·       Author: Christina Linder

·       Summary: This book talks about how the problem of sexual violence is not something necessarily new in schools across the nation, but more and more people are becoming aware of how to properly and effectively report an incident; therefore, more claims have taken place. Linder states that this problem has been around for decades but now researchers, stakeholders, policymakers, and district administrators have begun to make vigorous efforts to address the issue. Although the attention towards sexual violence has risen, the effectiveness of the systems remains at large. Districts over-rely on how to address ‘the issue’ but not much emphasis is drawn to the prevention of such issue. The author argues that the ROOT cause of sexual harassment/assault is ‘power oppression.’ Well-designed prevention plans typically focus on how to teach potential victims how not to get raped, harassed, or assaulted; rather than trying to teach the perpetrator not to commit sexual assault. In her book, Linder encourages education leaders to develop practical approaches to sexual harassment/assault, prevention, and response. 

·       Direct Link: https://www.amazon.com/Sexual-Violence-Campus-Power-Conscious-Approaches/dp/1787432297/ref=sr_1_1?crid=12EJXBRR8PXTA&keywords=sexual+harassment+prevention+book&qid=1570246107&sprefix=sexual+harras%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-1

·       ISBN-13: 978-1787432291

·       ISBN-10: 1787432297

·       APA Citation: Linder, C. (2018). Sexual violence on campus. Power-conscious approaches to awareness, prevention, and response. Brighton: Emerald Publishing.

2)     Do not use vague language. One of the main issues is unclear definitions. School district policy makers should clearly define what constitutes sexual harassment, assault, and violence. 

3)     Have a prevention plan. An ‘aftermath plan,’ although necessary, is not enough.  In order to minimize the number of potential assaults, it is imperative that school district delivery attempt to prevent sexual misconduct. First and foremost, training professionals on how to recognize key factors that may suggest sexual abuse is taking place. Involving parents and educating them on what and how to properly report an issue. Educating students, especially in secondary education. 

4)     Have a response plan. This is a requirement under law. District should have a systematic plan of action to address issues of discrimination, harassment, and bullying. 

5)     Have a simple but effective system for reporting that is user friendly and safe.

6)     Changing the culture regarding sexual harassment is one of the main challenges in schools as it contains emotional energy against misogyny. Culture is a system of shared beliefs and misogyny means basically the deep-seated bias against women.

Link: https://careersingovernment.com/tools/gov-talk/about-gov/education/improve-emerging-culture-sexual-harassment/

7)     Sexual harassment policies should include bystander interventions as a required response to predatory sexual behavior.

8)     Schools must proactively prevent and respond to claims of sexual harassment, sexual violence, and other forms of gender-based violence, retaliation, discrimination, and must have an impartial and prompt process for investigating and adjudicating reported cases.

9)     Regardless of whether a report has been filed to the school or police, an institution must provide the survivor with living or academic accommodations and the right to notify law enforcement. Schools must also notify survivors of options for interim measures, such as no contact orders and changes to transportation, dining, and working situations.

Reflection: As an administrator, it will be imperative to have vast knowledge regarding the policies in our district/campus about sexual violence, harassment, assault and prevention, and ensure these follow state and federal guidelines in order to protect all students. The administrative team must know how to act quickly and effectively should a situation of the sort arise. Communicating with local law enforcement agencies can benefit schools by creating proper interventions that may prevent sexual harassment. School districts and police departments can come together and offer classes to educate young students and parents to raise awareness. 

·       Source of Law: State Administrative Law

·       Citation: Ethical Conduct Toward Students, 19 Tex. Admin. Code § 247.2.

·       Link: https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=7&ch=247&rl=2

·       Source of Law: Local Administrative Law

·       Direct Link: https://www.abileneisd.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Actual-2019-2020-Student-Handbook.pdf

·       APA Citation: Abilene ISD Student/Parent Handbook. (2019-2020). Retrieved from https://www.abileneisd.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Actual-2019-2020-Student-Handbook.pdf

These federal regulations are related to Title IX, which also include definitions for the various aspects of the statute. However, sexual harassment/assault/ violence are not specifically mentioned in the regulations, but rather ‘discrimination based on sex.’

·       Source of Law: Federal Administrative Law

·       Original Citation: Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs, 34 CFR § 106.

·       Direct Link: https://gov.ecfr.io/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=1&SID=d1e853c49c4bbbd496b0647b7668de27&ty=HTML&h=L&mc=true&n=pt34.1.106&r=PART

·       Source of Law: Judicial Law.

·       Original Citation: Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District, 524 US 274, 290 (1998).

·       Direct Link: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/96-1866.ZO.html

·       Source of Law: Judicial Law.

·       Original Citation: Davis v. Monroe County Bd. of Educ., 526 US 629, 633 (1999).

·       Direct Link: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Davis-v-Monroe-County-Board-of-Education

·       Source of Law: Statutory Federal Law.

·       Original Citation: Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Pub. L. No. 92‑318, 86 Stat. 235 (1972).

·       Direct Link: https://www.justice.gov/crt/title-ix

·       Title of Article: Are schools prepared to respond to sex abuse? Latest probe reveals shortcomings 

·       Author: Stephen Sawchuk 

·       Summary:

-In this article, the author argues that many districts are ‘dropping the ball’ on Title IX compliance. The systems for preventing sexual harm that school districts have adopted are not meeting basic requirements under law (Sawchuk, 2019).

-The author clarifies that Chicago campus officers affirmed that there has been a huge rise in sexual harassment claims (Sawchuk, 2019).

-Some doubt the lasting change in practice when it comes to districts addressing the way the prevent and handle sexual harassment in schools. Many believe that proper training of staff members, teachers, aides, and other educators is not taking place, which may be partially true (Sawchuk, 2019).

-The author concludes that meeting federal expectation and protecting districts from liability often clash together, however it does not have to. When an effective, well-defined, highly-structured system is in place, things tend to run a bit smoother (Sawchuk, 2019).

·       Direct Link: https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019/09/25/sex-abuse-probe-exposes-wider-title-ix.html

·       APA Citation:

Sawchuk, S. (2019, September 26). Are schools prepared to respond to sex abuse? Latest probe reveals shortcomings. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019/09/25/sex-abuse-probe-exposes-wider-title-ix.html.https://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2017/11/what_does_the_metoo_and_sexual_assault_awareness_movement_mean_for_teachers.html.

·       Title of Article: How is the focus on sexual assault awareness playing out in classrooms? 

·       Author: Madeline Will 

·       Summary:

-The author implies that awareness regarding this delicate but important issue is becoming more common across all levels of society, even in the celebrity and politics worlds. 

-Some high schools’ social studies classes have almost daily conversations about sexual assault allegations and the implications of making reports (Will, 2017).

-More and more people/students are attempting to educate themselves about what exactly constitutes sexual harassment/assault in schools to raise awareness (Will, 2017).

-Teachers who practice their profession in urban areas are asking for help. They state that sexual harassment occurs multiple times throughout the school day (in the hallways, among students) because of culture customs. This is a problem. Educators express that most of these ‘girls’ do not ‘see’ the harassment and have learned to accept the ‘tease’ as a norm (Will, 2017). Changing the culture regarding sexual harassment is one of the main challenges in schools as it contains emotional energy against misogyny. Culture is a system of shared beliefs and misogyny means basically the deep-seated bias against women. 

·       Direct Link: https://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2017/11/what_does_the_metoo_and_sexual_assault_awareness_movement_mean_for_teachers.html

·       APA Citation:

Will, M. (2017, November 14). How Is the focus on sexual assault awareness playing out in classrooms? Retrieved from https://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2017/11/what_does_the_metoo_and_sexual_assault_awareness_movement_mean_for_teachers.html.

·       Summary: The aaup (2012), argues that not many institutions include ‘sexual assault’ into their policies, which is different from sexual harassment. There are so many variations and sometimes vagueness as to what explicitly defines each, and that is why aaup (2012) emphasizes the importance of school campuses to clearly identify the terms and definitions. To have robust policies and procedures, these should be coherent across districts, all grade levels, with state and federal law. The aaup (2012) even suggests collaborating with local law enforcement who have greater knowledge about what constitutes a crime in order to better coordinate, write, and address the problems of campuses’ sexual harassment/assault. 

·       Direct Link: https://www.aaup.org/report/campus-sexual-assault-suggested-policies-and-procedures

·       APA Citation:

aaup. (2012, October). Campus sexual assault: Suggested policies and procedures. Retrieved from https://www.aaup.org/report/campus-sexual-assault-suggested-policies-and-procedures.

·       Impact on Elementary Education: Awareness is key. Sexual harassment and assault can happen at any level of education and it is important for teachers, students, and parents to be aware of key signs that may indicate this type of abuse (Davis, 2019).

·       Best Practices Regarding Sexual Violence & Harassment Prevention and Response: The best path a district can take is to have a plan of action and prevention for sexual harassment and violence, not only an ‘aftermath policy.’ Davis (2019) explained that our district has a separate, and specific policy that deals with student welfare: freedom from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation (FFH (LOCAL)), which is aligned to state and federal laws and regulations.   

·       Emerging Issues: Because sexual harassment/violence is now getting the attention it deserves, school districts are adopting policies, and they are updating their handbooks and websites but there is still a gap in training teachers how to recognize this type of behaviors. Bringing awareness to teachers, aides, and other school professionals is imperative in the prevention process of sexual misconduct (Davis, 2019). 

Perspective: The professional perspective that I will be taking is the role of an Administrator/Principal. This Legal Guide Padlet page is a resourceful tool for elementary teachers, aides, and other education professionals who work with children on a daily basis; this tool contains legal, original, and current information related to Sexual Violence & Harassment Prevention and Response. I chose this topic because it is a mental and physical health related matter that affects pupils, educator/professionals, and our communities in a variety of ways. This is a human rights problem that can cause short and long-term consequences for everyone involved.