Oh what a rabbit hole we have fallen into. This is the first in a series on education in America. Hold tight to your umbrellas because this one's got us riled up.
We begin by telling Lizzie Martinez's story. Lizzie didn’t wear a bra to school one day while recovering from a sunburn. She was asked to put bandaids over her nipples by her school’s administration and shared her story online, which went viral. We discuss school dress codes and the often unfair consequences of these rules.
We talked to students who brought up the pervasive problem of bullying. Bullying wasn’t even defined until 2014, and it’s proven a complex issue for schools to handle. One program, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), teaches self awareness and how to make responsible decisions. SEL has shown to effectively lower hostile events in schools but is only used a small number of districts.
Sexual harassment, assault, and rape are widely reported in schools across the nation. Several students we spoke to felt their schools didn’t take action against these claims. National statistics support this with reports rising, but school action and punishment hasn’t equally increased. Title IX is a federal civil rights law passed in 1972 as part of the Education Amendments. Title IX states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Although this law is in place, many reports go nowhere.
In an upcoming episode we’ll dig deeper into the racial inequalities in the U.S. school system, so stay tuned! Follow us on Instagram @HoldMyUmbrella and thank you for listening!