A hand game is proving popular in Central Ohio schools.
"There's this game called lock that kids in our grade play. And it where you touch hands with a person and whoever touches another part of their body first has to go up and slap the other gender's butt," a 7th-grade student said.
To kids, it's a game, but to adults it’s a form of sexual harassment. In fact, sexual harassment is reaching epidemic levels in American middle and high schools. A study released Monday by the American Association of University Women discovered during the 2010-2011 school year, 49 percent of students in grades 7-12 have experienced some form of sexual harassment. The acts occurred in person, or by text, email and social media.
Sophia Dundelman is part of nearly one-third of teen victims interviewed for the study who felt ill after getting sexually harassed.
“It was like really depressing and it get me mad. You just don’t feel good about yourself after," said Dundelman.
The study also revealed that 56 percent of girls and 40 percent of boys said they experienced at least one incident of sexual harassment during the school year. Half did nothing, while some spoke to their parents about the incident. Shockingly, just 9 percent reported the incidents to school administrators, such as a teacher or school counselor. Harassers say they found no harm in their actions.
Janine Winters is the mother of two daughters. She said she does her best to educate her girls about what’s acceptable behavior and what is not.
"Teaching them to say, you know what don't speak to me like that. It's about instilling a level of respect that I’m going to talk to you the way I want you to talk to me," said Winters.
You can read the entire study by following this link: http://www.aauw.org/learn/research/crossingtheline.cfm
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