One study, published in the journal Child Development,
was led by Campbell Leaper of the University of California Santa Cruz
and involved 600 teen girls from California and Georgia. A surprising
90 percent of these girls reported at least one experience of sexual
harassment, everything from inappropriate and unwanted romantic
attention to demeaning gender-related comments, teasing about
appearance and unwanted physical contact. More than half experienced
discouraging comments about their potential in science, math or
computers, while three-quarters were discouraged regarding athletic
ability.
“This study documents the continued
pervasiveness of sexism in the lives of adolescent girls,” Professor
Leaper states. “When sexual harassment frequently occurs, girls may
come to expect demeaning behavior as normal in heterosexual
relationships. And when girls’ achievement is discouraged in
traditional male-dominated fields, their potential is limited and
society loses potentially talented individuals in important fields such
as science and technology.”
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A related study, published in the journal Springer,
showed that while the incidence of bullying in school is higher than
that of sexual harassment, the latter often has a more profound and
lasting impact on the victim. It can result in lower self-esteem,
symptoms of stress and poorer mental and physical health.
Girls are the targets of harassment more often than boys. However, a study published in Psychology of Women Quarterly
revealed that boys are negatively impacted by harassment of girls even
though they are not the target. The authors state, “When students
believe that teachers and administrators do not actively intervene in
harassing behavior toward girls, it has negative consequences for all
students: both boys and girls, and targets and non-targets.”
All of these studies conclude that for
the benefit of the entire student body, teachers and administrators
need to be significantly more alert at spotting sexual harassment and
meting out punishment when it occurs.
