Volume 45, Number 5
Menlo School, Atherton, California
Thursday, March 28, 2019
The Coat of Arms serving Menlo's Upper School since 1973
Special Edition About Sexual Assault and Harassment
To Our Readers, In this issue we are discussing a national public health epidemic, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This is not a Menlo problem; it’s a problem that pervades the entirety of our society. And it should not be ignored or allowed anymore. The purpose of this project is to raise awareness about and decrease incidents of sexual assault and harassment. While these topics are discussed at length on many college campuses, they are often avoided at high schools. According to the Rape, Ass au lt & Incest National Network (RAINN), ages 12 through 34 are the highest risk years to be sexually assaulted. That just shows that beginning the conversation at 18 or 19 is too late. If this series accomplishes one thing, we hope that it starts a conversation on the Menlo
campus about sexual harassment and assault, in order to educate. In addition to raising awareness, we want to decrease incidents of sexual harassment and assault that occur around us. By showing you what harassment and assault can look like, hopefully you can learn to recognize and fight it, preventing future occurrences. And, by beginning at the high school level, we can hope to make a change that stretches throughout our entire culture. When the Editorial Board of The Coat of Arms embarked upon the journey of writing this sexual assault and harassment project back in October, we had little idea of what it would become. We originally were envisioning a four-page spread within a usual issue of our paper. However, there was so much more to the topic than we originally thought; the topic is broad and complicated and deserves more than four pages. It has now become a collaborative, five-month endeavor, resulting in an eight-page special edition and featuring the stories of six brave survivors. As editor for this project, I would like to share with you our process for creating it. We began by crafting a survey to hand out to three advocacies per grade, anonymously asking students if they were survivors of sexual harassment, sexual assault or both. This survey went through multiple iterations, and our writers, Online Editor Kate Jeffries and News Editor Caroline Frantz, worked with the Menlo administration and AP statistics teacher Lauren Lax to ensure accuracy. To see the results of this survey, conducted in January, please see pages two and three. From there, Jeffries and Frantz made announcements at each grade’s class meeting to welcome any survivors to share their stories with them. Within one week of the announcements, we had eight students interested in telling their stories as survivors. Due to our inability to protect the anonymity of two survivors, we chose not to include their stories. The students were then interviewed by the two writers, and their identities have been kept completely anonymous. For their safety and to respect their stories, the two writers and myself are the only people who know the real names of our survivors. They were assigned pseudonyms–Amelia, Brianna, Elena, Felicity, Grayson and Hadley–which we used throughout the entire process when referencing their stories. Beyond anonymity, ensuring that each survivor was ready to tell their story was of the utmost importance to us. While we
Staff illustration by Tzy Ying Yee.
Caution to Readers:
This special edition issue of The Coat of Arms contains mature content, and it may be upsetting for some readers. We advise young or sensitive readers to consult a parent or counselor before reading.
wanted people to share and find peace with their journey as a survivor, we also did not want people forcing themselves to share something they were not ready to. Throughout the entire process, up until the day we sent these pages to our printer, our survivors had the right to withdraw their story. It is important to note that we approached these spotlights from the sole perspective of the survivors. To respect their stories, we made the explicit choice to not approach perpetrators or bystanders to check facts. We are fully aware that the stories presented on pages four, five, six and seven are from the single perspectives of the survivors. As you read through this special edition issue–especially the survivor spotlights–I urge you to practice respect and compassion. These survivors bared their souls to us, and we want to honor their stories. While there may be a natural temptation to do so, and since the Menlo community is so small, please do not try to piece together clues and speculate about who a certain survivor is, and please do not mock the information presented. That is counterproductive to the core purpose of this project. What I do encourage you to do after reading this issue is talk to your peers, teachers and family members to begin a dialogue on the subject of sexual harassment and assault in our communities. Statistics show us that Menlo is far from the only school that survivors silently attend; sexual harassment and assault are realities of the high school experience. To slowly solve this issue, we must first bring the facts into the light and change our perspectives. Only when we talk openly and candidly can change occur. Finally, I would like to express some gratitude. This series would not be possible without the input of Head of School Than Healy, Upper School Director John Schafer, Dean of Students Tony Lapolla, Dean of Student Life Programs Cathy Chen, Upper School Counselors Tracy Bianchi and Jake Fauver, Menlo’s lawyer Jon Michaelson, journalism adviser Tripp Robbins and AP Statistics teacher Lauren Lax. On behalf of The Coat of Arms, thank you for supporting us through this process. Second, thank you to our two wonderful lead writers who dedicated themselves to this project. And most importantly, thank you to the six, endlessly brave survivors who shared their stories with us… You are heard. Sincerely, Clara Guthrie, editor in chief
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In This Issue:
Six survivor spotlights Popular Media Fails to Adequately Present Consent • Sexual Assault and Harassment Continue Beyond High School • It's on us. • Take Action • Resources and Support Systems • Special Thanks