WE NEED MANDATORY SENSITIVITY TRAINING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ShapTalk: Guest Commentary
By Michael M. Shapiro

This past February, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that school systems are responsible for stopping bias-based harassment and found in favor of a former student who had been incessantly harassed because of his sexual preference while attending the Toms River Regional School District. A school district may now be held liable if it is notified of a “hostile educational environment” and does not take reasonable action to eradicate it.

While New Jersey has one of the toughest anti-discrimination laws in the Country, enforcement of the law is weak, particularly in public schools. The New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent decision should be viewed as a catalyst for change in its public schools. To avoid adverse court decisions and to create an educational environment free of bias-based harassment, schools should take an additional step: Every school district in the state should be required to provide mandatory sensitivity training to all students, faculty and staff.

Bias-based harassment comes in many forms. The Toms River case and a recent case in Jackson Township deal with harassment based on sexual preference. However, racial-based harassment is unfortunately as prevalent, if not more so, in New Jersey’s public schools. A case filed in New Providence in 2005 involving allegations of harassment based on race is winding its way through the courts and is currently in discovery. Anti-Semitism and persecution of other diverse individuals are also present in New Jersey’s public schools. Sexism has resulted in many female students transferring into private schools so they can obtain an education free of sexual harassment. As the Latino, Asian, and Indian populations increase in New Jersey, student-on-student harassment has become more rampant, as well.

The recent Supreme Court decision provides an alternative for school districts: Either deal with problems of harassment in your schools or face the consequences in litigation. A decision to defend a litigation rather than institute preventative measures in the schools can be financially disastrous for a school district and can result in the rupturing of the town’s very fabric. A better solution is rigorous sensitivity training in the public schools that encompasses students, faculty, and school employees and will help prevent incidences before they result in costly litigation.

Of course, sensitivity training is an expense that must be borne and will be opposed in many school districts because of its impact on the budget. Therefore, the best solution is for the state to mandate sensitivity training in the public schools and provide grant money for school districts to develop and implement programs. While sensitivity training is not cheap, its cost will pale in comparison to the money spent defending litigations and paying judgments.

Some school districts will also oppose the training claiming that they do not have harassment problems. But there is not a school district in the state that does not have students who suffer some form of bias-based harassment. It is only a question of time before those students seek legal recourse or, worse yet, engage in a Columbinesque fit of rage resulting in unnecessary and tragic death and lives destroyed.   

Before a tragedy occurs and/or litigations develop as a result of bias-based harassment, and significant money judgments and attorneys’ fees are incurred, our state’s school districts should implement sensitivity training at all grade levels through a mandate that provides grant funding for such programs.

Michael M. Shapiro is an attorney who resides in New Providence. An archive of his columns can be found at ShapTalk.com.

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Comments

[Editor]

Not that I'm against sensitivity training, or, god forbid, for harrassment, but the issue for me is what about gray areas? I mean, as a junior high school student in Scotch Plains, I received way more than my fair share of harrassment. But it wasn't based on any of the things you touched on: it wasn't religious, sexual, or racial. Rather, it was because I had a much-worse-than-usual case of acne-scarred skin, and was a little "weird." Maybe that doesn't sound like it could be that serious, in terms of harrassment, but to me, it's the same boat: being harrassed for things beyond one's control.

So then the question becomes: do we have to then protect virtually everyone?

It's interesting you mention Columbine as a potential end-game if such sensitivity training weren't implemented, since I'd say the harrassment they received (or at least *felt* they received) was much more akin to the kind I just outlined that I felt, not the kind you outlined in your piece.

Thoughts?
-Jon

[Michael Shapiro]

Thanks for your thoughtful note, Jon. I think that while I did point out specific forms of bias-based harassment, any sensitivity training program would be deficient if it did not address more general kinds of bullying/harassment. I would recommend that such a program be standardized for every school and be well-thought out and worthwhile, not some hokey talk that causes teenagers to roll their eyes. I also think such a program should be accompanied by a standardized anti-harassment policy that should be thoroughly explained to students and vigorously enforced.

[prairiefyre]

Even in towns with reputations for being "progressive," the school administrators don't seem to know what to do with harassment. In my town, the school principle and superintendent didn't have a clue about how to address one middle school student calling another the "N" word. Awareness of this problem has been around long enough for schools to figure out a policy and use it. Workplaces have mandatory sexual harassment training. Why not something similar to address sexual and racial harassment and bullying in schools, and clear protocols for how to handle the situation when it arises?

[pooam]

Its a good idea. If such kind of trainings are introduced atleast some people would change their behavoiur.