask me about relationship issues. Boys do not ask as much as they think they know it all, but I will let them know in a hurry about how a girl should be treated when I notice there is a need.
It is more difficult than ever to be a teenager, but than just means that we who are responsible need to work harder.
I definently understand what you are saying and I can agree with it to a degree however not all the kids being sexually harassed in schools dress slutty or act in that way, believe me. For alot of these kids bullying is a power play and is the only thing they have, kind of like in a prison yard. If a girl dressed like Mother Teresa in school there is no guarantee she would be left alone, she would probably be more harassed more than the other kids. I think we need to start looking at the people doing the sexual harassing themselves, not the victims.
They can do that by their dress, their attitude, their mannerisms, and by the way they present themselves. This goes to their self-confidence, self-image, and self-esteem. All that of course leads back to their parents and upbringing. Lots of kids of course are from one parent situations. Being a generational victim is passed down like the family Bible in some families, regardless of number of parents.
My health and medical sciences classes are about 75 percent girls and the rest boys. I have girls that look like super models that no one dares harrass, sexually or otherwise. I have others that practically have VICTIM written on their foreheads, regardless of their physical attributes.
Children of all genders need role models that demonstrate right vs. wrong. When we grownups observe them doing wrong, we need to have the courage to correct them. I survive in six classrooms of 85 percent non-whites by first showing the kids that I care about them. I work hard on developing their job finding and college admission skills. They learn a little medicine and get a couple of certifications along the way, but helping them get ahead in a world in which the unemployment rate is 50 percent or more is where I earn my keep. I also do not use profanity (you might be surprised that some teachers do) and do not allow the students to use it. Bullying and harrassment is not allowed. I lead by example with firmness but with a calmness that invites conversation. I have girls occasionally ask me about relationship issues. Boys do not ask as much as they think they know it all, but I will let them know in a hurry about how a girl should be treated when I notice there is a need.
It is more difficult than ever to be a teenager, but than just means that we who are responsible need to work harder.
I definently understand what you are saying and I can agree with it to a degree however not all the kids being sexually harassed in schools dress slutty or act in that way, believe me. For alot of these kids bullying is a power play and is the only thing they have, kind of like in a prison yard. If a girl dressed like Mother Teresa in school there is no guarantee she would be left alone, she would probably be more harassed more than the other kids. I think we need to start looking at the people doing the sexual harassing themselves, not the victims.
I didn't say all the kids being harrassed dress slutty. Most of my post was about empowering kids to fend for themselves in all areas. It's tough out there and the males need to know that sexual harrassment is wrong for moral and ethical reasons but also to protect them from disciplinary or legal troubles. It all starts with what's in a person's heart. That cannot be legislated.
It happened to us, we survived it. The major concern I would have would be in regards to teachers sexually or racially discriminating against students (i.e., not putting girls or minorities into science classes for instance). Teenagers making sexual comments to each other? Seems like pretty much par for the course. Wait till college! It gets even better!
When I see or hear it in my class room I stop it. A lot of the harrassment is happening on FB and by texting. Parents sending their kids to school with an understanding of how they are expected to treat girls would help. And girls acting in a manner that does not invite inappropriate comments would be helpful as well.
