Community educator Cheryl Banks spoke to students about the dangers of sexual assault during the second of a two part in-school assembly on safety yesterday. Part one, held Nov. 12, was about distracted driving.

The administration separated the assembly by gender, with Banks speaking first to the girls and then to the boys. Since sexual assault is such a sensitive issue, Banks took different approaches when speaking to the two genders.

“100 percent of the time when someone is sexually assaulted it is because somehow, in some way, they are vulnerable,” Banks said.

In many cases, sexual assault occurs when the victim is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Banks stressed the need for girls and women to stick together and watch out for one another, prompting a round of applause from the students in the audience.

The girls’ assembly ended shortly following the applause and the boys filed into the auditorium. Banks focused the male assembly on making good decisions and the risks of sex, whether it be rape or consensual.

She told the story of a boy who asked if it was considered assault to grab his friend’s breast, and the audience applauded in response.

The applause didn’t stop there. After many of her remarks, groups of boys in the auditorium clapped. Despite the interruptions, Banks continued with the assembly.

Although assistant principal Jerome Easton said he was disappointed in the way the boys handled the assembly, he felt they began to take it more seriously towards the end when Banks discussed the consequences of sex and sexual assault.

“When you decide to have sex with somebody, you are putting your future in their hands,” Banks said after telling a story of a girl who lied about being sexually assaulted, resulting in an innocent boy’s imprisonment.

The boys’ responses were much more serious after these remarks, although some were still clapping.

Principal Alan Goodwin made an announcement Thursday morning addressing the behavior at the assembly. He also sent an email to teachers expressing his disappointment.

“I am not pleased at their behavior and am thinking about next steps,” Goodwin said in the email.

Goodwin is considering holding a follow-up assembly, this time mixing the genders, but it is still up in the air. Although the male assembly didn’t go as planned, he said he is happy that these safety issues are being discussed.

News of the assembly sparked buzz around the school. Teachers and students expressed their opinions during class discussions and in the halls. Some, like English teacher Linda Leslie, held class discussions about sexual assault in response to the assembly.

“I think the amount of excitement and chaos that the assembly created proves that this is a subject we all need to be more educated about,” junior Dakota Oliphant-Linden said.

Click here to read an editorial about the assembly.