Raising the Awareness of Sexual Harassment and Preventing Its Occurrence in the Junior/Senior High School Environment.

N

70

Adolescents; Antisocial Behavior; Classroom Environment; Educational Environment; High Schools; Junior High Schools; Prevention; Secondary Education; Sexual Harassment; Student Attitudes; Student Behavior; Student Development; Student Rights

The problem of sexual harassment in junior and senior high schools is addressed in this practicum. Its major goals were to raise the awareness and understanding of sexual harassment and to create a school environment that does not tolerate sexual harassment. It was found that both students and staff possessed a poor understanding of what defines sexual harassment and the damaging effects it has on its victims. The setting for this study was a small public school district in the midwest, which had no sexual harassment policy for students. Most of the students came from white, middle class families. Sexual harassment was occurring on an almost daily basis within the school district, although most of the perpetrators did not realize that their actions were considered sexual harassment. Specifics on how the new program was instituted are discussed. Four of the five projected outcomes of the practicum were met: the school district adopted a strong policy prohibiting sexual harassment; at least 80% of all staff and students came to understand what sexual harassment is; complaints and reports of sexual harassment decreased; and students were able to demonstrate their knowledge regarding sexual harassment. Recommendations for implementing this practicum in other settings are provided. Appendices include two pre-training quizzes and several case studies with answers. Contains 16 references. (RJM)

1997

ED400503