High school – the place of preparation for life, a place where you find a sense of self, and a safe haven for teenagers, or is it?

Sexual harassment is prevalent in high school. Whether it is malicious rumors whispered in the hallway, a lewd photo arriving by cell phone, or hands groping where they shouldn’t, it’s a problem on a day-to-day basis. 

During the 2010-11 school year, 48 percent of students in grades 7-12 experienced some form of sexual harassment in person or electronically via texting, email and social media, according to a survey released by the American Association of University Women.

“I think there is a lot of sexual harassment on the internet,’’ said junior Juanika Choates. ``But it depends on the way the person takes it because some people don’t get affected easily.”

To a typical high school audience, this treatment of  peers is often humorous, but rarely do they consider the feelings or thoughts of the person being harrassed. In the survey, nearly one third of victims said they felt betrayed. Not only did such heinous acts affect them emotionally, but the harrassment affected them academically to the point where they refused to continue school in some cases.

High school is more than just the romanticized image many view it as. High school has become a job for many teens who face peer pressure and ridicule daily. Everyone’s familiar with the constant pressure to fit in, to be accepted, or to be cool. Many succumb to this pressure to commit acts that are out of character, including giving unwanted attention to their peers.

According to the University Women survey, 1,002 girls and 963 boys from public and private schools nationwide indicated a variety of ways in which they were harrassed, including: having someone make sexual comments about them, being called gay or lesbian, being touched in a sexual way, being unwantingly shown sexual pictures, and being the subject of sexual rumors.

“Today, girls are oftern called ‘whores’ for something as simple as having male friends,” said senior Felicia Petty. “I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard about nude pictures being sent around school.” 

Girls are not the only ones who experience sexual harassment, boys face similar problems. Studies have shown that girls are just as aggressive in the approach of a male, whether it be the unwanted rubbing across the back, a quick grab of the butt, or even something as weird as opening a text to see animated sexual acts.

“I think it does happen both ways because when I walk through the halls, I personally get sexually harassed from females in the hall,” said junior Jacquez Solomon.

Very few students ever report incidents to anyone in authority; most keep it to themselves or share the story only with friends. 

“Schools are so focused on bullying, they overlook what’s right in their face,” said junior Destinee Jordan.

Although schools have blocks on the social networking sites, students often bypass those blocks uploading and commenting on vulgar and indecent pictures and videos.

“Everytime I log in [to Facebook], there is another video about this celebrity or that celebrity that has been leaked; it’s gotten to the point where I deleted my account,” shares Paris Hudgens. 

A lot of times, students think that because they are young, they will not be punished  for their form of “play.” Rarely do they ever know the sevarity of the situations.

Although sexual harassment isn’t a criminal offense, it is a civil offense. The victim of the crime can sue the offender, and in some cases and be sentenced to a short time in prison. 

Whether an offense is civil or criminal, either way it goes, someone can and will more than likely be punished.