Kenosha students say health assignment puts blame on sexual assault victims
KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) – Bradford High School students are speaking out after a controversial classroom assignment. Health students were asked a question about sexual assault that sparked outrage from both students and parents.
In health class at Bradford High School Monday, students watched a video on sexual assault and afterward were asked to answer this question in an assignment:
"What could have Melissa done differently to have avoided her sexual assault (provide at least four examples)?"
“Like how are we going to avoid it?” Student Hannah Ramos said. “By not being girls?”
Ramos said the question is just not appropriate.
“I don't understand why that would even be a question, even if it is curriculum, why would they have 15, 16, 17-year-olds looking at a question like that?” Ramos said.
The student who shared the assignment with CBS 58 News wasn’t available to meet for an interview this weekend but tells us she was taken aback when she read it.
“My first thought was 'did I read that right,' I thought maybe I wasn't understanding because of what it was asking,” the student said.
The 10th grader shared the assignment with her mother and they brought it to the school administration’s attention.
“I started to get frustrated because it didn't make sense to me to blame the victim,” the student said.
Kenosha Unified School District said they learned of the assignment Wednesday and by Thursday, the assignment was pulled from the classrooms.
“I just feel like KUSD needs to change some things,” Ramos said. “That should have never been a question.”
Kenosha Unified School District is looking to make changes saying in a statement:
"Late on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018, the Kenosha Unified School District administration was made aware of concerns regarding a class assignment presented to students in health class at Bradford High School on Monday, Dec. 17, 2018. District administration takes concerns very seriously and immediately launched an investigation. In addition, Bradford was asked to promptly remove this assignment from use. The district will be doing a comprehensive review of the health curriculum covering relationships and dating violence, consent and sexual assault to avoid future incidents. It was not the intent of the district or our staff to offend any of our students, families or stakeholders and we apologize for the concern this may have caused.”