It’s not cool.

Don’t laugh.

Don’t even try to make an excuse for behavior that results in one person feeling uncomfortable, used and/or violated.

A study by the American Association of University Women found that “nearly two-thirds of college students experience some type of sexual harassment.”

And even worse, “less than 10 percent of these students tell a college or university employee about their experiences and an even smaller fraction officially report them to a Title IX officer.”

It’s time to get educated on what constitutes sexual harassment.

According to the report, the outdated stereotypes of sexual harassment are not what constitutes the majority of incidents.

Sexual harassment is not just the groping of someone or giving them ultimatums for sexual favors in return for preferable treatment.

Sexual harassment is more commonly the indecent text message or instant message. It’s the joke you told that you know shouldn’t have.

The other acts do occur though — nearly one-third of all incidents involve being “touched in inappropriate ways, grabbed or forced to do something sexual.”

All forms of sexual harassment are severe and all forms can result in a person feeling less about themselves and result in emotional issues that may never be healed.

Forget whatever gender, race or sexual orientation you thought was more susceptible. Men, women, black, white, Asian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic, gay, straight or transsexual — everyone is affected by sexual harassment.

The issue at hand isn’t how to get away with sexual harassment or defining the borders of what sexual harassment constitutes. The issue is that inappropriate behavior needs to stop today.

Perhaps we are biting off more than we can chew by demanding an end to sexual harassment, but what we can say is that if you are sexually harassed say something about it.

It’s going to be hard.

It’s going to hurt.

But in the long run it is the only way to combat the problem.

Those who sexually harass need to be ousted and punished for their behavior so they cannot act that way to anyone else.

If you have been affected by sexual harassment tell someone — whether it’s Campus Police, college deans or RAs. You can also call the Molly Hays Glander 24-Hour Rape and Sexual Assault Response Line at 618-RAPE.