If Things Are Not Bad, They are Not Accurate
Justin Bathon on Monday, June 8, 2009 at 12:06PM Check out this Columbus Dispatch story today. The author blatantly accuses the schools in Ohio of lying, or intentionally ignoring, incidents of sexual harassment in schools.
I'm not an expert on Ohio sexual harassment, so I can't say one way or the other whether the data cited in this story is accurate. But, the point is that neither is this newspaper author - and she doesn't cite anyone that does seem to be an expert on Ohio school data reporting systems.
The operating assumption here, and it is explicitly acknowledged in the article, is that kids are sexually harassing each other all over the place. Kids are probably exposing themselves everyday, fondling each other, forcing kisses on each other, raping each other. That is the clear modus operandi of all teenagers because they are "hormonally charged." To support these assumptions, she quotes a consultant who would benefit if such was the national perception. We must assume the worst, and that assumption must override any data ... because, well, we all know that schools and tennagers are bad, in all cases.
What has happened to real education journalism? Was it ever even there in the first place? Look, if you think the numbers are cooked, do an investigation and get some real proof. Then you have a story - otherwise you have nothing. Speculation is for the editorial page ... keep it off of the education page.
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