In today’s litigious and changing society, it is difficult to define anymore what is considered sexual harassment. Boundaries are constantly changing for society, and each individual has different boundaries.

According to a recent online survey conducted by Harris Interactive and reported by The Washington Post, 62 percent of college students say they have received “a comment or gesture they found inappropriate.” The students in the survey were told that sexual harassment was “unwanted behavior and could include anything from suggestive glances to spreading sexual rumors and forced contact.”

In 2005, Ohio University had to help pay a $350,000 settlement to a former student as a result of a 2002 incident where the student said she was sexually harassed by a director in her college. OU then set a new sexual harassment policy that requires employees or students who learn about alleged sexual harassment to report it to the university.

College is a place that people come to in order to learn. Meeting new people and other social activities are part of college life, but not the main goal. In a place where people are striving to acquire an education and a degree, it is important that they do their learning in a comfortable atmosphere. Feeling uncomfortable because someone else is making inappropriate comments or sexual advances is something that will greatly hinder a student’s ability to learn.

This page has written about this issue before, and feels that Ohio State needs to adopt a concerted effort to make students aware of sexual harassment is and how it can harm other students. There are many possible courses of action to get this point across to students – a seminar on sexual harassment during Welcome Week that incoming freshmen are required to attend, incorporating it into the FYE program or passing out information for sexual harassment awareness. The method of spreading the information is not important, what is important is that it happens.

OSU should also consider passing a policy similar to OU’s policy. Students should not feel uncomfortable about reporting sexual harassment to the university. If a student feels he or she has been harassed sexually, regardless of the severity of the harassment, that student should have a safe and easy way to report it. Students should not have to make a decision whether their feeling of uncomfort was enough to report – it should be something that trained experts are able to look in to and decide if the case should be looked into further.

Nobody should have to suffer the harassment of a repeat offender because that person was not reported to authorities. Sexual harassment should be dealt with quickly and judiciously, so students can comfortably do what they came to college to do – learn.