Poll: Title IX a mystery for high school students, parents

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Title IX is 50 years old, but a poll has found that nearly three-quarters of students ages 12-17 and nearly 60% of parents said they know “nothing at all” about the landmark civil rights law meant to ensure gender equity in education, including athletics.

The poll, conducted by Ipsos for The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland, found that parents and students overwhelmingly agreed that boys’ and girls’ teams should receive equal treatment.

More than 3.4 million girls and almost 4.6 million boys play high school sports.

Only a third of the people polled said they believe that equal opportunities exist in high school athletics across the U.S. But in their own schools, parents and students judged the situation to be much better: About two-thirds said boys and girls had equal opportunities there.

Beyond finding that a majority of parents lack knowledge of Title IX, the poll highlighted some differences among groups. Of male parents, 54% said they knew nothing about Title IX, compared to 62% of female parents. Nearly 80% of respondents with no college degree answered that they knew nothing about the law. That compared to 47% with a college degree.

Enforcement of Title IX largely relies on students and parents to report unfair treatment or unequal athletic opportunities, but many poll respondents expressed reluctance to speak up about potential violations.

In response to the poll results, Catherine Lhamon, assistant secretary of the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education, said in a statement: “While we have made tremendous progress, there is more work to do to build educational environments free from discrimination and to educate the public...