William Kritsonis, School Law, Ch 10 Student Harassment

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Student-on-Student Sexual Harassment

• William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

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What is Student-on-StudentSexual Harassment?

• Guidelines from the U.S. Department of
  Educations Office for Civil Rights (OCR) makes a
  distinction between two types of sexual
  harassment.

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(1) Quid Pro Quo Harassment

• Literally means this for that harassment.
• Where academic opportunities or benefits are
  linked with sexual conduct.

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(2) Hostile Environment Harassment

• Harassment where unwelcome conduct of a sexual
  nature is considered so severe, pervasive and
  offensive that it deprives the victim of access
  to educational opportunities or benefits.

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Determining Whether or Not a Hostile Environment
Exists

• Circumstances to consider might be
• Type of Frequency
• Duration of the Conduct
• Number of individuals involved
• Ages and gender of the alleged harassers and
  victims
• Size of school
• Locations of the incidents
• Context in which they occurred.

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What constitutes conduct of sexual nature?

• Sexual advances
• Sexual touching
• Sexual graffiti
• Explicit drawings, pictures

• Sexual gestures
• Sexual or dirty jokes
• Spreading rumors about other students as to
  sexual activity

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Common Reasons forSexual Harassment

• Thought it was funny (59)
• Its just part of school life/A lot of people do
  it/Its no big deal (30)
• I thought the person liked it (32)
• I wanted a date with the person (17)
• I wanted something from that person (20)
• I wanted the person to think I had some sort of
  power over them(10)

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Title IX of Education Amendmentsof 1972

• No education program or activity receiving
  federal financial assistance may exclude, deny
  benefits to or discriminate against any person on
  the basis of sex(20 U.S.C. Sec 1681.a.).
• The purpose of the statute is to prevent
  Discriminatory practices in education and to
  provideeffective protection against those
  practices.

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What schools and activities are covered by Title
IX?

• Title IX applies to all public and private
  educational institutions receiving federal aid,
  including elementary, secondary, and post
  secondary schools.
• This means that all public schools and many
  private schools are covered.
• Title IX applies to all school-sponsored
  activities, including athletics, field trips,
  extracurricular programs, and bus transportation.

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Landmark Cases

• Davis v. Monroe County Board of
• Education (526 U.S. 629 (1999)
• Vance v. Spencer county Public School District
  231 F. 3d 253 (6th Cir. 2000)
• Doe v. university of illinois (96-3511) 7th Cir
  1998)

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Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education (119
S.Ct. 1661)

• 1999 Supreme Court extended the liability of
  Title IX to include student-on-student sexual
  harassment.
• LaShonda Davis -5th grade student
• reported to her mother and teacher that a male
  classmate made vulgar comments and tried to touch
  her genital area and her breasts on repeated
  occasions.

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Eleventh Circuit Conclusion

• Title IX does not provide schools notice of
  liability concerning actions of others.
• But a schools deliberate indifference to known
  acts of harassment is itself misconduct
  prohibited by Title IX which can trigger a
  private damage action by the plaintiff (Davis,
  1999, p. 1671).

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Doe v. University of Illinois

• No. 96-3511 (March 3, 1998, 7th Circuit)
• Ruled that liability for student-on-student
  harassment will attach to a school district to
  take prompt appropriate action in response to
  such harassment that takes place when students
  are involved in school activities or otherwise
  under the supervision of employees.

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Evidence When Administrative Have Knowledge

• The school prinicipal was made aware of behavior.
• Repeated complaints, boy was not disciplined
• His offensive comments and actions continued.
• It escalated in severity.
• Boy charged for misconduct and guilty to sexual
  battery.

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Sexual Harrassment

• Common at every stage of education.
• Verbal and physical harassment begins in
• Elementary.
• 4 out of 5 children experience some form of
  sexual harassment.
• 6 out 10 will experience some form of physical
  sexual harassment.

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Statistics Student-on-Student Sexual
Harrassment

• Survey of 2064 students 8th-11 grade
• 83 girls have been sexually harassed.
• 78 of boys have been sexually harassed.
• American Association of University Women 2002

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Teacher Staff Education

• Communicate, communicate, communicate with staff
  and students about harassment.
• Be observant l Let them know their obligation
  and responsibility to respond promptly to all
  complaints on student-on-student sexual
  harassment.
• Offer in service workshops

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References

• Cawley, T. J., Hunton Williams (1997). Legal
  issue surrounding peer sexual harassment. VSBA
  School law conference. Charlottesville, Virginia.
• Faber, J. (1992). Expanding Title IX of the
  education amendments of 1972 to prohibit student
  to student sexual harassment. UCLA womans law
  journal. Retrieved April 9, 2008
  http//caselaw.lp.findlaw.com
• Garrett, F. B. (1999). Student-on-student
  sexual harassment. Find law for legal
  professionals. Retrieved April 9, 2008.
  http//library.findlaw.com