Hello. My name is Eleanor Linn. I'm Senior Associate Director at the
Programs for Educational Opportunity, an Equity Assistance Center based at
the University of Michigan. We're one of ten such centers funded by the
federal government to provide technical assistance to schools on issues of
race, gender, and national origin. There's a center like ours available to
educations in each of the federal regions. I can give you more information
about yours, or you can find them all through our program's website
www.umich.edu/~eqtynet
I've been working on issues of sexual harassment in schools since the
early 1980's and I truly believe that there are things that schools can
and should do to prevent the likelihood of sexual harassment and make it
less harmful if it does occur.
My first work on sexual harassment came as a request from teacher and
counselors working with nontraditional students. Almost invariably, the
single girl in an autoshop class, or the boys in health care would want to
talk about sexual harassment and would want help from educators about what
to do. That work led to the development of Tune In to Your Rights: A Guide
for Teenagers About Turning Off SExual Harassment. I can tell you more
about it if you're interested.
I can also tell you about the AAUW survey called Hostile Hallways. I was a
senior advisor the them on that study and I also worked with a group of
researchers at the University of MIchigan to reanalyze the data using more
sophisticated statistical techniques.
I hope that our discussion will look at issues of culture, race, language
and class. I learned a good many interesting things about differences and
similarities of sexual harassment in different communities. I assume that
most participants in this discussion will be looking for strategies that
work in their own community or school.
Recently I've become interested in the ways that sexual harassment is
similar and different from other forms of violence. I now think that
schools need to use difference strategies when sexual violence takes place
between dating, or former dating partners. Some pereptrators of sexual
harassment assault people physically as well; others do not. Understanding
these issues might help with further prevention efforts.
Most impoartantly, I feel that schools need to focus on the role that most
of us play - that of bystanders to sexual harassment. I am convinced that
what we say or do in those teachable instants can make an enormous
difference on the lives of children.
I thank edequity for inviting me to join this conversation. I look forward
to our talking and learning together.
Eleanor Linn
Programs for Educational Opportunity
1005 School of Education
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
<elinn@umich.edu>
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