The student news publication of Walnut Hills High School
Volume CXII, Issue 6
Monday, December 11, 2017
How WHHS sees harassment The Chatterbox surveyed 388 students about the scope of harassment at WHHS. On a scale of one to five, students answered how often they saw four main types of harassment. These results illustrate the extent of harassment students witness on a regular basis and how often students report these incidents.
How m a ny stud ent s i n e a ch g r a d e s e e e a ch for m of h a r a s s ment of t en
10.6%
Only includ in g those students who, on a sca le of one to f ive f rom never to of ten, listed a four or f ive.
have reported a n insta nce of ha rassment this school yea r.
75
Ju n ior s report the most ha rassment at
14.1%
50
wh i le SE N IOR S repor t t he Grade Level
le a st h a r a ss ment at
4%
Need to talk? The National Sexual Assault Hotline is free, confidential and open 24/7.
25
Percent of students
of students
Verbal teasin g a nd insults
Physical pokin g, pushin g, trippin g
Sexual rema rks
Unwa nted sexual touchin g
Ca l l 1-80 0 -656- 4673
0
Harassment underreported, overlooked Caroline Horvath, ‘20 Camille Williams, ‘18 The Chatterbox survey results indicate that most students witness harassment on a regular basis at school, yet some students do not recognize harassment when they see it. Therefore, most harassment at WHHS goes overlooked, unreported and unstopped. On a scale of one to five, 82.7 percent of students see harassment above a middle level in at least one category, listing a four or five. Yet only 10.6 percent of surveyed students have reported an instance of harassment to an adult this school year. Most students claimed they had not seen any harassment to report to an adult. However, 38.2 percent of those students also see harassment above a middle level in at least one category. This overwhelming discrepancy indicates a lack of understanding among students of what constitutes harassment. At WHHS, students report experiencing many different forms of harassment. “People make fun of you for what you have or don’t have, like if you don’t have the newest phone,” Eric Ravenscroft, ‘23, said. The most commonly seen form of harassment at WHHS is verbal. The verbal harassment category includes teasing, name-calling and hurling offensive insults or threats. Students seeing sexually inappropriate remarks, placed a very close second. In fact, grades nine through twelve all averaged hearing sexual remarks more than other verbal harassment. “In class people will walk down aisles and guys will hit them in inappropriate places and also say stuff that is not very nice either
to their faces or behind their backs,” Avery Frank, ‘23, said. Younger, junior high students may not have been exposed to or informed about sexual harassment during elementary school. For them, WHHS is a new environment. “I didn’t know what sexual harassment was until I started figuring it out for myself. I was never taught,” Cloud Howard, ‘22, said. Howard said that at WHHS she sees “guys walk up to girls and hit them on the butt.” Some students may ignore or not understand the concept of “consent.” Consent is permission or an agreement for something to happen. “Unless I know you personally and have a strong connection, I do not want you touching me without my consent. People just say, ‘it doesn’t matter; I can still touch you anyway; it’s free will’, but it’s not if I don’t want you,” Howard said. Physical harassment is the third most common form of the harassment and ranges from poking, tripping and shoving to full on physical fights. 47.2 percent of students surveyed have seen at least one physical fight this school year. “There’s a lot of pushing in my classes, pushing people into desks and stuff like that,” Avery Frank, ‘23, said. Survey results show that 92 percent of students responded that they have never intentionally harassed any student. Rather, more students have harrassed other students, but most do not recognize their actions as wrong or harmful, as the word “harassment” implies. Students may know that harassment is bad, but many students fail to act against it. Students may
not report harassment to an adult for a number of reasons. Maybe the student intervened themselves, maybe an adult was already present, maybe the issue was resolved or maybe the student is unsure if it was harassment at all. “I think that a lot of students here don’t understand when people have limits or sensitivities,” Lydia Sippel, ‘22, said. Never reporting harassment can have a significant negative impact on the victims, especially students struggling with their self-esteem and mental health. Teens who are bullied are seven to nine percent more likely to commit suicide, according to Bullying Statistics. “People don’t understand that it could take a week or years to work your way up to a good place, but one person says something that you take personally and all the work you’ve done comes crumbling down,” Chloe Smith, ’22, said. Although there are signs of harassment at WHHS, many students mention that administration here deals with it a lot better than at most schools. “Walnut is a lot better than elementary school. There’s not a giant bullying problem because the administration knows how to deal with it correctly,” Gabe Grimaldi, ‘22, said. Smith also mentioned that harassment is less at WHHS compared to other schools because “everybody who goes here, they’re not here to mess around and call people names, they’re here to be at walnut and get their education”. The administration relies on students reports in order to take action against harassment. Joe Stewart, the twelfth grade principal, shares one way the administration
SAMANTHA GERWE-PERKINS/CHATTERBOX
Harassment often goes unreported because many students don’t know that what they are seeing is harassment. The infographic above defines different types of harassment, including sexual harassment and bullying. is trying to empower students to report harassment and bullying. “The district has a new initiative, I’ll call it a ‘bully button’, for lack of a better word, on the district website where parents or students can report bullying anonymously throughout the district. That then gets sent to the school where the parent wants it sent, and every school gets these cases sent to them. We investigate-there’s a form we have to fill out every time we investigate one of these bullying situations-- who was involved, what action was taken and what was the resolution.” As a result of the administration working to combat harass-
ment, many students feel that WHHS is a safe place for students. “ Even though harassment is a problem, Walnut is a blessing because it is better than a lot of other schools,” Sippel said. However, it is not only about what the administration is doing, but also what the students need to do. Students should report to the school whenever they see any forms of harassment, whether through the bullybox app, the bully button on the district website, or anonymously with an administrator.