1. Flirting or Hurting
A 20 minute lesson plan designed to help students learn about the
kinds of sexual harassment and how to tell the difference between
flirting and harassment.
2. Students will be able to…
• 1. Define sexual harassment
• 2. Distinguish between different types of sexual harassment
• 3. Make a distinction between flirting and harassment
4. On the white board, prepare the following chart:
Verbal or Written Gestures Physical
Flirting Harassment Flirting Harassment Flirting Harassment
5. Instructions:
• Explain that we’re going to do an activity that will help us learn the
differences between sexual harassment and flirting.
• All of you see how other students behave whether there are adults
around or not: in class, in the locker room, the cafeteria, hallways,
after school, etc. In this discussion, let’s draw upon what you already
know and see. You are the experts about what goes on around you.
• Please look at the chart. We’ll start with verbal or written things that
you observe students writing or saying.
6. Go through each heading and
subheading one at a time, asking
students for examples of each.
7. Once students have finished giving examples for
all three categories, ask the following questions:
• Which of the examples of sexual harassment do you think happens
most in our school? Which types go unnoticed by adults?
• What is the difference between flirting and harassment? How does
being the target of harassment feel different than being the target of
flirting?
• What can we do when we feel that someone is sexually harassing us?
• What have you learned from this exercise?
