Posters about sexual harassment should be easy for K-12 students to understand. Below is sample language for a sexual harassment poster written at a seventh-grade reading level. There are also placeholders to add customized information about a school district’s Title IX website, Title IX coordinator, and school board policy. We hope school districts will use this model language to create clear, understandable posters that help students understand what sexual harassment is, what their rights are, and how to ask for help. A Spanish version is also available (click “Translate” in the upper right-hand corner).

SEXUAL HARASSMENT IS NEVER OK.
EL ACOSO SEXUAL NUNCA ES ACEPTABLE.

Online at / Línea en español en: [[insert webpage that contains the English and Spanish Title IX posters (choose a short URL)]]

What Is Sexual Harassment?
Sexual harassment is any unwanted sexual conduct:

  • Unwanted “jokes,” slurs, rumors, gestures, or “catcalling”
  • Unwanted messages, pictures, or videos
  • Unwanted kissing, touching, or sex acts (including rape)
  • Insults, threats, violence, or stalking from someone you are dating or used to date
  • Any romantic or sexual relationship between a student and an adult, even if the student likes the adult or wants the relationship

Sexual harassment can happen at school or during school activities. It can also happen online or outside of school but involve people from your school.

Know Your Rights
When you tell an adult at school about sexual harassment, you have the right to:

  • An investigation: Your school must conduct its own investigation right away, even if there is a separate police investigation. After investigating, your school must tell you in writing about its decision, what it will do to keep you safe, and how to appeal the decision.
  • A safety plan: Your school must make sure you are not bullied or punished for reporting the sexual harassment (this is called “retaliation”). If you don’t feel safe at school, your school must take reasonable steps to keep your harasser away from you—before, during, and after the investigation.
  • An education: If the sexual harassment has made it harder for you to learn, your school must take reasonable steps to help you—before, during, and after the investigation. For example, your school can offer counseling, tutoring, excused absences, extra time for homework or a test, or a chance to redo homework or retake a test.

Ask For Help

  1. Tell an adult at school: Talk to your assistant principal or principal.
    You can also contact your Title IX Coordinator, [[name]] at [[phone]], [[email]], or [[address]].
  2. File a complaint: Go to [[insert main webpage for complaints (choose a short URL)]] and click on “[[name of complaint form]]” to fill out a complaint form. Give the complaint form to your assistant principal, principal, or Title IX coordinator.
  3. Learn more about your rights: Go to [[insert main webpage for school board policies (choose a short URL)]] and click on “[[name of document or link]]” to read Policy #[[insert policy number for the harassment complaint/investigation procedure]].