Sexual harassment: Schools ‘could and should’ do more to help
Nearly half of 7th- to 12th-graders were sexually harassed in 2010-11, according to a report released this week that sampled almost 2,000 students nationally. The harassment varied from verbal, in-person comments and physical attacks to online abuse, like cyber-bulling. More than half of the surveyed students also said they witnessed sexual harassment more than once during the school year.
Sad fact: Of the witnesses, only 24 percent of girls and 17 percent of boys jumped in to help the victim.
Even sadder: The top reason for not intervening was because they didn’t know what to do.
This week, Penn State University fired its beloved football coach, Joe Paterno, amid sexual assault allegations against a former assistant coach. When Paterno learned of the allegations more than a decade ago, he followed procedure and reported it to the school’s athletic director. Did he have an obligation beyond that?