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When we punish adults - we do it on the basis that they understand the consequences of their actions and what the penalty will be if they don't obey the rules.
To me, this is fair.
If you apply the punishment to a child, one who doesn't yet understand that an activity is forbidden - that is unreasonable.
Now taking that further - I am not a psych, but I can imagine that if I was punished and didn't understand the reason, then I would become upset. I would start to build a grudge against the parent/society.
These are my reasons... I'm not arguing for zero punishment - but for punishment to be limited to those cases where the rules have been clearly explained in advance and a fair warning given.
Looking further into this case also. Sexual harassment is a crime, for adults, for a specific set of reasons. These reasons include employer/employee power balance, male/female size differences and adult sexual drives/feelings/modesty.
None of these issues relate directly to kids of 7. For that reason also - I do not see this as sexual harrassment, as it is normally defined.
Heck, if this is sexual harassment - you'll need to lock me away also, for looking up the skirt of my kindergarten teacher (as she stepped over me one day).
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