Schools for Scandal

Kiddie Porn

Comments (0) By Edmund Lee Tuesday, Oct 13 1998

Earlier this year, LaShonda Davis alleged that a fellow fifth grader sexually harassed her. Her family filed suit against the Georgia school district, claiming the school failed to stop the harassment. Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. How would you rule?

Walter Dunn
Age: 27
Resides: Austin, Texas
Occupation: Musician/Student
Should schools be held liable when one student sexually harasses another? No. Holding schools responsible for children living their lives is ridiculous.
How prevalent is this situation? In high school, we’d talk about girls in the locker room—that’s harmless. But sometimes when you’re out in the courtyard and you go like, ‘‘Nice ass,’’ or ‘‘Nice jugs,’’ they could either smile or give you the finger. You never know.
Were you ever sexually harassed in school? Not in school, but at work. My boss was female and she just liked my ass for whatever reason. She’d be talking about its roundness or tautness.

Kelly Hansen
Age: 25
Resides: Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Occupation: Temp
Should schools be held liable when one student sexually harasses another? Yes. The school should be, if they were informed and nothing was done about it.
How prevalent is this situation? It goes on all the time.
Were you ever sexually harassed in school? In junior high school. And I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t say anything. I was scared.

Doug Pearl
Age: 28
Resides: Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Occupation: Architect
Should schools be held liable when one student sexually harasses another? No. To a certain degree the teacher should have some control. But we live in a world where you can’t keep tabs on everybody. Everyone’s just got the victim mentality.
How prevalent is this situation? No idea. I don’t have kids.
Did you ever sexually harass anyone in school? I remember in the third grade, if you called a girl fat or ugly or if you teased her it was no big deal. Today it might be. But also, today’s kids are so much different than when I grew up in the ’70s. Kids are seeing different things today, growing up much faster.

Wanda Cruz
Age: 42
Resides: Jersey City, New Jersey
Occupation: Travel agent
Should schools be held liable when one student sexually harasses another? No. But if the teacher is aware of it, they are definitely responsible.
How prevalent is this situation? I think it’s very prevalent.
Were you ever sexually harassed in school? In my time it was hair pulling. That was it.

Liz Henderson
Age: 33
Resides: Soho
Occupation: Sales
Should schools be held liable when one student sexually harasses another? Yes. It’s a classroom and an adult is there to monitor the situation. I don’t know if the term ‘‘sexual harassment’’ is correct. But the girl in the case was upset. That’s what matters.
How prevalent is this situation? I don’t think it happens that often. Kids tease each other but it’s an unusual case where one is feeling threatened.
Were you ever sexually harassed in school? When I was 11 it happened all the time. But I was never upset about it.

Amy Smith
Age: 29
Resides: Soho
Occupation: Student
Should schools be held liable when one student sexually harasses another? It’s tricky. It’s hard to bend the whole institution’s way of dealing with each kid. But in this case, where there was physical groping, that crosses the line.
How prevalent is this situation? It’s always been little girls, little boys, and hormones. We’ve also gotten a little sexual harassment–crazy in this country.
Were you ever sexually harassed in school? It could be labeled a sexual harassment thing, but it was more of a coming-of-age thing.

Orrin Sharpless
Age: 34
Resides: West Village
Occupation: Painter
Should schools be held liable when one student sexually harasses another? Yeah. When kids leave home and go to school it’s their responsibility to take care of the kids.
How prevalent is this situation? It’s quite prevalent.
Were you ever sexually harassed in school? No. I was a goodie.