Trigger warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual harassment and predatory behavior. As high school girls at St. The reality was, the older men were setting them up for sexual exploitation. STCQC was one of the schools that were tagged in a social media campaign calling for more proactive and transparent handling of sexual harassment cases. Miriam College, St. The trend emboldened survivors to come forward, and revealed impunity and danger in schools meant to be safe spaces for their students. This was a quote Jastine Yap could not forget from her Grade 11 philosophy teacher in Other times, he would tease them about a selfie they had posted on their Facebook Story. In no time, Jastine, who was then 17, developed a friendship with Morales. In their chats, she felt like she was just talking to a boy her age.
How the Schools Shortchange Boys
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O nce morning lessons begin, Patrick Ryan starts to pace the corridors of the school with his walkie-talkie. Officially, Patrick is described as a behaviour support officer, but his role is more that of dedicated trouble-averter. He is on call to remove disruptive pupils from their classrooms and to search for absconding students who have failed to turn up to their lessons. All of the senior staff at the Bridge Academy, a school for pupils who have been excluded from the mainstream, carry walkie-talkies, and the corridors crackle with the noise of requests for back-up and appeals for straying pupils. Patrick is a calm presence when the school secretary comes out to announce that a year 10 pupil, Robbie, has climbed over the school gates carrying a pair of scissors, taken from the art class, and disappeared. He is at ease in this atmosphere of simmering unrest, dispelling conflict with quiet banter, ignoring the abuse that pours from students' mouths. A year-old girl with a profoundly unhappy expression walks along the corridor the wrong way, brushing against the walls, flicking every switch and pulling at every bit of electrical wiring. Patrick consults the school timetable, gently turns her around and helps her to the correct room. Headteacher Seamus Oates stands in the corridor and greets the late arrivals with warmth. A lot of pupils arrive for the free breakfast club that starts at 7.
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F or Maya, sexual harassment started in the very first week on the job. A newly qualified teacher, she had been hired by a prestigious London state secondary school. Maya and her female colleagues experienced a barrage of abuse from male students, too. Nothing happened to the children. Many times over, female staff who reported problems saw no action taken. Maya firmly believes that the harassment of her and her colleagues by their male counterparts emboldened the pupils. There was only one woman in a leadership role in the whole school and she was bullied out of her position. I think that kind of atmosphere trickled down. She asked for the police to be involved and the pupils to be spoken to, but instead the school simply shut down the internal telephone system. You dread going in.
As a result, boys have become increasingly disengaged. Only 65 percent earned high school diplomas in the class of , compared with 72 percent of girls, education researcher Jay Greene recently documented. Girls now so outnumber boys on most university campuses across the country that some schools, like Kenyon College, have even begun to practice affirmative action for boys in admissions. And as in high school, girls are getting better grades and graduating at a higher rate. T ake my tenth-grade student Brandon.
