We all remember that high school classmate—the one whom all the other girls scorned. That girl had her phone number scrawled on every bathroom wall in the school. She endured heckles—and worse—as she walked down the halls. She suffered disapproving glances from students and teachers. In private, she wondered what she had done to deserve such treatment and if she could ever go anywhere or meet anyone without her reputation preceding her.
A 2001 American Association of University Women (AAUW) Educational Foundation report, Hostile Hallways: Bullying, Teasing, and Sexual Harassment in School, examines the results of a survey of public school students in grades 8–11. The survey sought to determine how physical and nonphysical harassment in school affects students' lives. The report indicates that sexual harassment happens often, occurs right under teachers' noses, can begin in elementary school, and upsets both girls and boys.
What Is Sexual Harassment?
In an employment context, courts generally recognize two types of sexual harassment: quid pro quo and hostile environment. These correspond to some aspects of the school environment as well. Quid pro quo harassment occurs when, for example, a teacher offers to raise a student's grade in exchange for a sexual act. By contrast, hostile environment harassment in school includes continual sexual taunting.
The AAUW Educational Foundation survey defined sexual harassment as "unwanted and unwelcome sexual behavior that interferes with your life." Sexual harassment does not include behaviors that students like or want (for example, wanted kissing, touching, or flirting). Students responding to the survey reported hearing sexual comments or seeing graffiti, being called gay and lesbian, being touched or grabbed in a sexual way, being forced to kiss someone or perform other sexual acts, or being bullied or threatened because of their sexual orientation.
How Pervasive and Damaging Is It?
The Hostile Hallways survey found that four out of five students (81 percent) experience some form of sexual harassment, and 18 percent of students fear being hurt by someone in their school. Girls and boys reported that harassment makes them feel embarrassed (53 and 32 percent respectively), self-conscious (44 and 19 percent), and less confident (32 and 16 percent). Harassed students said that they talk less in class and find it hard to pay attention. Not surprisingly, students change their behaviors to avoid harassers, including skipping school (16 percent), dropping out of a particular activity or sport (9 percent), and dropping courses (3 percent). Girls commented that being sexually harassed makes them feel "dirty—like a piece of trash," "terrible," "awkward," and "like a second- class citizen."
Is Harassment Against the Law?
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sexual discrimination, including sexual harassment, in federally funded schools, programs, and activities. States have also enacted statutes against sexual harassment in schools. The Illinois legislature, for example, passed a law requiring schools to create an anti-bullying policy.
The equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been invoked by gay teens seeking relief from sexual harassment. In the case of Nabozny v. Podlesny (1996), Jamie Nabozny was constantly harassed, both verbally and physically, at school. Harassment included a mock rape in front of his classmates and a beating that left him with broken ribs. When he complained to a school official, Nabozny was told that he "had to expect that kind of stuff" because of his sexual orientation. Nabozny moved to another state to obtain a graduate equivalent degree, and, in 1995, he sued the school district in which he had been harassed. Judges for the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that they were "unable to garner any rational basis for permitting one student to assault another based on the victim's sexual orientation" (Nabozny v. Podlesny, 1996, at 458) and eventually awarded Nabozny $900,000 in damages.
In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education that a school district can be held liable in sexual harassment cases when the school knows about the harassment and fails to deal with it adequately. LaShonda Davis, a 5th grader, reported to her teacher that she had been harassed by a fellow 5th grader who attempted to fondle her breasts, said that he wanted to get in bed with her, and rubbed against her in a sexually suggestive way. Davis complained to three different teachers on several different occasions. One of the teachers told the principal, yet the harassment continued. Finally, Davis's mother pressed charges against the boy for sexual battery, to which he pled guilty. Throughout the ordeal, Davis's grades dropped, and she wrote a suicide note. Davis's mother sued the school district for deliberate indifference, alleging that the principal's inaction led to Davis's emotional distress.
What Can Schools Do?
Establish a Harassment Policy
As reported in Hostile Hallways, 70 percent of students know that their schools have a policy that prohibits sexual harassment, a significant increase from the 25 percent of students who knew about such policies when the first AAUW survey was conducted in 1993. One-third of students responded that their schools distribute booklets, handouts, and other literature on sexual harassment. The first step in stopping harassment must be to ensure that all schools have policies on how to handle sexual harassment and that all students understand those policies.
- Define the types of harassment—race, color, national origin, ethnicity, sex, disability, sexual orientation, and religion—covered by the policy.
- Identify the kinds of activities and sites where prohibited conduct could occur.
- Include standards for determining whether a hostile environment exists.
- Specify that the school will take remedial action to stop the harassment and prevent recurrence.
- Include specific procedures to address formal complaints of discrimination.
- Require staff to report harassment when they become aware of it.
- Prohibit retaliation against people who report harassment or participate in related proceedings.
The AAUW, in conjunction with the National Education Association, is forming a task force to develop an assessment tool that schools can use to evaluate the effectiveness of their sexual harassment policies.
A zero tolerance policy may indicate that the school does not accept sexual harassment. Such a policy may send mixed signals, however, about which behaviors are acceptable and which are prohibited. After all, sexual harassment does not include such behaviors as kissing or holding hands when these behaviors are welcomed. A zero tolerance policy may also create an adversarial relationship between students and faculty members that discourages students from reporting sexual harassment.
Discuss Harassment with Students
Once an anti-harassment policy is in place, students need more than pamphlets to help them understand sexual harassment. Students need dialogue. They need an opportunity to ask questions about sexual harassment. They need an opportunity to talk to one another about how harassment makes them feel.
Students surveyed for Hostile Hallways described the inadequacy of many school programs to deal with harassment. One 8th grade girl suggested,Instead of popping in a video and expecting the problem to be solved, teachers need to take time out and talk to us. It's a problem that one video can't fix.A 10th grade boy said, "They should help distinguish a little more the differences between sexual harassment and accidents."
Researcher Nan Stein (1999) emphasizes that schools have an obligation to be mindful of and vigilant about harassment and peer-on-peer interactions, but that they must also take advantage of "teachable moments"—incidents of inappropriate behavior that can spark students to discuss norms and behaviors in school.
Enforce the Policy
Creating an anti-harassment policy and helping students understand harassment are not enough—the policy must be enforced. According to the AAUW survey, even though students know about school harassment policies, they report harassment in the hallways (71 percent of respondents had experienced physical harassment and 64 percent had experienced nonphysical harassment in the hallways), in the classroom (61 percent physical and 56 percent nonphysical), in the gym (45 percent physical and 43 percent nonphysical), and in the cafeteria (37 percent physical and 38 percent nonphysical). Teachers and administrators are present in all of these public places and must be aware of harassment, yet victims—and harassers—know that, all too often, there will be no repercussions for harassing behavior.
All adults in schools, not just teachers, need training to identify sexual harassment and to enforce the school's sexual harassment policy. According to the Office of Civil Rights (1999),The lack of a strong, immediate response by a teacher or administrator who is aware of the harassment may be perceived by a student as approval of the activity or as an indication that the student deserves the harassment. (p. 25) Several companies and individuals help schools train their staff to recognize and deal with sexual harassment.
Create a Supportive Environment
An integral part of successfully preventing sexual harassment in schools includes providing an environment in which students feel comfortable talking to adults about harassment and in which students know that staff members will take their complaints seriously. Schools need to find a middle ground between a casual, laissez-faire attitude toward harassment that may be legally defined as neglectful and an intractable zero tolerance policy that causes staff members to overreact to questionable behaviors and that discourages conversation about the topic.
Some schools have created support groups as a forum for targeted students (gay and lesbian students, for example). Support groups send a message to everyone that such students are a respected part of the student body. Although support groups may cause an uproar in some communities, schools that encourage such groups will go a long way toward creating a supportive and safe environment for all students.
Everyone knows that sexual harassment takes place; in fact, many of us have felt its sting. Nevertheless, none of us should tolerate it. Our perceptions that "boys will be boys" and that "everyone gets teased" must change so that sexual harassment is seen as a serious issue—one that directly affects students' lives and learning.
