I would agree with you that a SMALL disciplinary action taken in school to respond to such small incidents is appropriate. However, in regards to the second point about our policies being so one sided against men, I will share a personal story. A friend of mine spent 8 months in prison because his girlfriend of 18 months said that he raped her right after they broke up. The accusation was completely false, the chick just made it up because she was so pissed she was getting dumped. Yet there was 8 months of my friend's life gone, all because of one woman taking gross advantage of the law's bias against men when it comes to sexual accusations.
^ but that's an incident outside of school, and I understand how awful and sadly frequent cases like that are, but we're talking about harrassment within schooltime here, and this kind of thing, although it relates to the topic, is not something I think we should branch off onto. (Mainly because in the lounge, all discussions and debates need to stay on topic, or else they end up straying too far and getting closed )
I think it happens because a boy thinks the girl is more ready then she is. In school some of my friends talked about the girls developing but I kept my mouth shut to avoid a confrontation.
In my old school, any dude who was being inappropriate with a girl would get beaten up by, geez, the whole classroom. I can't imagine people being less empathic than that :/
Exactly. I find it hard to believe it is a problem in every school in the world that needs attention from governments and charities when I've never seen it, or heard anything about it. How much you're paid also depends on your gender - but I notice that the media, which is famous for having differences in pay between the genders, don't report that! This is completely overblown.
You would probably be surprised by how often this DOES happen in schools around the world. It is something that I don't think a lot of kids feel comfortable talking about or going to teachers about. Kids are being taught about bad touch and bad talk in regards to adults, but I don't think kids are taught about this sort of thing with regards to their peers. There is this mistaken belief that kids work these things out for themselves...or that it is harmless play. Sometimes kids do play in sexual ways or explore sexual talk and it is a two way thing. However, just as kids can bully each other with violence and threats...they can bully in regards to sex...and even physically assault (unwanted touching or worse). This is dangerous for both the bully and the victim. The victim is being taught at a young age that this is what sex is about...or that this is normal...or this is what the opposite sex does. It can hurt an already fragile self-esteem and feelings of self worth. It can be very damaging...even if it never extends beyond talking or a slap on the butt. As for the aggressors, without being reported or facing consequences, they are learning that is ok behavior. Their patterns of behavior is being set. This needs to be nipped inn the bud early. Childhood and adolescence are when are adult selves are forming. Out attitudes about sex, about our bodies, about the opposite sex are being created. Adults, teachers, parents...should be teaching kids and adolescents about proper sexual behavior, attitudes, and touch early on. This should be included in schools' behavior policies and student handbooks. Ok..I rambled enough.
It's easy to say that sexual harassment in schools is completely overblown when it's never happened to you. Your having seen or heard about something doesn't have anything to do with how often it happens. If you were sexually harassed, would it be something you talked about to a lot of people? Or would you be more likely to keep your conversation about the experience limited to certain people you knew you could trust? Also, differences in pay depending on gender doesn't seem to be something that would have as scarring an effect on people as sexual harassment. So...maybe that's why there's more of a focus on sexual harassment at the moment.
