Dear Queenie,
There is this boy at school who is always harassing me. I put up with it this last year of high school because I expected to be going away to college and I thought I’d get away from him. But now it turns out that he’s going to the same college I am.
Queenie, help!—Harassed
Dear Harassed,
Colleges in the States are much bigger than our local schools, and it is entirely possible that you can attend school there for four years and rarely or never come in contact with this boy. And hopefully, he will be too busy with his studies to seek you out, and/or will have matured beyond this kind of childish behaviour.
However, if he continues to harass when you get to college, contact the head of the security department and explain your problem to him (or her!). Colleges in the United States are usually sensitive to this kind of thing and your harasser could find himself in serious trouble for this kind of behaviour.
Keep a written record of any incidents of harassment. Note date, time place, who was there, what was said and what was done. If you can, make recordings of them. Then, if the college security doesn’t take effective action, file a formal complaint with the city’s police department.
Good luck in your college career.
