School shootings have attracted the most national attention and incited the most panic in the USA out of all forms of school violence. The national and educational media reporting on these acts focuses exclusively on gangs, guns and drugs and fails to consider the gendered dimension of school violence. How can an awareness of this dimension be developed?

Failure to recognise and identify gendered relationships as elements of school based violence is reflected in the conventional analysis offered by the national press of the recent spate of school shootings in the US. Most attacks were carried out by white boys upset about the break up of a relationship with a girl friend, rejection by a girl, or because they did not meet traditional community expectations of masculinity. Peer to peer sexual harassment is also rampant. According to findings from the latest survey by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation (AAUW) in 2000, students in the 8-11th grades revealed that 83 percent of girls and 79 percent of boys have experienced sexual harassment in school, while 54 percent of students admit that they have sexually harassed someone during their school life. Yet, when educators and policy makers consider interventions to curb youth violence, they overlook gender violence.

In response, Wellesley College research in the USA, is developing and promoting the notion of 'gender safety'. This aims to shift the national media attention from a singular focus on gangs, guns, drugs and threats of violence to include acknowledgement of gendered dimensions of threats to safety. These are not currently being measured or disaggregated in research or addressed in school or social policy.

A landmark case involving a 5 year-long lawsuit filed by the parents of a 10 year old 5th grade female student who had endured sexual harassment by a male student, resulted in the Supreme Court's ruling in May 1999 that officials in all publicly funded schools are liable for peer to peer sexual harassment. This decision charts a sea change in attitudes towards addressing issues of sexual harassment in schools. The girl had endured months of being grabbed in her crotch and breasts and spoken to in a vulgar way by a male classmate. Teachers had ignored her pleas.

This case revealed how school staff often witness incidences of sexual harassment but fail to confirm the girl's experiences or to take action because they do not 'label' such incidences as 'sexual harassment'.

Current school reforms addressing school safety focus on the creation of a 'zero tolerance' approach - 'one strike and you are out'. Yet, concerns have been raised that with the increased vigilance towards sexual harassment since the Supreme Court ruling, infractions will end up in outright expulsion and suspension of offenders (largely boys), without addressing the root causes of the problems.

Recommendations include:

• Replace 'zero-tolerance' with ‘zero-indifference’: school staff notice, comment on, and intervene in students’ behaviour, and take progressive disciplinary action.
• Adopt a ‘gender safety’ approach. This goes beyond thinking of gender equity in terms of access and rights and is more complex and less reactive to ‘zero tolerance’.
• Carry out a large scale research study exploring the relationship between harasser and victim in the school setting - an almost totally unresearched area
• Ensure that the US Department of Justice and Education’s Annual report on School Safety reflects a gendered analysis of school based violence.
• Revise the language and methodology of crime surveys to gain an accurate portrait of sexual violence in schools.

Source(s):
'Zero Tolerance: Resisting the drive for punishment in our schools', New Press, New York by Ayers,W, Dohrn, B and Ayers, R (eds) 2001
'Hostile Hallways: bullying, teasing and sexual harassment in schools' American Association of University Women (AAUW): Washington DC, 2001

Funded by: Wellesley College

id21 Research Highlight: 1 February 2002

Further Information:
Nan Stein
Wellesley College Centre for Research on Women
Wellesley College
106 Central Street
Wellesley
MA 02481
USA

Tel: +1 (781) 283 2500
Fax: +1 (781) 283 2504
Contact the contributor: nstsein@wellesley.edu

Wellesley College, USA

Other related links:
'Respect yourself'

Insights Gender Violence Special Issue: 'Conspiracy of silence? Stamping out abuse in African schools'

'Scared at school - Sexual Violence Against Girls in South African Schools'

Men's Roles & Responsibilities in Ending Gender Based Violence: envisioning men as part of the solution

'Premarital Sex and school dropout in Kenya: can schools make a difference?'