Sexualised moaning is now a thing in primary schools. It’s mostly boys who do it, in the playground or in class. It’s a joke to them; they don’t know where it comes from, or what it means, although they realise it carries a tinge of taboo, or, in primary school speak, that it’s suss. The girls don’t know either, but it makes them uncomfortable.

The moaning happens in high school, too. By then, both girls and boys know exactly what it means. When boys moan as a girl walks past in class, it’s the modern equivalent of a wolf-whistle. It’s just as objectifying and even more sexualising.

Illustration: Dionne Gain Credit:

The world has come a long way since the 1970s, when lewd calendars hung on office walls and sexual innuendo was as much a part of workplace culture as the smoko. These days, no responsible employer would tolerate a staff member who moaned as a female colleague walked past, showed her pornography or lifted her skirt.

But the protections for adults in workplaces don’t seem to apply in schools. In my reporting on education, porn and harmful sexual behaviour among teenagers, I am regularly shocked by the sexual harassment to which teens are subjected in class or in the playground, and the laissez-faire response from adults around them.

Teen girls tell of boys showing them pornography on their phone, or making lewd remarks about their bodies, or “dakking” other students (pulling down their pants). A girl recently told me a boy had put his hand up her skirt in class. “When I told the teacher, they have just been like, ‘Oh, talk to someone else about that,’” she said. “The teachers get really uncomfortable. They don’t know how to deal with it.”

The Herald has reported on a case involving year 10 boys who made threatening, inappropriate remarks not only to female peers, but to a teacher. They talked about gang-raping women. The girls responded by making written statements; the teacher called the department’s support hotline. They did the brave thing and called it out.

The school did respond, although the NSW ombudsman said it didn’t go far enough. (One of the girls had a particular problem with a meeting at which she was asked to forgive the boys.)

Three of the boys were suspended because they admitted their behaviour, but the ringleader wasn’t because he denied involvement (despite, according to the ombudsman, sufficient evidence). The school called the police youth liaison officer to talk to the boys about the seriousness of their conduct. All parents gave permission, except the ringleader’s. His refusal to be accountable meant he got away with it. Soon after, he was charged with raping one of the girls. (His conviction was overturned on appeal.)