To borrow a term from journalist and author Susan Faludi, practitioners of “backlash” culture
should thank and praise the muddle-headed school administrators who last month
suspended Jonathan Prevette, the North Carolina first grader spotted kissing a
classmate on her cheek. The out-sized response to, and national attention on,
the little boy’s action confirms what backlashers have been crying about for
years: Those castrating bitch-feminists wouldn’t recognize a genuine crisis if
it jumped up and bit them.
Meanwhile, the real problem lives on. Got a girl or boy in middle school?
Brace yourself. According to Hostile Hallways, the seminal study of
sexual harassment in schools commissioned by the American Association of
University Women in 1993, peer sexual harassment really hits its stride in the
7th, 8th, and 9th grades. (High school’s no picnic, either.) For girls,
harassment comes in the form of sexual comments, touching, and grabbing; for
boys, it’s often couched in anti-gay hostilities and accusations.
Schools are liable for sexual harassment of students by school employees. But
schools still are not clearly, legally liable for student-on-student sexual
harassment; in fact, it was for lack of a solid legal precedent that AISD did
not develop an explicit policy for students, about students, when the issue
came before the board in 1994. (Instead, the policy established a code of
conduct to “provide a safe educational environment,” noting that training must
be done to enforce the policy.) Hopes were dashed last week for such a
precedent when the U.S. Supreme Court let a lower court’s ruling stand in a
Bryan, Texas, case that deflects liability for peer harassment away from school
districts.
But the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sees it much
differently, and recently issued a draft of guidelines to schools on what
constitutes student sexual harassment and how to go about investigating it.
OCR’s position is that schools are in violation of federal law if they know
they have “a sexually hostile environment and fail to take immediate and
appropriate corrective action.” Groups such as the National School Boards
Association are whimpering about the OCR guidelines; they believe schools
should be allowed to address the problem on their own with training and
education programs.
And in the view of one community outreach specialist, that’s exactly the
solution — but AISD has not followed through on its promised, systemwide
education for students and staff. “They’re not making sure it’s a safe
environment for all their students,” said Ellen Sanchez, director of education
for Planned Parenthood of Austin. “Education hasn’t been made mandatory for
everyone, so the policy has no teeth in it.”
At its regular meeting on Monday, the AISD Board of Trustees voted 6-0-2 to
accept a settlement in the lawsuit brought against the district by former LBJ
High School principal Eddie Orum (see “Naked City,” p.18). Board members
Melissa Knippa and Rudy Montoya abstained; Trustee Liz Hartman was absent from
the meeting.
The implementation of the $369 million bond package continues to roll forward;
the board approved schematic designs for classroom additions at Bedichek Middle
School and Sunset Valley Elementary School. Designs for additions to Langford
and Linder Elementary Schools were approved last month.
Trustees also heard a proposal for a revised graduation plan that would
prepare students for high school sooner, and were updated on the state of the
district’s Advanced Placement (AP) program. The report submitted by AISD staff
shows some startling inequities in AP course offerings among the district’s
high schools; Lanier, for example, has three AP classes, while McCallum has 14.
Trustee Geoff Rips commented that this gap doesn’t even come close to “the
standard of service” of offering one challenging curriculum throughout AISD.
More AP training for teachers and a parents’ night for those interested in AP
were offered as two possible solutions to the problem.
Two wonderful opportunities in the community for shedding more light on youth
and sexuality education are taking place this week. The local branch of a
national organization, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Teachers Network of Austin,
is engaging in a “Back to School Campaign,” inviting gay and lesbian adults to
write an “open letter” to their old high schools to tell their experiences of
secretly struggling with sexual identity within a hostile school environment.
Olympic Gold Medalist Greg Louganis has already contributed to this year’s
effort. Austin’s contributions will be read (and composed!) this week at
Cup-a-Jane, 100-B N. Loop, on Saturday, Oct. 19, 7-9pm.
And: If you’re a parent and have found it harder than you thought it would be
to have that talk with your kids about sex, you can learn to give them the gift
of your complete attention. Planned Parenthood and City of Austin Health Dept.
will host “The Talk,” a two-part workshop for you — and your kids — to open
up communication and begin to explore the subject together. Call Michael Hayes,
476-4610, to reserve a slot on October 23 & 30, 6:30-9pm, at the Christine
Aubrey Education Center, 302 W. 13th St.
This article appears in October 18 • 1996 and October 18 • 1996 (Cover).