Last week I went to my boyfriend’s apartment to meet up with him and some other people for a concert. When I arrived at his apartment about 20 minutes prior I walked past a group of teenage (probably 14 or so) kids hanging out in their school clothes. While they were noisy and joking around I didn’t pay any attention to them because they just seemed to be acting like kids who were excited to be done with school for the day.

When I walked out with everyone there were more kids across the street. Again, I didn’t pay them any mind. However, one kid started screaming “Tall glass of milk!” over and over and over again. Being that I was only one of two girls in our group and the tallest (by far) of everyone I figured this was probably directed at me. But I don’t tolerate any kind of street harassment, whether it be from a man or a boy. Normally if it’s a man in a small group or by himself and I feel safe I will address the harassment. However, I was assaulted by a group of kids two years ago and, after having lived in this city for almost five years and witnessing some really jaw-dropping stuff, have come to fear groups of kids/teenagers in this city. So, I chose to ignore the harasser. Seeing that I wasn’t going to pay attention to him he started yelling his chant louder and then began interjecting “white bitch” between his calls of “tall glass of milk.” Getting to the car felt like the longest walk I have ever taken. It shook me up, made me feel crappy and almost ended up ruining a night I’d been looking forward to for months. What was worse is that the people I was with thought the “tall glass of milk” comment was funny and didn’t even address the “white bitch” part.

Since school is now in session and I’ll probably be running into this group again, does anyone have any advice for how to deal with a group of teenage harassers?

Submitted by K on 10/4/2010

Location: Lamont St. & Georgia Ave. NW

Time of Harassment: Evening Rush Hour (3:30P-7:30P)

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