Sexual harassment online a growing problem at Southeast

Online sexual harassment is becomming a growing problem at Southeast Missouri State University with the creation of Web sites such as Facebook -- an online networking site for university students to post photographs and send messages to one another.

Coordinator for Judicial Affairs Trae Mitten III said his office receives student complants quite often about personal Facebook Web sites.

"The problem with Facebook is that a lot of the times the victim doesn't know who is doing the harassing," Mitten said. "It's very easy to commit harassment, at least electronically, without having to reveal your identity."

Mitten said students will report a Facebook site listing them as "one of Southeast's 10 biggest sluts."

"People post really nasty things about each other on there, and it doesn't bear any gender lines," he said.

If a student reports a problem regarding a Facebook comment to Judicial Affairs, Mitten said he will try to find out who posted the comments.

"I will ask the victim what they want," he said. "Usually it's simply removing the comments from the site."

Southeast student Brooke Privett of Kennett, Mo., said she was harassed on Facebook after another student stole her password and changed her settings.

"I'm addicted to Facebook, and the most I was ever harassed was on Facebook," she said. The person who used her password made several comments to Privett's friends trying to make her appear to be a lesbian.

Privett said she was ready to take that student to court for libel and harassment. "Because my family and I thought this could make matters worse, we decided not to do anything about it," she said. "I almost deleted Facebook from my list of daily activities because of this."

Sanson, a student employee at Judicial Affairs, said she has seen Facebook harassment quite frequently.

On one occasion, a student called Judicial Affairs and said there was a Facebook site which called the student a variety of sexually harassing names.

"The student was called a slut, ho, just about every name in the book," Sanson said. "I found the creator and asked that student to remove it or else there would be judicial action. That student took it down immediately."