We studied the hallways and classes at THS to find our answer. Four out of four students interviewed said they don’t see an absurd amount of harassment, but they all see a good amount of it at various times and places within the school (the hallways mainly). Only one out of four of the students said they had been harassed while they did not go to seek help. two students have sought help for friends about a harassment situation from within the school. The students did not want to go into further detail about the situations. 

One teacher stated about the harassment situation in schools, “I see it [harassment] a lot in freshman classes. I think it’s due to immaturity and lack of self control. It may be due to a lack of great role models.” It is a bad situation when there are freshmen doing this and seeing some of the older kids behaving this way, leading them to believe this is an acceptable way to treat people. One student was asked if they see a lot of harassment within the school and they stated, “Yes, especially of disabled people.”

 Ms. Honaker, the behavioral specialist at THS, said that the most harassment she sees is done to shy kids and that they can and need to get help. Things that even if they are meant as a joke but make you feel uneasy or uncomfortable in your environment are seen as harassment. The process of getting help consists of reaching out to a teacher or an adult in the school you trust, then filling out an online bullying and harassment form and submitting it to your assistant principal. From there they launch an investigation where they interview all parties and come to a conclusion. Depending on the conclusion they come to, appropriate consequences are distributed.

To answer the questions, yes there is harassment and bullying within THS, but that doesn’t mean we can’t change it. We need to pay attention to our surroundings and how things people do really make us feel. Even if it is a “joke” it  doesn’t mean it isn’t real harassment. We need to report the harassment our friends and other people we know are engaging in and put a stop to it. We need to help those victims of harassment get their voices out and show that they can come back from this.