Thread: Sexual Harrassment by Students

Laurie, this situation is wrong no matter how you look at it. My own opinion (and keep in mind that I have NO legal training at all) is that the actions you describe are sexual harassment. At the very least, they are a form of bullying. If nothing is done concerning that, then you have, I think, legal recourse. You need to talk to a lawyer about that, but first, I would document every effort you make to resolve the issue by use of the chain of command. That means talk to the teacher, then the administration, then the district office.....so on.... Keep a record of it all. When and only when you have done all this would I take it to an outside agency.

Sadly, small towns can be "closed" societies and "outsiders" can be viewed with suspicion and treated badly. If you are facing such a situation, you might want to consider relocating. Not an easy choice, I know, but I recall my step father having issues with some of the "good ole boys" in a small town where he lived and he endured everything from having his electricity shut off with no explanation to having a fire hydrant opened in the street and the ensuing flood of water nearly filling his basement. It got pretty ugly.

That is really terrible.

What systems does the school have in place for BULLYING as it is? Because regardless of whether it is sexual harassment or not, it is definitely bullying and should be treated according to the schools guidelines about bullying.

I hope it all works out for your friend.

Thank you for your replies. My friend has decided to put her kids in an on-line charter school because she does not want them back in the school system. The family cannot afford to move again and does not want the kids exposed to this garbage again. The town they're in has people that are very friendly to new people, making them feel welcome, and many who are just a little too, well, closeminded and unfriendly to outsiders. I get the distinct feeling that all the kids in town either play baseball or have sex (or both). I'm sure I'm exagerating, but I could go on all day about some of the things that went on in the last 6 months there. Since the school system is so small, there's very little the school would or could do about keepng the girl who did the punching and the girl who got punched apart. Hopefully, the on-line charter school will work for them and they have already joined an active homeschool group so the kids can make friends with other kids their own ages. The parents do not seem interested in pursuing bullying "charges" since the kids will not be going back to school at this time.
Again, thank you for your comments.