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  • Sexual harassment?

    An interesting blog entry that I find amusing. Don't get me wrong, there are some serious issues that exist in this realm, but the study shows how frivolous some sexual harassment "issues" are IMO.

    www.rofasix.blogspot.com

    Sexual Harassment on Campus

    Reuters reports in the story, "Sex harassment affects most college students" that a Harris Poll has discovered 2/3 of college students are "affected by sexual harassment." That fraction is a lot more impressive than the actual number which was 62%. But I won't nit-pick the numbers because the real problem with the report is not so much the numbers, but the conclusions.

    The report starts with the premise that sexual harassment has two components, physical and non-physical. While 32% report being subject to "physical harassment," only 30% report the "non-physical" kind.

    What is really likely here is what we have is a precursor report designed to substantiate a "problem" in order to justify a future grant for some academic to study.

    The Reuters story reports:

    "The primary form of harassment that we're seeing is actually non-contact: it tends to be remarks, gestures and jokes," Elena Silva, the report's co-author, said in a telephone interview. "But the fact that one-third of college students are experiencing some form of physical harassment is certainly a concern."

    In a representative survey of 2036 undergraduates at U.S. colleges and universities, 41 percent said they had sexually harassed someone.

    "In most cases, these students say that they thought it was funny, the other person liked it, or it is 'just a part of school life,'" the report found.

    Common types of physical harassment include being touched, grabbed or pinched in a sexual way, or intentionally brushing up against someone in a sexual way, the study found.

    Flashes of frontal or rear nudity, calling someone gay, lesbian or a homophobic name or spreading sexual rumors about someone also were reported as sexual harassment in the survey.

    Less than 10 percent of all students report sexual harassment to a school employee, the study found. Most student victims say the incident was "not a big deal" even though it made victims feel "helpless" or "horrible."

    "We have a real contradiction where students are saying, on the one hand, it's no big deal and didn't report it ... but on the other hand, they say, 'Yes, I was upset by it, yes, it made me feel bad about myself,'" Silva said.
    The study has validated one thing. Hormone driven college aged students are egocentric, and do some incredibly sophomoric and thoughtless things, or at least 41% do. While legally most are "adults," most parents know how laughable that label is for most kids in college.

    Looking at this study I am amazed how we continue to expand the definition of "harassment." Chaperone a fraternity party or go watch a Spring Break in Florida or Mexico and you get to see a lot of behavior that you won't see anywhere else. Most of it would qualify to be counted as harassment statistics of this study.

    It's the 30%, non-physical harassment, which is the biggest canard. I expect soon studies like this will include any use of curse words as harassment too. Watch the percentages explode by those who have their feeling's hurt!

    The most telling statistic is the last one quoted. It is that less than 10% of college students reported the behavior, most feeling "it was no big deal." That pretty much says what we really have here is a "non-problem," unless of course you are seeking a grant and need to create one.

    I have a better idea. If some taxpayer's money has to be spent on a problem, let it address the problems of those poor college students who have such low self esteem that they "felt bad about themselves," after hearing, seeing, or "experiencing" what is often typical of the "college experience."
    Posted at 22:08 by NOTR.
    "So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3
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