Project Need
The problem we face is that sexual harassment is often overlooked and dismissed by faculty and staff at our school and the surrounding communities, which inadvertently signals to students that this behavior is okay. Currently, eight in ten students will experience some form of sexual harassment during their school years. This affects their mental health, physical health and sexual health. According to a study by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), the effects of sexual harassment on students health and their educational experiences are numerous. These include having difficulty studying or paying attention in class, trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, no longer participating in activities or sports, and skipping class or dropping out of a course. Additionally, the AAUW found that even though sexual harassment is prevalent in educational spaces, most students do not report incidents to authorities and suffer in silence. Our goal is to combat sexual harassment and make it so that survivors do not suffer in silence.
Our plan is to begin by educating faculty and staff through professional development meetings on the many ways that sexual harassment materializes in schools so that they can identify and act as allies to students. Then, we will invite students to attend presentations by our GBLA team that will help clarify sexual harassment and sexual violence, what it looks like, how to report it, and, if they are unaware, explain Title IX. We are particularly interested in this topic because in our research we found that there isn’t a lot of data on high schools; most research is focused on college and university campuses, which we find problematic. Further, we also notice that there is little data on the experiences of students of color and we want to help fill that gap. In order to gather our data, we will conduct student surveys about their experience with sexual harassment. We plan to present this data to faculty and staff in subsequent meetings so they can see how prevalent the problem is at our school and be compelled to act. We will then collect qualitative data by inviting students to anonymously share their stories so that the numbers come to life. Lastly, we intend to build a platform to makes it easier and more accessible for students to report instances of sexual harassment to the authorities.
As is evident, our project aligns with our impacted area Health and Wellness. We want to ensure that schools are safe spaces and harassment free for all students.
Our plan is to begin by educating faculty and staff through professional development meetings on the many ways that sexual harassment materializes in schools so that they can identify and act as allies to students. Then, we will invite students to attend presentations by our GBLA team that will help clarify sexual harassment and sexual violence, what it looks like, how to report it, and, if they are unaware, explain Title IX. We are particularly interested in this topic because in our research we found that there isn’t a lot of data on high schools; most research is focused on college and university campuses, which we find problematic. Further, we also notice that there is little data on the experiences of students of color and we want to help fill that gap. In order to gather our data, we will conduct student surveys about their experience with sexual harassment. We plan to present this data to faculty and staff in subsequent meetings so they can see how prevalent the problem is at our school and be compelled to act. We will then collect qualitative data by inviting students to anonymously share their stories so that the numbers come to life. Lastly, we intend to build a platform to makes it easier and more accessible for students to report instances of sexual harassment to the authorities.
As is evident, our project aligns with our impacted area Health and Wellness. We want to ensure that schools are safe spaces and harassment free for all students.
Data Collection
Our team has several indicators to test if our project will be successful such as surveys through Google Forms, visually recording our events (with everyone signing a release authorization in the videos), sign-in sheets to measure the scope of our reach, and petitions that people will sign if they care to join us in our cause. One team member is in charge of creating multiple Google Form surveys to track participants’ opinions about their experiences with a certain event or activity before and after. Another team member is the videographer who records all activity in order to take a closer look and study what to improve on for the next event. The team always has sign in sheets for people to fill out so we can have a good idea of how many students are participating and whether we should adjust our promotions strategies to meet our attendance goals. We have a sexual harassment petition which students can sign if they agree to report and act as allies to survivors. Our impact will be shared on all our social media platforms, our GBLA website, the press if they agree to publish, the school’s website, and with our district school board. Lastly, the ultimate indicator of our success is the traction that our reporting traction receives. If it is used, we know we have succeeded.