Sexual Harassment
"First of all, let me say that being
sexually harassed since 5th grade has
gone beyond the damage of affecting the
way I feel.... Now...I have no pride, no
self- confidence, and still no way
out of the [misery] I am put through in my
school."1 Sexual harassment of
students is a real and serious problem in
education at all levels, including
elementary and secondary schools as well as
colleges and universities. It can
affect any student, regardless of sex, race,
or age. Sexual harassment can
threaten a student's physical or emotional
well-being, influence how well a
student does in school, and make it difficult
for a student to achieve his or
her career goals. Moreover, sexual harassment is
illegal--Title IX of the
Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) prohibits sex
discrimination,
including sexual harassment. Preventing and remedying sexual
harassment in
schools is essential to ensure nondiscriminatory, safe
environments in which
students can learn. A...student should feel safe and
comfortable walking down
the halls of his or her school. School is a place for
learning and growing.
Sexual harassment stops that process.2 This pamphlet
provides school
administrators, teachers, students, and parents with fundamental
information
to assist them in recognizing and dealing with sexual harassment
under Title
IX. It outlines basic principles in question-and-answer format. Some
more
information about a school's responsibilities has been omitted, and
school
officials should read "Sexual Harassment Guidance: Harassment of
Students
by School Employees, Other Students, or Third Parties" to ensure a
full
understanding of the law. Parents and students can also consult this
Guidance,
for more information about student rights. The Guidance was
published by the
Office for Civil Rights in the Federal Register on March
of 1997 and may be
obtained from any of the OCR Enforcement Offices or by
calling 1-800-421-3481.
It is also posted on OCR s web page at
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCR/ocrpubs.html.
Sexual harassment can occur
at any school activity and can take place in
classrooms, halls, cafeterias,
dormitories and other areas. Too often, the
behavior is allowed to continue
simply because students and employees are not
informed about what sexual
harassment is or how to stop it. Students, parents
and school staff must be
able to recognize sexual harassment, and understand
what they can do to
prevent it from occurring and how to stop it if it does
occur. Harassing
behavior, if ignored or not reported, is likely to continue and
become worse,
rather than go away. The impact of sexual harassment on a
student's
educational progress and attainment of future goals can be significant
and
should not be underestimated. As a result of sexual harassment, a
student
may, for example, have trouble learning, drop a class or drop out of
school
altogether, lose trust in school officials, become isolated, fear for
personal
safety, or lose self-esteem. For these reasons, a school should not
accept,
tolerate or overlook sexual harassment. A school should not excuse
the
harassment with an attitude of "that's just emerging
adolescent
sexuality" or "boys will be boys," or ignore it for fear
of
damaging a professor's reputation. This does nothing to stop the
sexual
harassment and can even send a message that such conduct is accepted
or
tolerated by the school. When a school makes it clear that sexual
harassment
will not be tolerated, trains its staff, and appropriately
responds when
harassment occurs, students will see the school as a safe place
where everyone
can learn.