RightsED: Tackling sexual harassment - Activity sheet: Comments in the schoolyard
Tackling sexual harassment
Activity sheet: Comments in the schoolyard
Let's start thinking about your school. Imagine that you heard the comments and saw
the incidents on the next page. Would they be examples of 'sexual harassment'?
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Is this an example of sexual harassment? |
Yes |
No |
Don't know |
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1. |
"What they'd do was get a ruler and try to stick it up your skirt. They'd do |
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2. |
"I was sitting in the classroom and this boy walked behind me and shouted |
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3. |
A girl approaches a group of girls. They turn away and ignore her, and exclude |
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4. |
A boy calls a girl over to his locker. He shows her a picture of a naked |
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5. |
A boy and a girl are hugging each other. She laughs and tells him that he's |
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6. |
A boy bumps into a girl and then brushes against her front, but it seems to be |
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7. |
"Look, we have this teacher and he doesn't really do anything, it's just the |
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8. |
"I usually get a hard time about hanging out with the girls in class and at |
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9. |
"As a young female teacher in a boys' school, they often try to provoke me by |
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# |
Is this an example of sexual harassment? |
Yes |
No |
Don't know |
10. |
"Look at Jenny - the way she wears those short skirts and tight tops. She's |
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11. |
"I was new at the school. Now I'm not a big sports jock or anything, so on the |
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12. |
A group of students graffiti comments in the boys' toilet about another girl |
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How did you go with these comments and situations?
You have probably decided that some were definitely sexual harassment, some were
more general bullying and some you could not be sure about.
To decide if your answers to the previous pages are accurate, you need to know the
definition of sexual harassment.
The Sex Discrimination Act gives the following definition:
Sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual behaviour which makes a person feel
offended, humiliated or intimidated and that this reaction could reasonably have been
expected in the circumstances. It has nothing to do with mutual attraction or
friendship.
Unwanted or unwelcome sexual behaviour can include:
- unwelcome touching
- staring or leering
- suggestive comments or jokes
- sexually explicit pictures, posters, screensavers, calendars
- unwanted invitations to go out on a date
- requests for sex
- intrusive questions about a person's private life or body
- insults, name-calling or taunts based on your sex
- derogatory graffiti
- sexually explicit e-mails, text messages, etc.
Discuss your answers with your classmates.
Make some notes about your conclusions for future reference below.
Answer sheet
Comments in the schoolyard
How do your answers compare? You can check your answers with those of the Australian
Human Rights Commission.
# |
Answers to 'Comments in the schoolyard' |
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1. |
Yes - this is sexual harassment. The overtly sexual nature of what the boys |
2. |
This probably isn't sexual harassment - but it is certainly a pretty nasty |
3. |
It's not clear if this is sexual harassment - but it is a form of bullying and |
4. |
This could be sexual harassment - it depends on how the girl feels about |
5. |
This would not be sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is not about |
6. |
This is likely to be sexual harassment as it doesn't seem like it was an |
7. |
This could be sexual harassment. Staring or leering can make someone feel just |
8. |
This may be a form of sexual harassment covered by a state law. There are laws |
9. |
This is sexual harassment. It's not acceptable to ask people lots of questions |
10. |
This could be sexual harassment - it depends on who was saying it, who was |
11. |
This looks like sexual harassment that could be covered by state laws. Girls |
12. |
Writing explicit comments that are offensive or humiliating can be sexual |