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Changing traditions Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Ashland High School senior Elisa Jessop, right, is part of a 12-person panel discussing the problems of senior boys pressuring freshmen girls into sex. The panel met during a community forum to discuss ways of breaking what some fear has become a "tradition." Ashland students and adults hope to break a cycle of sexual targeting at the high school By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune Ashland students, parents and faculty have vowed to turn the tables on what has been described as a "tradition" among older students who seek out ninth-graders for sex. They want to create a new tradition at the high school in which freshman girls reject the sexual advances of predatory older males. "There are boys who believe it is their turn to keep this tradition alive," said high school Assistant Principal Pete Cislo. "There should be a sign on every older boy's forehead that says 'danger.' " About 70 faculty, students and parents met Wednesday to discuss ways to break what some fear has become a tradition ingrained in Ashland's school culture. The meeting followed a survey conducted by Matthew McKinnon's political forum class that revealed the majority of about 750 classmates polled think some older males are preying on younger girls for sex. Those gathered at the meeting believe the cycle can be broken in part by informing eighth-grade girls about the kinds of pressure they can expect from older boys. They say senior boys should be confronted to see if there is any way to change their behavior. And they want to hold seminars with younger boys to make sure they don't follow in their older peers' footsteps. Students at the meeting said some eighth-grade boys look forward to the day when it will be their turn to go after the younger girls, and some eighth-grade girls look forward to the day when they can chase older boys. Cislo said the number of complaints from freshman girls had increased this year over the previous three years. "I think we're going back in the wrong direction," he said. Students in the political forum class - both boys and girls - have banded together to seek a solution. Classmates Elisa Jessop and Natalie Glucklich have teamed up to create a senior project in which they will visit about 10 eighth-grade girls each week to better prepare them for high school. Elisa said they will warn these girls about the dangers of older males. But Elisa said the problem doesn't always rest with senior boys. "There are a lot of freshman girls who go out looking for it," she said. "It's not all these big, bad guys going after these freshman girls." Some of the girls - especially those with a lack of self-respect or morals - do fall sway to the charms of older boys, she said. "The guys make you feel special. They make you feel adored." Elisa and other students also said the reality is that some freshman girls want to party and drink alcohol. "You can't ignore the fact they're going to party," said Elisa. One of the girls she is counseling is eighth-grader Rissa Barton, who said most of the girls her age would pay attention to the advice of their peers. Rissa said most teenagers don't pay much attention to their parents: "When they say, 'Don't do this, don't do that,' it goes in one ear and out the other." Elisa said it is important to understand the realities of what young girls want to do, particularly when going to parties. She said, "Before they party, we try and tell them to decide (in advance) what you're going to do." While there are some older boys who just want a younger girl for sex, school nurse practitioner Judy Blickenstaff said that many older students have good intentions when dating younger schoolmates. "There are a lot of good, honest, healthy relationships out there," she said. "It's a minority of boys who are doing this." Blickenstaff said the school needs to find ways to reduce the risks that young girls expose themselves to by showing them how to drink responsibly, to put out the word about which boys to avoid and how to set body limits. Girls sometimes say, "I didn't want to hurt his feelings," said Blickenstaff. But she emphasizes that girls sometimes need to take the offensive: "Either hurt his feelings or hurt his body." Many parents thought that these predatory boys should be sought out and counseled. But Cislo said this idea was tried once before and backfired because the boys gained greater stature in the school after they were called on the carpet by administrators. Junior Jeff Smith, who came up with the idea for the forum, said some of the ideas wouldn't work because many students think school is irrelevant. "I think at heart for me and my friends, we think that school is a big joke." Crystina Brazie, program manager for the Dunn House, said one out of three girls nationally is a victim of sexual abuse and felt more should be done to go after these older and more powerful males. "I don't think we can leave the power imbalance out of the question," she said. School officials said it would be difficult to prosecute every male student because the law is not clear enough about rape. Rather than characterize these situations as rape, Blickenstaff said most of the girls feel they have been used. "It's more a feeling of having been duped," she said. Many younger girls have little experience with alcohol or drugs, which sometimes gets them into trouble. "They voluntarily go into situations they normally wouldn't go into," said Blickenstaff. Some girls also come from very permissive families. Cislo said, "There is one situation where a freshman girl is allowed anything she wants and at anytime." Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.