Susan Strauss: Harassment isn't so rare in schools

School should be a fun place where students are on a quest to learn in a safe and secure environment. But sometimes the zest to learn is sabotaged by those who students and parents believe are trustworthy -- educators, administrators and school staff. Probably the most egregious behavior in which these trusted adults can engage is sexual harassment.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, more than 4.5 million children are targets of sexual harassment by a school employee at some point between kindergarten and 12th grade, with teachers and coaches the most common perpetrators. Human Rights Watch, an international organization that investigates abuses around the world, released findings from a two-year U.S. study showing that gay, lesbian, and bisexual students were subjected to pervasive discrimination by fellow students, teachers and other school employees. According to the agency, an estimated 2.5 million students -- 5 to 6 percent of the nation's public-school students -- are gay, lesbian, or bisexual. This count does not include transgender students, nor does it include students who are straight but who may not fit their gender stereotype.

The harassment takes place along a continuum, with behavior ranging from staring and sexually offensive comments to sexual assault and rape. In addition to being a violation of the federal Civil Rights Act, it is against the Minnesota Human Rights Act and is covered under criminal laws such as child-abuse statutes, sexual assault and rape.

Harassment by teachers and other school employees is difficult to study because students typically do not tell parents or school officials. The largest and most nationally representative study involving sexual harassment to students in grades K-12 was conducted by the American Association of University Women. The AAUW found that 25 percent of females and 10 percent of males had been sexually harassed by a teacher or other school employee. Education Week found that perpetrators' ages ranged from 21 to 75, with 28 as the average. Seven out of 10 harassers were teachers; however, janitors, bus drivers, principals and librarians were also accused. Two-thirds of the victims were over the age of 14; two-thirds were female. This did not include students who witnessed the harassment and therefore were also victimized. Twenty percent of the accused harassers were women. Thirty-three percent of the allegations were against coaches of athletics or music or drama. Only 2 percent of the total numbers of cases were false.

A separate study by Education Week cited numerous failings by school officials and teacher organizations, including failure to (1) believe students and respond to a complaint; (2) report suspected abuse to agencies such as law enforcement and child protection; (3) conduct, or competently conduct, investigations; (4) document incidents, complaints and investigations; (5) investigate after a student recants her or his complaint, not recognizing that the recant may be in response to threats or manipulation to protect the abuser; (6) fire the harasser despite numerous complaints; (7) police the teaching profession at the state level; (8) implement quality recruitment and hiring practices; (9) revoke a teacher's license for sex crimes; (10) provide honest references for the harasser when he or she moves on to the next school district to teach, and (11) communicate to stakeholders by agreeing to remain silent about a student's allegations if the educator quietly resigns.

The psychological, behavioral and academic consequences to harassed students are immense and often last a lifetime. The trauma is compounded when victims lose their friends because a popular teacher or coach is caught and the victims are labeled as liars by friends, educators and the community at large. The retaliation can be severe; the victim becomes an outcast of the school, and the student and the student's family can be ostracized by their church, social networks and community -- indeed, a horrible lesson learned from the victim's school experience.

Susan Strauss, Eden Prairie, is a consultant on issues of harassment and bullying in academia and in the workplace.