Boys should be held accountable for bad behavior towards girls in and out of school. Boys will continue to harass if they don’t face consequences for their actions. Harassment can cause low self-esteem and self-confidence. It may stop girls from going out in public and most importantly school. 

        First of all, boys will continue to harass girls if they don’t face consequences for their actions. Boys will think it’s ok to harass because they won’t get into trouble. This may happen frequently at school, on the streets, and possibly at home as well. Studies show that 82% of females have been harassed by men and boys. This keeps happening because they get away with it.

      Harassment can cause low self-esteem and self-confidence. “People who harass or bully use cruel comments, gestures, threats, or actions. They try to insult, demean, exclude, shame, or hurt others” (Sexual Harassment & Sexual Bullying). For us girls, it may not seem so easy to stick up for ourselves and strike back at them, but instead, we let it go and do not talk about it at all nor bring it up to an adult.           

 Constant harassment may stop girls from going out in public and most importantly school. “If this is the case, a person being harassed may feel unsafe or attacked. They may avoid going to places where it happens, such as school or their job. They may feel sad, scared, or angry — or all of these. The stress of being harassed can lead to poor sleep, worry, depression, or lower grades (Sexual Harassment & Sexual Bullying).”  

     People may say “boys will be boys” but this way of thinking condones ongoing bad behavior and they will continue to harass if they don’t face consequences for their actions. Harassment causes low self-esteem and self-confidence and may stop girls from going out in public and most importantly school.