The Power of Peer Education to Combat Sexual Harassment
Joel Levin describes how peer education is a powerful force to create a respectful school climate and keep students safe on and off campus.
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July 16, 2024
Joel Levin describes how peer education is a powerful force to create a respectful school climate and keep students safe on and off campus.
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By Joel Levin
Built on a foundation of inclusion, SASH Club addresses concerns of multiple student affinity groups and provides a safe and welcoming forum for building understanding and collaboration to make school more accessible and enjoyable for all students.
K-12 students face myriad challenges in their personal lives—navigating healthy and unhealthy relationships, boundaries, dating violence, online harms, and more.
As for sexual harassment and assault, it’s no secret they take a serious toll on students’ education. Researchers, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have been telling us this for years; and the incidents that are reported are only a fraction of what actually occurs. For example, young people often aren’t sure whether a behavior is harassment or flirting. They may wonder whether their dating partner is acting appropriately, as Anna Flauter writes in her Women’s Media Center blog: “I was swept off my feet by a varsity athlete almost three years older than me. I was instantly hooked. In retrospect, bits and pieces of our relationship had been slowly crumbling away, but by December, my life had fallen apart.”
What if students had a safe place to learn about the harms they experience, how to get help, and how to stand up against damaging behaviors?
The SASH Club (Students Against Sexual Harassment) provides a structure for students to gather in person, on or off campus, or virtually to ask questions, share opinions, support each other and make friends. The club offers students safe spaces to explore relevant topics like alcohol and date rape drugs, relationship violence, and gender-based discrimination.
The SASH Club website offers downloadable presentations (Power Topics) to spark thoughtful conversations about issues that align with students’ expressed interests. Power Topics address questions such as how do males experience sexual harassment, how can I recognize an unhealthy relationship, what can I do about sextortion, and how can someone get confidential help? Other topics focus on supporting LGBTQIA+ students, sexual harassment of students of color and students with disabilities, and ending victim blaming. “Parents can better understand what kids want and need to know by seeking out and sharing age-appropriate resources such as SASH Club’s Power Topics,” says author and clinical psychologist Jo-Ann Finkelstein. Adults can also use the Power Topics to start a conversation across the generations. Explore the Power Topics here.
Peer-education activities promote collaboration and respectful behavior that benefit the extended school community. As Heidi Goldstein, a veteran consultant to K-12 schools in California, explains, “Administrators and school staff who want to build positive culture at their schools will find that SASH Club is their superpower in fostering student engagement and participation to improve school climate.”
In addition to promoting leadership skills and civic participation, the presence of a school SASH Club encourages students to express their voices in positive ways, as Dr. Bill Howe, former Title IX coordinator in Connecticut explains: “I frequently had to educate the school community on the obligations of schools to allow a GSA (then known as Gay Straight Alliance). The right of students to establish a GSA (or a SASH Club) at school is guaranteed by both the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the federal Equal Access Act as long as other student clubs are allowed. Educating students on their rights and giving them a voice to rectify injustices is an instrumental goal of schooling.”
While students may use SASH Club resources solely for their own information, clubs may also plan activities to serve their local schools and communities. Students at Jordan High School SASH Club in North Carolina, for example, planned to invite guest speakers, develop programming directed to athletes, launch a consent awareness week campaign, and partner with their local crisis response center. SASH Club offers suggestions on its Additional Activities webpage.
Teachers, counselors and parents play an important role helping students understand the behaviors they experience both on and off campus. The SSAIS website and teacher fact sheet offer helpful information. When school staff introduce SASH Club, they’re sending a positive message of support to students. It’s easy to create a club using the startup kit.
SASH Clubs are a win for students and schools alike. Schools benefit by providing opportunities for students to talk through relevant topics and take up constructive advocacy in support of gender equity and safety. Peer-education groups like SASH Clubs encourage participants to engage with ideas, share experiences, and elevate their voices to create positive change in their communities.
Want to learn more about SASH Club? Visit the website and complete this brief interest survey.
Joel Levin, is co-founder and program director of the national nonprofit Stop Sexual Assault in Schools. He has a Ph.D. in education.
Join Share My Lesson’s Summer of Learning Webinar SASH Club: A Peer-Education Approach to Addressing Sexual Harassment and Assault in School, Wednesday, July 31, at noon EDT. You can watch it on-demand with closed-captioning after it first airs.