You
are strongly urged to read this entire document.
WHAT
TO DO IF YOU OBSERVE AN INSTANCE IN VIOLATION OF THE BELOW
Please
see Jim as soon as possible. You can also see Cindy Waring in Mem. We need to
know so we can take action to stop the behavior from happening again.
AVOID
ANY STAFF ON STUDENT BEHAVIOR THAT COULD BE SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Avoid
discussing sexual and romantic issues. Speak about these issues in response to
comments students make ONLY. Do NOT initiate any discussion about the student’s
romantic relations with other students or people. OBVIOUSLY, DO NOT IN ANY WAY
suggest or positively respond to suggestions of a relationship between you and
a student.
1. Do no ask students about
their sexual/romantic experiences, past, present or future.
2. No playing any games
involving questions about student or your sexual experiences; please remove
yourself from these games immediately (e.g. "31," "i
never," "purity" etc.).
3. No backrubs, NO touching
of students.
4. Sexual activity with
students is absolutely not permitted.
5. No showing nude pictures
unless it is directly relevant to your instruction about a debate argument AND
EVEN THEN please avoid it and do it ONLY when there are several students there.
6. Offering favors to
students for any kind of romantic/sexual behavior is absolutely not permitted;
punishing students for not engaging in romantic/sexual behaviors is also
absolutely not permitted.
7. Leering at students is not
permitted. Control your eyes—do NOT look at a student for long periods of time
unless it is when you are judging a debate.
8. No being in rooms with students
alone PERIOD.
9. IF you ABSOLUTELY MUST be
in a student room, YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE another staff member with you in
the room and preferably also several other students. Students ARE NEVER to be
in your residence room.
10. Do not speak/interact with
one particular student repeatedly alone nor pay extra amounts of attention on
any one student.
11. There's a balance in
there, please keep well to the side of less personal interaction that could in
any way be perceived by a student or by other students to be more than a
regular staff-student relationship.
AVOID
ANY STAFF ON STAFF BEHAVIOR THAT COULD BE SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Please
think about your behaviors toward other staff members.
1. Avoid physical touching of
other staff unless it is asked for.
2. If someone says no—STOP
immediately.
3. Please show respect for
other’s personal/sexual lives. Taunting other staff members for crushes, etc.
IS NOT PERMITTED.
4. If you are being
harassed-tell the harasser(s) to stop it. Tell Jim. Please help us make this a
comfortable environment for you.
STUDENT
ON STAFF SEXUAL HARASSMENT?
Leave
the area immediately and see Jim or Cindy immediately.
NO
GAMBLING OR MONEY MAKING OFF OF STUDENTS
During
the camp, you may not gamble with students for money/valuables or engage in any
activities for the purpose of profiting monetarily or in material goods from
the students. Any exceptions to this require the permission of Jim.
STOP—THINK
ABOUT HOW YOU TALK ABOUT RACE, CLASS AND GENDER
This
means YOU need to think about how you talk. Think about the following:
1. HOW MANY WOMEN/NON-WHITES are you holding up as good examples of debaters versus whites/males?
·
In your lectures,
are you including examples of great debaters who are Asians, South Asians,
Hispanics, Blacks, Whites, Women, Men, Effeminate, Masculine, Radical,
Conservative? I encourage you to do your best to do so. Show kids there’s
someone successful like themselves but also others who succeed who do it
differently.
·
I strongly
encourage you to include women and men as examples in your lectures. “In
this one debate, Laura Parcher ran this incredible
Malthus . . .”
·
Think about who you are speaking positively about. “One of the best
debaters I ever saw was Naveen Ramanchandrappa.
I watched him debate national champion Stacey Nathan at the NDT and . . .”
·
Should you
highlight the gender/ethnicity/etc. of a debater in one of your examples? (for
example, “Ned Levine, an African American debater, has often told me . . . ) In
general, no—that is gratuitous. Do so only if it is directly important to a
point you are making.
·
Think about who
you are speaking derogatorily about “I hate debaters that . . .” what is going
to follow that? Is it possible you are speaking to kids that are like that?
“She spoke in this high pitched voice—derogatory voice imitation follows. Very
irritating.” Do you say that about a lot of women debaters? Male debaters? “I
just think men only think with their gonads.” That doesn’t sound good except
maybe if made clearly as a joke.
2. Are you singling out a non-white or woman in your lab as being representative of that group? STOP IT.
Example:
“Let’s talk about Gender IR. Okay, Susie, you should know about this. What do
you have to say about this?” STOP IT.
3. Are you assuming everyone in your lab is white/middle class? STOP IT.
Example
“We don’t experience poverty the way these people have.” YOU DON’T KNOW THAT.
STOP IT.
4. Stop assuming students are straight/gay or whatever sexuality. STOP IT.
Example:
“Oh, I bet you like those boys.” NO WAY—This violates the harassment rules AND
it is SEX ORIENTATION JACKETING. STOP IT.
5. Let students self-identify their gender, class, race, sexuality, etc.
RESPOND
POSITIVELY TO THEIR SELF-IDENTIFICATION.
STOP
VERBAL HARASSMENT
If you notice a student being harassed (and I mean
sexually, racially, or just being picked on), you must immediately speak to the
harassers and put an end to it. You are also required to inform me immediately.
I AM VERY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS. THERE IS ZERO TOLERANCE OF STUDENTS MAKING FUN
OF, BEING DEROGATORY OF, AND HARASSING OTHER STUDENTS. YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY
EXPECTED TO STAND UP TO IT. Suggestions:
1) Pull the harassing students aside and tell them to stop
2) Turn the “joke” on the harassers in a way that points
out their harassment and ends it. Humor can be a great way to silence
harassment while not calling too much attention to what makes it so bad:
serious hurting.
3) Out loud tell the harasser to stop their specific
behavior. E.g. “Stop it.” Then, have a private talk with the harasser and make
it clear what you expect—no more harassment.
4) Contact Jim if the behavior does not improve. I AM
SERIOUS—I WILL BE VERY PISSED IF I HEAR that a student is suffering because of
taunting and you haven’t talked to me about it.
STOP
THE POLITICAL BASHING
Yep, I’m asking you to show some sensitivity toward
students who don’t share your left-wing views (yea, I’m generalizing but you
get the point). You can definitely express your views. You can even
emphatically state those views. BUT YOU SHOULD NEVER CREATE A SITUATION WHERE
students would feel “stupid” to disagree with what you are saying. You should
also really think before saying such lines as “Bush is a facist” and most
particularly “Republicans are fucks.” GUESS WHAT? You WILL have republicans in
your labs. Show EVERYONE in your lab respect—that is good old school liberal
tolerance--no leftist kritiks of that permitted. J Try something more like “Bush is wrong
because . . .” and “I don’t think Republican policies are good for these
reasons . . .”
TONE
DOWN/AVOID THE SWEARING
These kids look up to you. They are going to follow your
speech patterns—they will literally mimic you. If you are cussing left and
right, so will they. That’s not good when they return home and start talking
that way with their parents. STOP THE SWEARING. Thank you.
KEEPING
YOURSELF IN SHAPE FOR EDUCATING AND CARING FOR THE STUDENTS
I hate to be the nag but please keep yourself in good shape
at all times during the camp. It is for the sake of the institute’s reputation,
for the quality of instruction you provide, and for the safety of the kids
especially if an emergency occurs.
·
Excessive
drinking of alcohol is not appropriate.
·
You
may not drink alcohol within 8 hours before you work with students.
·
If
you do drink, you MUST stay hydrated to avoid any problems the next day that
would interfere with your work.
·
You
may not drink nor have alcoholic beverages in the Residence Hall lounges. You
are NOT to drink at any point in the day until you have finished all of your
work for that day.
·
Use
of illegal substances is not appropriate.
·
You
need to be well rested. Please get your sleep. Kids should not have to deal
with a cranky lab leader because you chose to stay up until 4 in the morning.
Further, when you don’t get rest, you get sick and then you can’t do your job.
·
DRIVERS
MUST get rest and may not drink alcohol for 24 hours prior to transporting
students.