ABSTRACT
SUMMARY. The Expect Respect Elementary School Project, funded by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, established a 158model for the primary prevention of dating violence by addressing bullying and sexual harassment on public school campuses. This three-year project was based on the belief that when bullying and sexual harassment go unchecked in elementary schools, these behaviors condition students to accept mistreatment in their peer relationships, laying the foundation for abuse in future dating relationships. The Expect Respect Project assisted six public elementary schools in Austin, TX in taking a whole school approach to stopping bullying, sexual harassment and gender violence by providing staff training, classroom education, parent education, assistance with policy development, and support services. Data from the first year of implementation showed students in the intervention schools had a significant increase in their: (1) ability to identify sexual harassment; (2) awareness of school policy to protect them from sexual harassment by other students; and, (3) willingness to intervene on behalf of another student. This article represents the project's findings from the first year of implementation. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <getinfo@haworthpressinc.com> Website: < https://www.HaworthPress.com" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://www.HaworthPress.com > © 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]
