Forty-eight percent of all students grades 7-12 have experienced some variation of sexual harassment by being targeted by someone from their school.
Focusing on the Nashua High School North community, senior Julia Castillo shared her personal experience of sexual harassment, being touched inappropriately without consent by one of her fellow classmates.
Castillo stated, “I felt objectified, hurt, and embarrassed, and shameful for the reason that it was done”. When asked if anyone reacted to this act of violence, she stated, “No one said anything, no one did anything.”
When asked if Castillo ever brought this act up to the administration, she said, “I did not alert the authorities. I was afraid to alert anyone because I had fears of them twisting the story into making me a bully.”
Ms. Krycki, NHSN’s health teacher, said she shared information on how she brings awareness. Krycki does a variety of activities in class, including bringing in a guest speaker from Bridges Sexual and Domestic Violence Support, discussing red and green flags, types of abuse, and healthy acts.
In terms of potentially improving her lessons, she had stated “pulling in more social media” to her lessons as the topic continues to grow.
Krycki had also shared that she had an incident with a student who made a statement about a celebrity who currently has sexual misconduct allegations, after the student claimed the comment as a joke, it still had concerned Krycki, and when she had taken it to the administration, they had not taken it seriously.
Kallie Provencher, a social worker at NHSN, says that Bridges informed her of bringing respect week to North so that students can get involved and learn the difference between healthy and unhealthy teen dating relationships.
Provencher expressed that she would like to see more staff and student engagement in Respect Week. “Awareness only comes when there are opportunities that feel safe to learn from,” said Provencher.
“I think teens feel a pressure to know how to deal with all the situations life throws at them, and that can make them unsure of what to do or how to know when they are in a relationship that is unhealthy for them,” stated Provencher.
Provencher is passionate about bringing awareness to this topic; her efforts are appreciated. “If I can promote activities and interactions that let students know we can help them through tough situations, I feel fulfilled and like I am doing my part to make North a safe place,” said Provencher.
“We have to be willing to discuss and educate around difficult and uncomfortable topics if we want students to learn what to do in difficult and uncomfortable situations,” stated Provencher.
With such a high percentage of teens that have gone through the unfortunate events of sexual harassment, awareness is important for people to feel willing to seek help and empower them in doing so.
