A resource guide to help parents, students, schools, and school districts assess their strengths and weaknesses with regard to existing sexual harassment policies, develop user-friendly sexual harassment policies based on existing models, understand their respective rights and responsibilities for reporting and responding to reports of sexual harassment, and develop an attitude of leadership on the issue of sexual harassment in schools.

This study investigates secondary school students' experiences of sexual harassment--and all the bullying, teasing, and touching it entails--and compares the results with those of the 1993 study "Hostile Hallways: The AAUW Survey on Sexual Harassment in America's Schools." Topics in the survey include students' knowledge and awareness of sexual harassment, personal experiences with sexual harassment in their school lives, and the emotional and behavioral impact of these experiences. A nationally representative sample of 2064 public school students in 8th through 11th grades was interviewed. Using self-administered questionnaires, 1559 students were surveyed during an English class, and 505 students were surveyed online. Students' answers were analyzed, where possible, to identify any difference by gender, race/ethnicity, grade level, and area of school. As in 1993, nearly all students say they know what sexual harassment is, and they provided their own definitions when asked. Major findings reveal the following: significant numbers of students are afraid of being hurt or bothered in their school lives; sexual harassment is widespread in school life; school sexual harassment has a negative impact on students' emotional and educational lives; students today are more likely than those in 1993 to say their schools have a policy or distribute literature on sexual harassment; nearly all students surveyed know what sexual harassment is; the most upsetting examples of sexual harassment in school life involve speech as well as actions; a sizeable minority of students reports high levels of sexual harassment in school; most experiences involve students harassing students, although many experiences involve school adults harassing students; and slightly more than half (54%) of students say they have sexually harassed someone during their school lives. Contains 29 figures and an afterword. Appended is the research methodology with additional figures. (BT)

Bullying and harassment threaten academic achievement and mental health in our schools. Look beyond your work with individual students to address these problems in their larger context! This book presents enlightening empirical studies and reviews of the literature on peer harassment, bullying, and victimization. Designed to expand our knowledge and understanding of these topics, Bullying, Peer Harassment, and Victimization in the Schools: The Next Generation of Prevention documents the widespread nature of the phenomena both inside and outside the United States, identifies risk and protective factors, and provides practitioners with specific, evidence-based guidelines for effective preventive action. From the editors: The problem of bullying, peer harassment, and victimization is a serious one in our schools. It greatly affects the climate for learning and productivity and the emotional health of students and staff. This book presents empirical data and theoretical and legal case reviews to show how pervasive and serious these problems are and how they threaten both academic achievement and mental health within many of our schools. Taking a longitudinal and developmental perspective, the authors begin to outline the next generation of research in this field that will shape knowledge and practice for the next few decades. For practitioners, the book is a call to action, particularly at the school-wide level, focusing on reducing the substantial social/emotional harm done to perpetrators, bystanders, and especially, victims. Bullying, Peer Harassment, and Victimization in the Schools provides vital information on: what mental health professionals can do to prevent and respond to sexual harassment in schools the relationship between middle-school adjustment and bullying aggressive behavior and friendship patterns in immigrant children school-based intervention strategies the relationship between the cultures of childhood and sexual harassment—from developmental, domestic violence, and legal perspectives risk factors and protective factors affecting victimization and more! It has been estimated that bullying affects more than half of the students in American schools. This book can add significantly to your ability to combat and prevent this pervasive problem. Use it to improve the quality of education received by students in your community!

Sexual harassment has long been an unfortunate part of the climate in middle and high schools in the United States. Often considered a form of bullying, sexual harassment by definition involves sex and gender and therefore warrants separate attention. This report provides fresh evidence about students' experiences, including being harassed, harassing someone else, or witnessing harassment. The students share their reactions to their experiences, and also provide ideas for how schools can respond to and prevent sexual harassment.

A comprehensive examination of theory, research, prevention and intervention, and professional practice issues - in one source. Teasing, shunning, and bullying can have serious detrimental effects on both victim and perpetrator. Bullying, Victimization, and Peer Harassment: A Handbook of Prevention and Intervention comprehensively gathers emerging research, theory, and effective practice on this subject into one invaluable source. This thorough review of a wide spectrum of innovative, evidence-based practices targets the complex problems of victimization, peer harassment, and bullying in our schools. Interventions range from individuals and their peers to broad, systems-level change within schools and communities. The challenge of prevention is also explored, using the latest studies as a practical foundation. Suggestions are provided detailing effective strategies to make changes in the culture within schools while offering directions for future research and practice. Bullying, Victimization, and Peer Harassment discusses research on current intervention programs now in place that, until now, has never been evaluated. Several of the studies address middle school issues and multi-ethnic populations, including those from the United States, Canada, and Europe. Peer sexual harassment and dating-related aggression are examined that includes and goes beyond traditional views of bullying and peer intimidation. This valuable handbook provides concise yet extensive information on the most current theory, empirical research, practice guidelines, and suggestions for preparing schools for programmatic initiatives. Topics in Bullying, Victimization, and Peer Harassment include: theory and conceptual issues in victimization, bullying, and peer harassment assessment results from a four-year longitudinal study on peer victimization in early adolescents youth perceptions toward bullying high school students’ victimization profiles immigrant children and victimization evaluating an adolescent violence prevention program a school-based intervention program peer group intervention interventions for victims multiple perspectives involving sexual harassment school-wide approaches to prevention and intervention and much more! Bullying, Victimization, and Peer Harassment is a crucial resource for researchers and mental health professionals who work in schools and who work with children and their families, such as school psychologists, counselors, clinical child psychologists, social workers, and community psychologists.

Bullying in schools is often discussed, but sexual harassment in schools, and how it differs from bullying is often overlooked. In fact, though, sexual harassment (committed both by fellow students and school personnel) is more common and yet more easily and quickly dismissed by those involved, though its consequences for the victim can be profound. This book provides parents, teachers, school officials, and others with a framework comparing and contrasting sexual harassment and bullying as they relate to the behavior, laws, and impact on children. The author describes the responsibility of the school district and how parents and other adults can navigate the schools' policies, barriers, and responsibilities. She argues that children should not be subjected to bullying OR sexual harassment, that it is the school's responsibility to make the harassment or bullying stop, and that parents and other caring adults often need to be involved and advocate for the child, even against resistance from those in the school system. Throughout the book the author uses examples of actual cases that have made it to the courts and have been precedent setting and cases in which she has been involved as an expert witness or as a consultant. Resources for readers are also provided at the end of the book.