As you shuffle from class to class here at North Penn High School, you will notice students holding hands as they walk through the hallways, hugging each other before they go their separate ways and kissing each other in secluded areas.  In our school no one would say that behavior normally constitutes sexual harassment.

Lincolon School of Science and Technology thinks its sexual harassment though.

On December 10 2013, Hunter Yelton, a six year old, was suspended from school for kissing his “girlfriend” on the hand during their reading group.  The school, located in Canon City, Colorado, labeled the incident as sexual harassment and labeled Yelton as sexual harasser, which will remain on his permanent record.

Honestly, I don’t know what is more ridiculous, the suspension of a six year old or how this was labeled as sexual harassment.

There was no statement from the girl or her family but Yelton’s mom, Jennifer Saunders, said the girl was fine with it and they were “boyfriend and girlfriend” (remember that they are only six here).

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, sexual harassment is defined as “uninvited and unwelcome verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature especially by a person in authority towards a subordinate.”

The incident regarding Yelton certainly does not fit the definition.  Of course, that is not the only way people define sexual harassment and that’s the problem; we all interpret sexual harassment differently. So, was the incident regarding Yelton really sexual harassment?

This incident made headlines and it really makes people think about schools’ policies towards sexual harassment.  What are schools defining as sexual harassment? Depending on the situation, is suspension not enough or is it too harsh? Sexual harassment is a topic many tend to shy away from, but schools should distinguish what “incidents” are serious and those that are not; it’s a fine line.