TORONTO - Violence, bullying and sexual harassment are rampant in high schools across southwestern Ontario and female students rarely escape the unwanted sexual attention that follows them year after year, according to new research released Wednesday.
A report by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health states there's ample evidence that violence, sexual harassment and bullying are a fact of life for a significant number of students both in small towns and big cities.
More than 1,800 students at 23 high schools were surveyed about their experiences in Grade 9 and Grade 11, and almost a third said they had felt unsafe at school at some point.
While reports of violence and threats decreased as the students got older, cases of sexual harassment among girls barely decreased.
Close to half of the girls surveyed said they were the subject of sexual comments, jokes, gestures or looks in Grade 9, and that number stayed the same two years later.
Thirty per cent said they were sexually touched, grabbed or pinched in their first year of high school and that dropped by just two per cent by Grade 11.
And 27 per cent of Grade 11 females said they felt pressured into doing something sexual when they didn't want to. About 15 per cent said they had oral sex just so they could avoid intercourse.
Author David Wolfe said schools need to find ways to address abuse and violence so kids feel safe during every year of their schooling.
"Bullying and harassment are well known to affect an individual's health and adjustment, including problems such as depression, substance use, anxiety and academic failure,'' he said.
