STORY: Harassment at school is no different than harassment in the workplace except that in the workplace, there is a legal course of action to pursue to stop the harassment, according to University of Alabama at Birmingham management professor Vickie Cox Edmonson, Ph.D. According to Cox Edmonson, school administrators can take the lead from business regarding harassment policies and better handle situations of harassment before violence occurs, like the school shooting March 5 outside San Diego and the March 7 shooting in a school cafeteria in Williamsport, Penn.
WHO: Vickie Cox Edmondson, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of management at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Business. She has a Ph.D. in strategic management and has published in the Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship, the Journal of Business Ethics, the Journal of Career Development, and the Business & Ethic Professional Journal. She has more than 10 years of professional experience at United Airlines, Procter and Gamble, and NBI, INC.
WHAT: "Unlike victims of sexual harassment in the workplace, who can decide whether or not to remain with a firm where he or she is being harassed, by law most kids cannot choose to leave their school," says Cox Edmonson. "Therefore, it is incumbent on the school administrators to ensure that every kid can attend school without being harassed by other students."
-- Have harassment policies in place.
"Schools should have harassment policies--not just say we will be kind and treat others with respect, and school officials should be required to handle all cases of abuse in the school under this policy."
-- Report harassment through the proper channels.
"School officials who fail to report these situations to the appropriate source should also be held accountable when a situation occurs."
-- Require counseling after a harassment incident.
"Students who feel threatened or harassed in school and those who threaten others should receive counseling to reduce the probability that incidents like these will occur. These students are not teased in secret, teachers and administrators should be required to handle the situation and send both the victim and the victimizer to counseling."
CALL: Jennifer Park, Media Relations, 205-934-3888/[email protected]
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