Recently, many cases regarding harassment at public schools have come into public view. Students are being harassed, and the administration is doing nothing about it. A few students have been suggesting a zero tolerance policy on harassment accusations; however, accusations could turn the innocent into criminals. A Westgate student, who wishes to remain anonymous, whom we will refer to as “Bob,” was recently interviewed on the subject. The truth behind high school harassment policies is revealed in the course of this interview.

Bob was asked if he believed the school board is doing an effective job regarding education. He stated that if the school board was doing an affective job, they would have a zero tolerance policy on some things, such as sexual harassment. The Iberia Parish School Board (IPBS) does have zero tolerance on some things, such as fighting. Bob agreed that fighting was reasonable; however, “Isn't [sic] verbal remarks made about someone's race, gender, [sexual] preference, and religion like fighting?” Bob was then asked what has been done about harassment. He explained that students are being harassed everyday. They do not report it to the administration. The only thing the administration does is warn the harasser. A warning does not solve anything, it just makes it worse.

Bob strongly supports zero tolerance. He referred to its necessity many times. There are exceptions to zero tolerance regarding harassment. Bob was given the following scenario: What if a girl claims her ex-boyfriend sexually harassed her and there is no evidence to support her accusations. The boy could be suspended and even expelled on the girl’s word alone. Often accusations such as these are false. Bob said there should be witnesses. In all probability, all you have is the victim’s word alone. School cameras can record evidence when someone is being harassed. Bob believes that the cameras in the school’s halls “suck.” For the cameras to work properly, they would have to catch every angle of an engagement, but they will be helpful in proving that an actual confrontation took place. Bob says it is impossible to put a camera in every place of a hall. The school board is not willing to spend the kind of money needed to place cameras in every vulnerable place.

Another scenario was offered to Bob. Fellow students have been harassing a young man. He went to the administration, and they told him they would do something about it. They told him not to do anything about it. Nothing was ever done. He defended himself in a confrontation. He got expelled because the administration told him to do nothing, but it was them who did nothing. The students who were harassing the boy were suspended for three days. They had been suspended previously for fighting that same year. The boy was a GT honors student who had never been involved in a fight in his life. Bob says the boy acted in self-defense. The boy felt as if he was in immediate danger and acted to protect himself. “If the administration did do something about it, then maybe the problem wouldn't have elevated so far.” said Bob.

There are many good qualities to zero tolerance, but there are a lot of bad qualities. It’s a balancing scale. The victims and the accused have to be protected. Often, cases lack evidence and a conviction is overturned. Other times, accusations convict the innocent. There is has to be a “middle way” somewhere. Even though zero tolerance does have these bad qualities, it is necessary to enforce rules against harassment.