• Protecting Students from Gangs and Bullies

  1. Avoiding Gangs
  2. Dealing with Bullies
  3. Dealing with Weapons

• Sexual Harassment
• Sexual Aggression

Protecting Students from Gangs and Bullies

1. Avoiding Gangs

Gangs are dangerous. Members often engage in vandalism, theft, assault and the sale of drugs. In 1995, 7.5 percent of all students who reported gangs in their schools said they had been victims of violent crime at school, compared to 2.7 percent of students who reported no gangs.

Precautions

General safety precautions include:

• Avoid places where gang members hang out.
• Travel with a friend or in a group.
• Walk on well-lighted, safe streets at night.
• Do not hitchhike.
• Avoid dangerous short-cuts.
• Do not carry large sums of money

Don't open the doors to strangers.

Student Responses

Students can be taught to:

• Report harassment and attacks.
• Deal with anger in non-violent ways.
• Communicate well.
• Resolve and mediate conflicts.
• Walk away from disputes if the parties become too angry.

Adult Responses

As adults, both teachers and parents should promote non-violent ethics and be aware of signs of possible gang involvement, including:

• change in friends
• change in dress habits (wearing the same colors all the time)
• secrecy about activities
• flashing hand signs
• signs of alcohol or other drug use
• decreased interest in school or home

2. Dealing with Bullies

One child in ten is regularly attacked either verbally or physically by bullies. The following traits are common to bullies:

• They are concerned with their own pleasure, rather than thinking about anyone else. They want power.
• They are willing to use other people to get what they want.
• They feel hurt inside.
• They find it difficult to see things from someone else's perspective.

Responses

Teach students to avoid bullies whenever possible. Encourage students to learn and practice assertiveness skills; remind them to be assertive rather than aggressive or violent. Emphasize that students should not rely on weapons to defend themselves.

Symptoms of Bullying

Signs that a child may be experiencing bullying include:

• withdrawal
• abrupt lack of interest in school
• drop in grades
• signs of physical abuse

3. Dealing with Weapons

Adolescents are at particular risk for firearm death and injury because of their easy access to firearms, their unique developmental issues and the inherent difficulties in educating them to be 'gun-safe'" (American Academy of Pediatrics). In the CDC's Youth Risk Behavioral Survey, 20 percent of twelfth grade students reported carrying a weapon in the past month. Every day, sixteen American children under age twenty are killed and many more wounded by guns.

Nine million adolescents have access to firearms in their own homes. One in four gun owners keeps the weapon loaded and ready for use. Firearms account for 20 percent of deaths among all older youth, and most of these deaths are intentional or violent injuries. For each death, there are at least five non-fatal injuries. The risk of suicide is five times greater if there is a gun in the home, and the risk of domestic homicide is three times greater.

Carrying a gun may be seen as a "rite of passage" or as "macho." Adolescents often tend to believe they are invincible. They have decreased adult supervision and increased desire to challenge adult rules.

Younger teens have a good deal of curiosity about firearms and a desire to show them off. Their immaturity may lead to dangerous experimentation. Peer groups may pressure adolescents to carry weapons.

Impulsiveness can result in homicide or suicide, and experimentation with drugs and alcohol further increase risk-taking behavior. Some adolescents may perceive a need to protect themselves from their environment Other issues may include race relations, poverty, urbanization, family disruption, erosion of basic law and order.

Precautions

The most important precaution is to keep handguns out of the home. Guns place a home in danger rather than protecting it; having a gun in the home means that there is 43 times the chance that a family member or friend, rather than an intruder, will be killed with it.

A second precaution is to learn and teach safe ways of using guns. Students should be taught to consider every gun to be loaded and dangerous. Adults must take responsibility to keep guns locked up and away from children and teens. Adults who don't keep guns at home still need to emphasize gun safety rules when students visit other homes where they might find guns. Basic life skills can also help avoid gun violence. Help students to:

• Learn alternative ways for solving arguments and fights.
• Learn to resist negative peer pressure.
• Develop respect for life.
• Avoid substance abuse.
• Report weapons that are in the possession of minors.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is coercive behavior because it involves the abuse of power for sexual ends or the creation of a hostile environment. In abuse of power, sexual harassment consists of unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature as a condition of instruction or employment (Frazier, Cochran and Olson 1995). Only a person with power over another can commit this kind of harassment.

In a hostile environment, someone acts in sexual ways that interfere with a person's performance at school or in the workplace. Sexual harassment is illegal. Both males and females can be victims of sexual harassment.

The Impact of Sexual Harassment
Peer-to-peer harassment is one of the most widespread forms of violence in schools. Among students, sexual harassment occurs most often when boys are in groups. Their motives often may be to heighten their group status by denigrating girls, rather than based on any particular animosity toward an individual. Harassment in schools has been typically ignored and dismissed as teasing or traditional "boys will be boys" behavior. Researchers have found that such actions lead to girls becoming more "subordinated and less autonomous. The behavior controls girls through intimidation, embarrassment or humiliation" (Herbert 1989).

A study of 1,632 students in grades 8-11 indicated:

• 85% of girls and 76% of boys reported sexual harassment experiences.
• 25% of girls and 10% of boys reported sexual harassment by school employees.
• Only 7% of students reported the sexual harassment to a teacher; 62% told a friend; 23% told a family member.

Sexual Harassment vs. Flirting
This chart contrasts sexual harassment and flirting.

Responding to Sexual Harassment
When students feel themselves to be sexually harassed, their first step is to request the harasser(s) to stop. Harassers may not be aware of the impact of their behavior. The request to stop may be made in person or in writing.

If the harassment does not stop, people who feel harassed should keep a record of the actions (time, place and names of observers). Students should report the harassment to a counselor, teacher or principal. In the workplace, the report should be made to the supervisor or manager of the person who is doing the harassing.

The following steps provide a summary of ways to deal with sexual harassment.

• Say no, clearly.
• Say that you don't want this attention.
• Say that the behavior is offensive.
• Tell someone (teacher, parent, friend).
• Realize that harassment is not your fault.

Teachers and other adults should be alert to the following symptoms that may indicate sexual harassment or abuse.

• chronic anxiety
• concentration problems
• withdrawn or depressed behavior
• insomnia
• body image problems
• fear of coming to school
• wanting to drop courses

Sexual Aggression

Knowledge about sexually aggressive acts and their consequences has been greatly expanded in recent years. Earlier researchers focused primarily on rape and assumed rape was committed by strangers for the purpose of sexual gratification. Contemporary research now views rape as one category of sexual aggression. Sexual aggression refers to sexual activity, including petting, oral sex, anal intercourse and vaginal intercourse, performed against a person's will through the use of force, argument, alcohol or drugs or authority. Both men and women are victims of sexual aggression.

Teen dating violence includes behaviors such as hitting, yelling, threatening, name calling, and other forms of verbal, sexual, emotional and physical abuse. It affects one in ten dating couples and can be as lethal as domestic abuse.

Sexual aggression, like other aggressive behaviors, is motivated by power, anger and hatred. There are many long-standing myths about sexual aggression. One myth is that victims "ask for it" in the way they dress or act. Another myth is that sexual aggression is committed by strangers. Rape is an act of violence.

Research shows that acquaintances, dates, husbands, fathers or other family members are most likely to commit sexual aggression. Alcohol and other drugs are usually involved in sexually aggressive behavior. Alcohol and drugs are also significant factors in dating violence.

Another contributing factor is poor communication between males and females and a difference in cultural scripts. Mixed signals (about having sex) are a factor in date rape. Date rape may result from passion and miscommunication or from anger and an attempt to assert power.

Much of our communication about sexuality is nonverbal and ambiguous. It can be misinterpreted easily if not reinforced verbally. For example, men frequently mistake a woman's friendliness for sexual interest. They may interpret a woman's cuddling, kissing and fondling as interest in engaging in sexual intercourse.

Dealing with Sexual Aggression
Women must make sexual boundaries clear verbally, and men need to avoid misinterpreting cues. People who experience uncomfortable sexual situations have a responsibility to communicate this discomfort directly. Conversely, each individual has the responsibility of respecting the feelings and sexual boundaries of others.

Communication is key. The following actions may help improve communication.

• Make a conscious decision about whether or not to have sex.
• Communicate this decision clearly and assertively.
• If you do not want someone to touch you, say: "Take your hands off me." "Don't touch me." "If you don't respect my wishes, I'm leaving."
• Be alert to unconscious messages you may be giving by your posture, tone, gestures, eye contact.
• Be forceful and firm, don't try to be polite.

People who are victims of sexually aggressive behaviors need to gain a sense of control over their lives to counteract the helplessness they experienced. Victims of rape, particularly, need to cope with the depression and other symptoms that result from the trauma. Victims can gain support from the criminal justice system; emergency and hospital personnel; social workers; and family, friends, employers and clergy. The most important thing people can do to overcome the trauma of rape is to get professional help. Support systems and information can be located through the National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 and the National Youth Crisis Hotline: 1-800-422-4453.