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Over the Line at School?

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Here's the simple truth. Two landmark Supreme Court decisions -- Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District and Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education-- require schools to take reasonable steps when officials learn about harassment of students, which is defined as conduct serious enough to deprive the victim of access to educational opportunities. Those steps must protect students from harassment and provide them with a safe learning environment.

We get calls from victims of serious sexual harassment whose schools have ignored their responsibilities; we also hear about schools that overreact -- as Potomac View Elementary administrators concede theirs did.

While the legal decisions in no way require schools to call the police when a 6-year-old boy hits a classmate on the bottom, they do require schools to properly address the pervasive problem of sexual harassment.

The right response is to help educators learn to distinguish serious, illegal harassment from the harmless behavior of young children.

MARCIA D. GREENBERGER

Co-President

National Women's Law Center

Washington


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