In an ideal world, educational institutions are learning havens where teachers nurture and facilitate their students’ personal and professional growth. However, the reality begs to differ. Several countries, including the US, have seen a record-high number of students accusing their teachers and peers of sexual misconduct during the last few years.
These days most morning news bulletins, almost ritualistically, feature a headline regarding sexual harassment in schools. Tragic as it may be, a whopping four and a half million students in the US go through some form of sexual misconduct every day. Sexual misconduct can take place at any level, from first grade to the twelfth. Though most perpetrators are school employees, peers can be just as harmful. The actual act can range from inappropriate sexual comments to physical molestation.
Those at the receiving end of sexual misconduct report disinterest in going to school, trouble sleeping, and reluctance to take the same route to school as before. As a result, class absenteeism shoots up, and the student’s overall learning and productivity decline. Again, sexual harassment comes in many forms, such as cyber, verbal, and physical.
How Can We Better Grasp The Problem?
For many students, unwarranted touching, homophobic comments, and other sexually suggestive remarks have become a norm of school/college life. These incidents can happen in secluded places like the school gym and not-so-secluded places like the halls.
And due to lack of awareness, the school’s staff fails to understand the issue or deems it equal to bullying. In turn, they indirectly normalize the behavior or don’t intervene when it occurs. Social workers, like school counselors, can step in and lend a helping hand in these situations. So, when asked, “what can you do with a masters in social work?” you can proudly say that you’re helping safeguard the next generation.
Here’s how to identify sexual harassment in schools, including unsolicited sexual behavior or sexually inappropriate communication:
Someone in authority manipulates a vulnerable student into believing they must accept unwarranted sexual acts and communications to gain an educational benefit. For example, a professor promises their student an extra grade point, or a coach offers a place on the school’s official team in return for a sexual favor.
Such behavior can make the school’s environment seem threatening or intimidating and compromise students’ academic performance and mental well-being.
How Can We Prevent Sexual Harassment In School/College?
Educational institutions cannot eradicate sexual misconduct unless they properly communicate to students and staff that there’s no tolerance for such behavior.
Some approaches to achieve this purpose include:
- Developing and enforcing an effective complaint procedure
- Taking the correct and prompt actions in response to student/employee complaints
- Conducting sexual harassment training for the school employees and students
Teachers can significantly reduce sexual harassment among their students by only being approachable to those in need. Schools must work with their employees to develop an environment of mutual respect and care for their students.
Moreover, schools and their pupils must understand their respective federal and state laws. Students must familiarize themselves with their school’s procedures and policies concerning sexual harassment.
Besides having a zero-tolerance policy on such conduct, schools should also implement a rigid anti-harassment policy. The policy should:
- Identify inappropriate behavior with clear examples
- Describe the procedure of lodging a complaint or report
- List the administrators that the victim can contact for a harassment-related complaint
- List down the consequences of violating the policy, such as expulsion
- Explain the principle of confidentiality and the consequences of breaking it
As for preventive measures, proper communication and detailed documentation are some of the most effective.
What Are The Different Forms Of Sexual Harassment?
- Unsolicited, sexual touches
- Requests for sexual favors
- Sexually charged writings or drawings
- Unwarranted sexual images or texts
- Demeaning or sexual humor and remarks
- Physical abuse, including sexual assault
Surprisingly, the results of an AAUW survey report that students of both genders openly admitted to sexually harassing their peers. Half of the survey participants stated, “part of school life” or “just a joke” as a valid reason for their behavior. Not surprisingly, most of those admitting to harassing others were also victims of sexual harassment, indicating that sexual harassment is a vicious circle.
What do The Numbers say About Sexual Harassment in School/College?
- On average, almost half of all US students are victims of sexual harassment in their schools or colleges. And out of the total victims, 87% have experienced adverse effects in the long term.
- According to AAUW statistics, 7% of boys and a whopping 21% of schoolgirls report cyberbullying instances, such as online blackmailing.
- When asked, 30% of students in a survey reported having observed sexual harassment in their schools.
- In a study about sexual harassment experiences of LGBTQ students, approximately 75% reported instances of verbal harassment. Consequently, these students have comparatively lower GPAs, 9-15% less than the rest.
- For middle schoolers, every one in four students recall physical or verbal sexual harassment incidents.
- Tragically, only 27% of these students reported these incidents to their friends and families. And only 9% took the matters up with their school authorities. Nearly one-half of student sexual harassment cases weren’t registered at all.
- After such experiences, 30% of students had also skipped one or more school days in the last month.
Conclusion
Though schools are meant to be a sanctuary for their pupils, the recent rise in sexual misconduct paints a different picture. For most victims, this behavior has become a part of their daily lives, which shows how deep-rooted the problem is. This article discussed the dire situation of public schools concerning sexual harassment and some ways to prevent it. Some ways to protect students from such behavior include conducting sexual harassment training sessions, implementing the right policies, and having an effective complaint/grievances procedure in place.
I am Jones Smith and I am here to share my experience and expertise in writing. I’ve been writing articles for different publications for more than 6 years. I have a varied range of interests and that’s why I love blogging about different topics. In my opinion, blogging is a lot like acting, and I consider writing blog posts as an acting job. I am an entrepreneur by heart and there is nothing big or small when it comes to starting a business.