National Study Finds Widespread Sexual Harassment of Students in Grades 7 to 12

Parent Cafe
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<p>National Study Finds Widespread Sexual Harassment of Students in Grades 7 to 12
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/education/widespread-sexual-harassment-in-grades-7-to-12-found-in-study.html?em&exprod=myyahoo[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/education/widespread-sexual-harassment-in-grades-7-to-12-found-in-study.html?em&exprod=myyahoo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Quote:
"Nearly half of 7th to 12th graders experienced sexual harassment in the last school year, according to a study scheduled for release on Monday, with 87 percent of those who have been harassed reporting negative effects such as absenteeism, poor sleep and stomachaches. "</p>

<p>Have many of you found this to be true? I had no idea that it was such a problem in schools, although from the article it seems that most of the harassment is verbal rather than physical. </p>

<p>My children are homeschooled so I’m not always up on what is going on in schools.</p>

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<p>I experienced several incidences of sexual harassment in junior high and high school. More severe in Junior High and yes, it was verbal.</p>

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<p>This isn’t exactly news. My D is all grown up now. This was a problem 15 years ago. </p>

<p>My D is “well endowed.” She has been since the age of 13 or so. The comments were unreal. At one point, while talking to a boy in the same EC, she ducked down and said “This is my face, ___. When you talk to someone, you’e supposed to look at their (okay…grammatically incorrect) FACE. Do you understand that!!!” That isn’t the part of her anatomy he usually stared at when talking to her. </p>

<p>In 7th grade, the girls came back from lunch one day and discovered that the boys had made charts ranking all of the girls in their homeroom in terms of their physical attributes and posted them in the classroom. My D came out 3rd overall. She was relieved. “High enough, so boys like you. Not so high that the other girls will gang up against you.”</p>

<p>One of my D’s closest friends came in at the bottom of the list in every category. Objectively, this wasn’t true. She transferred to an all girls school. She and my D ended up in the same class in college. She was lesbian.</p>

<p>Please don’t flame. I’ve wondered whether at some level the boys had figured out she wasn’t “straight” and that’s why they gave her such low rankings. I’ve also wondered whether the low rankings the boys gave her lead her to reject men. </p>

<p>No lectures, please. I honestly don’t know. I just know that in EVERY category, “jugs,” smile, personality, hair, legs, etc. the 7th grade boys ranked her dead last. And in the real world, that was FAR from true. I know she cried her eyes out, and, without telling her parents why, asked to transfer to an all girls school. My D didn’t know what to do…which is the only reason I know what happened.</p>

<p>One of my D’s teachers lives in our neighborhood. She referred to my D’s “boyfriend” in a conversation we happened to have when we ran into each other while commuting. I told her my D didn’t have a BF. She said “Oh, yes she does. <strong><em>” </em></strong> is the same young man mentioned above who stared at the wrong part of her anatomy. I told the teacher that she was wrong. He was most definitely NOT my D’s boyfriend. She launched into the “oh, I thought he was just teasing and they are friends” mode. Nope. He’s not teasing. It was UGLY…but my D would have killed me if I’d told the teacher the truth. The truth? You’re a moron who has allowed a boy to sexually harass my D all year.</p>

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<p>In the early 70’s I was sexually assaulted physically by a group of boys while waiting for the activity bus on school property.</p>

<p>This was an upper middle suburban jr high.</p>

<p>There seems to have been more supervision at my kids schools</p>

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<p>If the allegations are true, it looks like sexual harassment/rape are not limited to the school system.</p>

<p>

[Jerry</a> Sandusky and Penn State Scandal: Pedophiles Groom Their Victims - ABC News](<a href=“Penn State Scandal: 'Nice Guy' Pedophiles Groom Their Victims, Experts Say - ABC News”>Penn State Scandal: 'Nice Guy' Pedophiles Groom Their Victims, Experts Say - ABC News)</p>

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<p>This is yet another study that creates confusion because of the broad definition it uses for sexual harassment–I suppose it’s possible that it’s just the reporting of the results that is confusing. When you include everything from forcible sexual acts to “unwanted” “jokes” received electronically, it’s hard to really tell what’s going on. Sure, it’s all bad, but it’s not all equally bad, and not all bad in exactly the same way.</p>

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<p>Hunt - exactly my problem with studies like that. Let’s not lump a passing “hi ho” with a violent sexual assault. My analogy is, there are so many criminals out there. Did you know that 89% of New York City residents have either jaywalked or murdered someone?</p>

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<p>Yes, and that is one of the problems I have with the sexual offender lists. They may have a violent child rapist on the same list as an 18 year-old-boy who had sex with his 17-year-old girlfriend.</p>

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<p>I agree that this study was too broad in the definition of sexual harassment. In my day (gosh I’m so old!), verbal stuff was called teasing. The term ‘sexual harassment’ was unknown. </p>

<p>I guess I’m more curious to know who much physical sexual harassment happens in schools. However, it is true that verbal harassment does plenty of damage as well - as Jonir’s stories point out. </p>

<p>My daughter experienced sexual harassment at her job at a local restaurant. She went to the owner with her concerns, but he basically did nothing. So, she took matters into her own hands - literally. The next time he touched her (and this was in front of customers), she smacked him across the face (in front of those same customers). Wonder of wonders, he never touched her again. I was sorry that it had to come to that, but I was proud of her for standing up for herself.</p>

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<p>Don’t get me wrong–verbal harassment is bad, no question. But it appears from this article, at least, that a single instance of any of these things constitute the person having been sexually harassed. So, for example, although the list that jonri mentions above is (in my opinion) really bad–it would result in all of the girls in that class answering “yes” on this particular survey. I’m not sure what, exactly, that tells us.</p>

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<p>I think verbal sexual harassment is not “teasing”. Teasing is affectionate and lighthearted.</p>

<p>Sexual harassment is intended to objectify & demean the recipient. </p>

<p>I agree that making a sexual comment to peers is not the same degree as what happened to me, but it still should be not be ignored by school personnel because it affects the learning climate of the school.</p>

<p>In some ways verbal assaults are even more harmful than physical ones, because the verbal ones can be repeated in your head over & over again.</p>

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<p>So, you’re saying calling a girl a “ho” is okay? </p>

<p>I suppose at one point it wasn’t considered racism to call a black person the “N” word.</p>

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<p>Of course calling a girl a ho is not okay, but it’s not the same as a violent sexual assault. completely different but this survey lumps them together so it is as if they are the same.</p>

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Who decides whether a particular comment is lighthearted or not?</p>

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<p>I agree that physical and verbal assaults should be separated in reporting, ( as it appears in the study) as well as frequency & location.</p>

<p>I am grateful that we didn’t have electronic devices to aid harassers when I was in school- at least when I was assaulted I knew who was doing it to me & it wasn’t anonymous.</p>

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<p>Yes, verbal harrassment and physical assault could be separated.</p>

<p>Also, however, depersonalization begins with name calling and objectification. </p>

<p>Until the mysoginistic use of language towards girls is treated in the same pariah making fashion as the use of racist slurs, nothing will change.</p>

<p>If somebody playfully punches someone in the stomach, but the person playfully punched does not find it playful? Who gets to decide if it was playful?</p>

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Do you think the answer is obvious? I don’t.</p>

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<p>I hate to say it, but when I was in 7th grade, the male teachers would make sexually inappropriate comments about the female students and teachers. It’s not always just the students making the comments…</p>

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<p>I think there is no playful reason to call a girl a “ho” or a “slut” or to comment on her breasts or rear end or physical appearance. There are plenty of ways to let a girl know you like her that don’t require sexual comments about her body.</p>

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<p>Do you think the answer is obvious? I don’t.</p>

<p>Perhaps you might be interested in the autism thread.</p>