Sexual harassment, violence, consent: What sex ed looks like after #MeToo movement

"We're proactive within our health ed curriculum, and we cover those topics," a Spring Grove official said. Although, local school officials say they were not directly impacted by the #MeToo movement.

The Evening Sun

The #MeToo movement sparked a national spotlight on the reality of sexual harassment and violence experienced by women and men.

"What started as local grassroots work has expanded to reach a global community of survivors from all walks of life and helped to de-stigmatize the act of surviving by highlighting the breadth and impact of a sexual violence worldwide," according to the me too. website.

But it's not just adults who have been affected.

In 2011, a study by the American Association of University Women titled Crossing the Line: Sexual Harassment at School found that 48 percent of students in grades seven to 12 experienced some form of sexual harassment at school.

"In other words, sexual harassment appears to be a normal, albeit undesirable, part of school," according to the study.

The study also found that 30 percent of students are sexually harassed by text, email, Facebook or other electronic means as well as in person.

So what can be done to solve this problem? The study argues that students want education.

"When asked what their school could do about sexual harassment, many students liked the idea of class discussions (31 percent), workshops (24 percent) and information on the school website (22 percent)," according to the study.

In total, only 10 states, not including Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia "require that consent be part of sex ed curriculum" as of May 2019, according to a report by the Associated Press.

In York and Adams counties, school officials say that these topics are discussed to ensure the safety of students. However, that's not necessarily as a result of the #MeToo movement.

#MeToo didn't create 'significant concerns' in curriculum

Curriculum in Spring Grove Area and Hanover Public has not been altered by the #MeToo movement, according to those districts.

"We're not aware of any significant concerns; even with the #MeToo movement, it didn't create any significant concerns for us," said Stephanie Kennedy, Spring Grove's coordinator of School/Community Relations.

Curriculum in Hanover Public School District was also not directly impacted, said Assistant Superintendent Susan Seiple.

However, school officials said that topics of consent and sexual violence are discussed in health course curricula.

More:'Just made no sense': Why school districts are nixing, reviewing sex ed program Project WORTH

"We're proactive within our health ed curriculum, and we cover those topics," Kennedy said.

In the Spring Grove 7th and 8th grade health course curriculum, students are taught refusal/resistance skills. Seventh grade also addresses the concept of protecting yourself from physical violence while 8th grade addresses concepts like dating relationships and sexual violence.

"We have those good relationships with our students, we have the SROs (School Resource Officers), our social workers and they work really hard to make sure that ... if there's something going on with a student, that the student will find those adults approachable, and feel that they can tell that adult so that way it can be addressed," Kennedy said.

Seiple said that Hanover Public uses the Byrnes Health Education Center programs to help teach students on topics like violence prevention.

However, the center does not teach on topics like consent, sexual harassment and domestic violence, Byrnes center President and CEO Anne E. Bahn said.

The Children's Advocacy Center in Adams County also provides training in its county schools through the evidence-based program Speak Up Be Safe, Executive Director Elida Murray said.

It involves "training anything from kindergarten to 12th grade on the idea that if you speak up, you can be safe and kids learning those identification tools so that they are able to respond appropriately if someone approaches them and tries to abuse them in some way," Murray said.

In the last fiscal year, the advocacy center did prevention education for 1,427 individuals in Adams County, which involves Speak Up Be Safe, Darkness to Light and other programs.

However, Murray said that Speak Up Be Safe was also not impacted by the #MeToo movement because, to continue being evidence-based, it is important for the program to remain consistent to accurately track its results and impact.

Murray said that the tools being provided to children are to help them find trusted adults in case they experience child abuse.

"It's adults who are responsible for protecting children and for preventing child abuse," Murray said. "That, to me, is really critical that adults take responsibility for this. It shouldn't be on children to protect themselves in that way."

Consent: 'Your no should mean no'

Some area school districts, like Upper Adams, Spring Grove and New Oxford, use a supplementary health education program called Project WORTH.

Program materials included a page on "How to Answer the 'Why?' Question" aimed at providing students with "a list of 20 ways to say, 'No,'" should anyone pressure them to do anything that would threaten their sexual health.

The list includes statements like "Because I'm not ready," "Because I care enough about my parents," "Because I am counting on a really special wedding night," or "Because I feel it is wrong to have sex before marriage," among others.

Page 9 titled "How to Answer the 'Why?' Question" from a Project WORTH packet distributed to Gettysburg Area School District 8th grade students in March 2019.

However, this approach is not what Dr. Heather Richards would recommend.

"I think no, is no," said Richards, therapist, clinical sexologist and owner of the nonprofit Studio for Sexual Health, Wellness and Education Inc. in Philadelphia. "So I don't know how you could get out of a situation without saying no, and your no should mean no."

She said that education on these topics is all about keeping an open dialogue with students, starting at an early age.

"Because now they have been living in these homes, watching their parents, trying to figure out love, relationship, intimacy on their own," Richards said. It's important for instructors to help students navigate between the relationships they have witnessed "versus what a healthy relationship IS."

"I think that's really important to help with people having partner violence and being in abusive relationships and speaking up if someone touches them inappropriately," Richards said.

She says that it is also the responsibility of parents to discuss the topic of healthy relationships with children to help them avoid violent relationships.

"If you don't want to talk about intercourse, that's fine, talk about love, talk about what that looks like, prevent your teen from going on a date and being raped or murdered, because intimate partner violence is real," she said.

More:Former Delone Catholic teacher pleads guilty to corruption of minors, will serve jail time

State legislature's attempt to update criteria

In 2016, state senators proposed the Pennsylvania Healthy Youth Act to be amended into the state's sexual health education requirements. However, the act never made it out of the education committee.

The state's sexual health education requirements, also known at the Public School Code of 1949, was most recently amended Nov. 6, 2017.

In the Healthy Youth Act, school districts required to comply with the Pennsylvania Code titled HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening and communicable diseases would also need to provide sexual health education that meets additional criteria.

When it comes to consent, the act states that "an affirmative consent standard shall be established to emphasize healthy sexual behaviors." That information would include:

(A) It is the responsibility of both parties to ensure that affirmative consent has been established before proceeding with any sexual activity.
(B) The absence of protest or resistance does not comply with affirmative consent.
(C) Past sexual relations and/or existing relationships are not indicative of affirmative consent.

On the topic of sexting, the act emphasizes the need to discuss "the dangers and risks of the social pressures of sexting." That information would include:

(A) Images are easily shared and can be made publicly available online.
(B) Once distributed online, images can be difficult to remove.
(C) Consequences of sexting in some cases include charges of criminal activity such as child pornography and disseminating of indecent material to minors.

Attempts to contact the Pennsylvania State Senate Education Committee Chair Wayne Langerholc Jr. for comment were unsuccessful.

Currently, Pennsylvania schools use the Academic Standards for Health, Safety and Physical Education to create curriculum and assessments. These standards "describe what students should know and be able to do by the end of third, sixth, ninth and twelfth grade."

Though, these standards do not explicitly outline when and how schools should discuss topics of consent or sexting like in the Healthy Youth Act.

Resource for parents

The book 30 Days of Sex Talks is a resource parents can use to navigate through topics like love and healthy relationships, according to Heather Richards, therapist, clinical sexologist and owner of the nonprofit Studio for Sexual Health, Wellness and Education Inc. in Philadelphia.