The other day I happened to be at a large meeting where the topic of discussion was sexual harassment and how the University handles this delicate matter.

I must say, this discussion got me thinking. I myself am not altogether sure of how to identify sexual harassment. And what’s more, what should I do if I experience sexual harassment during my time as a student of Bowling Green State University?

I realized I have no idea how I would, or should, handle such a situation and I think that is a problem.

During this discussion of sexual harassment, we all had different experiences we brought to the table. Yet we arrived at several conclusions.

Although BGSU has a wonderful sexual harassment prevention test online, not enough people are exposed to it.

I believe that all incoming freshmen should be required to take this test, along with the AlcoholEdu program.

I also think that a brief sexual harassment training session should be included as a part of BGX weekend.

It would probably have a far more practical application than another half hour session of “Where do your values come from.”

I think it’s important for young men and women to learn about sexual harassment.

While it is incredibly rare that they will deal with any harassment from an instructor or other university employee, there is a high chance they will face harassment from a peer or co-worker.

Sexual harassment comes in many forms, and it’s important to know how to identify it. Furthermore, it’s critical that we all know how to handle harassment.

For instance, let’s say a young, nineteen year old freshmen girl starts working at a local bar and grille.

Fresh out of high school, she is excited to have such a cool job waitressing at a local bar.

Everything starts out fine. She makes decent tips, loves her co-workers, and plans to stick around for a while.

But then the restaurant gets a new manager, who implements sexist new policies.

He hires new employees based on their appearance, he encourages girls to dress suggestively while at work, or to be sure and wear make up.

Hey, “sex sells” he says. Now, this makes the girl incredibly uneasy.

She usually has high self esteem, yet she is afraid of losing her job because she does not fit the manager’s idea of beauty.

She also thinks that it’s wrong for the manager to use his employees as marketing tools.

Now, is this completely fictional scenario an example of sexual harassment?

Many people would say no, because the manager did not assault the girl, or ask her to perform inappropriate acts.

But he is creating a hostile work environment.

I say this is an example of sexual harassment, and it’s the type of situation that many girls are likely to face during their college years.

We need to know what to do when we are put in this situation. No girl should have to leave a job that she loves because her manager is a sexist jerk.

So that’s how I feel. The University already has some fantastic resources regarding sexual harassment, yet we need to make sure they are used to their full potential.

We need to make sure that every student or employee of the university knows how to identify and deal with sexual harassment.

Send comments to Erin Wethern at [email protected].