A kiss is still a kiss?
Campus Times
October 4, 1996
by Christie Reed
Editor in Chief
Pedaling the tricycle in the schoolyard, I easily remember the first
little boy that took notice of me. I can also easily recall the time when
we were behind the slide and he stole a tiny kiss. Everybody who saw chanted
the familiar, "Christie and Tommy sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g.
. ."
It was an act of experimentation; a simple, innocent peck on the cheek.
Never once did I scream and cry of the injustices done to me or claim that
my womanhood had been stolen or degraded. I had no idea what it meant to
be a woman. I was just happy that my mom had put my hair in pigtails with
ribbons.
With the latest cry of sexual harassment being heard from the mouth of a
6-year-old girl, it is easy to see the effect all of the sexual harassment
hype has had on America. What started out as a way to prevent intrusive
men from making obscene gestures and comments has become an excuse for every
sue-happy, overly-sensitive woman to yell "sexual harassment."
It is impossible to blame a young girl for claiming such injustices. It
was obviously her parents who had the final say. But did 6-year-old Jonathon
Prevette of Lexington, N.C., really intend to offend this girl with his
peck on the cheek?
The boys I remember in my class poked and prodded me, pulled my hair, called
me "teacher's pet" and cried when they fell off the jungle gym.
The count against young Prevette has placed first grade boys in the same
category as men and at the same time expecting them to be equally responsible.
The scapegoat of sexual harassment has plagued workplaces everywhere for
years. I have seen it myself. A guy makes a simple comment and his female
coworker gets all huffy and rants and raves that he is sexually harassing
her. Even more common is the glance. A look, perhaps not even prolonged,
in the direction of a female can be construed as sexual harassment.
If that constitutes sexual harassment, then sue me. I can recall countless
times when I have glanced at guys with no ill intent. Other times I have
found myself in a tired daze, just staring through somebody but not actually
looking at them. Well, to today's ridiculous standards, I am quite the sexual
harasser. The only thing that has saved me from lawsuit after lawsuit is
the fact that nobody has ever complained.
This most recent ordeal with Prevette has taken sexual harassment charges
and made them a joke.
Sex education is still not taught in first grade. Yet we as a society expect
this young boy to know what sexual harassment is before he even knows what
sex is. We have robbed him of his boyish innocence and turned him into a
disgraceful, demeaning, male chauvinist pig. Shouldn't we at least give
him time to develop into this character profile?
In this sexually sensitive, politically correct world, no one is safe, not
even a young child. The rules to live by are intended to create equality
between men and women and protect women and minorities from injustices.
But when the rules are applied to children who have just began to interact
in the world, then I guess we better call an end to recess and healthy interaction
for fear that playing doctor may go a little too far.
Christie Reed, a junior journalism major, is editor in chief of the Campus
Times. She can be reached by e-mail at reedc@ulvacs.ulaverne.edu.