1st Grader Suspended for Sexual Harassment

[Merika]

Sex-harass suspension of 1st grader stirs debate
Experts say kids his age don’t understand; mother is outraged

Updated: 8:54 a.m. ET Feb. 9, 2006
BROCKTON, Mass. - A 6-year-old boy is getting a lesson on the meaning of sexual harassment long before he’ll be able to spell it.

The first-grader was suspended for three days for sexual harassment after he put two fingers inside a classmate’s waistband, school officials told his mother, Berthena Dorinvil. The boy told her he only touched the girl’s shirt after the girl touched him.

Experts say only in rare, troubling cases can children that young truly sexually harass one another.

The connotation is you’re getting some kind of sexual gratification, or wanting sexual gratification, or are putting pressure on for some kind of sexual gratification, when a 6-year-old doesn’t have that capacity,â€Â� said E. Christopher Murray, a civil rights attorney who has handled school discipline cases.

Dr. Elizabeth Berger, a Philadelphia-area child psychiatrist, said this case seems to be an overzealous attempt to ensure students feel safe in school after years in which society was not attentive enough.

'He’s only 6 years old'
The boy’s mother called the Jan. 30 suspension from Downey Elementary School outrageous. She said she can’t even explain to her son what he did wrong because he’s too young to understand.

“He doesn’t know those things,â€Â� she told The Enterprise of Brockton. “He’s only 6 years old.â€Â�

Brockton school officials have not commented beyond a statement from Superintendent Basan Nembirkow that said sexual harassment charges are always investigated and officials are trained to deal with them.

The Brockton School Committee defines sexual harassment among students, in part, as “uninvited physical contact such as touching, hugging, patting or pinching.â€Â�

First-graders who repeatedly touch classmates need to be disciplined and taught what’s appropriate, said Nan Stein, a senior research scientist at the Center for Research on Women at Wellesley College. But don’t call the apparent discipline problem “sexual harassmentâ€Â� because first-graders just don’t get it, she said.

There have been similar cases. In 1996, a New York second-grader was suspended for kissing a girl and ripping a button off her skirt â€â€� an idea the boy said he got from his favorite book “Corduroy,â€Â� about a bear with a missing button. Earlier that year, a Lexington, N.C., 6-year-old was separated from his class after kissing a classmate on the cheek.
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I don't know WHAT to think! 8O Anyone have an opinion?

[Vautrin]

Kids think these things as innocent. I told a bit in another thread of the "gf" I had, when I was about that age. Never, ever have I seen that particular relationship as sexual, or even as a relationship at all.

It seems that schools are a bit overzealous. The US might as well start banning cigars, for being phallic-shaped objects, which apparently can be used in a sexual context. Way over the top.

[Merika]

Originally Posted by Vautrin

The US might as well start banning cigars, for being phallic-shaped objects, which apparently can be used in a sexual context.

And we had a President to prove it. HAHAHA!

[Fayebelle]

Originally Posted by Vautrin

It seems that schools are a bit overzealous. The US might as well start banning cigars, for being phallic-shaped objects, which apparently can be used in a sexual context. Way over the top.

Bravo!


There are children that have been sexually abused and do behave in manners that can/should be taken as harassment. Those kids may miss a marker that they need help b/c EVERYTHING is considered harassment.

True victims may feel less of a right to be hurt if told "OH IT'S JUST KIDS BEING KIDS AGAIN"

Parents that are not engaged enough to teach proper social behavior to their children will have the PTA on their side b/c "good parents and kids" are being "picked on" too.


Of course this article only gives one side of the story- apparently the child that the boy touched did complain- still in general- these things are getting out of control IMHO

[IvyRose]

Ah geeze... My son was in kindergarten when he touched a girl's earring because he thought it was pretty. He didn't get suspended, but I got a lecture about how inappropriate it was for him.

It was jewelry, people!

[Fayebelle]

I can only imagine if Squish was in a public daycare instead of a home daycare considering his current favorite phrases are "I HAVE A PETE!" and "I'LL POOP ON YOU!"

[hezekiah]

is Merika still here? and what happened to her commas?
as to the topic my brother took his lil girl out of school coz a boy kissed her-i understand that..

[Fayebelle]

How old were the children?

[BridgieBridge]

I will never forget the time that i was walking through the local Walmart and this little boy who looked about 6 smacked me on my backside and his mother laughed and kept walking. It was everything i could do to control myself, i was mad!

[PepsiChic]

its upto the parents to teach their children wrong from right. children however will do things to test their boundries. suspending a 6 year old from school may not be the best way to go about it.

just telling him off and letting him know that it was incredibly naughty and not allowed, and if he does it again he wont be allowed to go back to school - that should be enough.

trying to explain what sexual harrasment is, is stupid, no 6 year old can grasp that, most teenagers still havent.

[Fayebelle]

Originally Posted by BridgieBridge

I will never forget the time that i was walking through the local Walmart and this little boy who looked about 6 smacked me on my backside and his mother laughed and kept walking. It was everything i could do to control myself, i was mad!

But honestly weren't you MORE mad at the mother for doing nothing?

THAT is the problem in my book.


The child was imitating behavior he had learned SOMEWHERE and nobody taught him that it was inappropriate.

[Luba]

Originally Posted by Fayebelle

But honestly weren't you MORE mad at the mother for doing nothing?

THAT is the problem in my book.


The child was imitating behavior he had learned SOMEWHERE and nobody taught him that it was inappropriate.

I agree with everything you are saying, Faye.

[TKDLady]

I think there should be a test before you can have kids. If you don't pass you don't breed. Sorry but I have seen so much and heard so much about the way some kids are treated. My friend was a foster parent for a while. What an eye opener. I have another friend who is the director of the Guardian Ad Litem here and he has told such horror stories. There are some people who definitely do not deserve to have kids.