Dear Fellow English 121 b students,

As you can see by my salutation this is clearly an informal letter (take that outcome 1!). I write to increase awareness and give voice to one of our peer who has been silenced. I checked with my peer to make sure that writing this letter on his behalf wuld not itself be a violation of “speaking for.” Since I have my peer’s permission and was an eyewitness of the Incident I would like to draw all of your attention to some recent troubling events.

While working at the Boys and Girls club with the teens with learing disabilities sexual harrasment was going on left and right. Our peer endured unwanted physical contact and sexual remarks which made this person visibly uncomfortable. The disabled student said, “I think Larry-Sue [I want to maintain complete confidentiality and to avoid divulging gender] is cute!” The student went on to spank herself with a kitchen utensil and said, “This would be good for spanking Larry-Sue.” These sorts of sexual advances are clearly inappropriate and make volunteers, including myself, uncomfortable.

I asked Larry-Sue how they were going to handle the situation. Ignoring the student and not encouraging this type of behavior seemed their best solution. The next time I went to the Boys and Girls club this tactic was being implemented, with perhaps a worse outcome. The student would simply not be ignored, resorting to physical assault: slapping and punching.

The only efforts I saw from staff against this behavior were intermittent reminders about keeping “our hands to ourselves.” I inquired why Larry-Sue didn’t tell the staff and they replied that “they have enough to handle as it is.”

 Well, I won’t tolerate this. As volunteers we are warned about only giving sidehugs and high fives, because as older people we are the sexual predators. The Boys and Girls club mission is to create a safe, healthy enriching environment for kids. What about for its volunteers? Is it not fair that we also demand a space free from sexual harrassment?

Please feel free to comment, ask questions, I want this dialogue to continue and make an impact. My dear 121 peers, don’t let yourselves become victims.

Vigilantly,

Summer