Supreme Court rules sexually harassed students may sue

Check out this new ruling today by the US Supreme Court - http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2009-01-21-supreme-court_N.htm

By Joan Biskupic, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that students who are sexually harassed may sue under a federal statute covering schools and a broader civil rights law. The decision revives a lawsuit brought by the parents of a Massachusetts kindergartner who said a third-grade boy on her school bus repeatedly made her lift her dress, pull down her underwear and spread her legs.

Her parents, Lisa and Robert Fitzgerald, said officials in their Barnstable School district did not sufficiently address their complaints. The parents sued under Title IX of the Education Act Amendments of 1972, which bans discrimination at schools that receive federal funds, and under a long-standing civil rights law known as Section 1983, which protects against discrimination based on the Constitution's equality guarantee...

My Comments:
WOW this is incredible news!!!
There are two points I would like to comment on...
First that the school "...did not sufficiently address their complaints." This tells me that the schools had prior knowledge and did nothing. This is what ultimately won this case, because if the school had not known about the bullying/sexual harassment, they could have plead ignorance in the matter.
Second - the sexual nature of the complaint...
Parents who are trying to stop a child's bullying will need to think of ways to complain to schools that the bullying was sexual. That won’t be hard because the one term most widely used in bullying is “you’re gay” and “you’re fat”, etc.

This is big news for the rights of our children