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I can't help but find myself troubled that we're teaching children that virtually everything must be resolved via law enforcement, litigation, and the socially irredeemable shame of being branded with lifelong scarlet letters. If anyone cannot see what effect this blanket mindset has had upon society then I have no choice but to question their intelligence.
And fear for the future. Sad state of affairs we find ourselves in these days.
If you bothered to read the article, she will have to do community service and then the charges will be dismissed. She will not end up with a permanent record.
It's obvious that the boy's mother was fed up with the school's inability to stop the behavior. It said in the article that the girl didn't even know the boy, she just pinched him because it's what all of her friends do. So this was an ongoing thing at that school.
Personally, when it happened to my daughter, I didn't press charges. I talked to the teacher when the boys first started talking dirty to my daughter and then the boys' behavior changed to touching her in the cafeteria line and in the hallways when that particular teacher wasn't around. I talked to the administrators when I found out about the touching and they "talked to the boys" but it didn't stop, it got worse. My daughter said all the other girls seemed to like it when it happened and she felt like there was something wrong with her for not wanting the boys to touch her. She thought maybe it happened to her more than the other girls because she looked older than some of them, or maybe because they thought she was the kind of girl who deserved stuff like that. She was crying when she'd come home and she was having trouble focusing on school work. I ended up taking her out of that school, but not all parents have options like that and no one should have to switch schools just because they don't want to be groped.
I did read the article. Even community service...and especially the ARREST...is overkill. Absolutely ridiculous, overkill, bull**** way to teach (really teach in the truest sense of the word) a lesson. Just all around DUMB!
Was the punishment over the top? Yes. WAY over the top. But it's better she learns this lesson now.
Y'all gotta look at it from both angles. For an example, let's say I get up and go pinch my female coworker's butt right now. What do you think is gonna happen to me? We can't be disingenuous.
Where do you draw the line? You know a form of flirting is touching someone on the arm, right? If I don't have explicit permission before doing so, is that harassment? Why or why not?
My child dealt with this at school and felt uncomfortable and guilty because she couldn't stop the unwanted touching. The school couldn't keep it from happening, although they did try. She used to try wearing her coat all day in the building because otherwise the boys would pull her bra straps, squeeze her butt cheeks, pull up her skirt, etc. I only found out about it when she got a heat rash from wearing the coat all the time, because she was ashamed to tell me.
My husband said when he was in middle school, there was a girl who would grope him in class or on the bus, and he would tell her to stop and she wouldn't. He talked to a male teacher about it and the teacher told him that a normal guy wouldn't complain about something like that.
I'm glad to see it being taken seriously. Kids aren't too young to learn to respect others boundaries and to refrain from unwanted touching.
What are they, animals? I managed to get through 12 years of school (13 including kindergarten) without groping anyone or being groped other than consensually. Admittedly, that was more than 40 years ago.
If this is how the kids in your kid's school behave, the problem will not be solved by arresting one girl. It is profound and pervasive. I would start by considering a move to another type of community, although that might not help.
I can't help but find myself troubled that we're teaching children that virtually everything must be resolved via law enforcement, litigation, and the socially irredeemable shame of being branded with lifelong scarlet letters. If anyone cannot see what effect this blanket mindset has had upon society then I have no choice but to question their intelligence.
This is a great post. It is so sad that children are charged with crimes for childish pranks. What used to be settled with either a good beat down after school or some time in detention is now a matter for the law. Parents are sued, children saddled with criminal records and lives are ruined. Has anyone considered the cost to society of ruining these kids lives by branding them with criminal records. When they don't find a decent job they will receive welfare benefits. When they realize they are branded by the system and doomed to never succeed there is no telling what kind of angry reaction they may have. They may become violent, they may turn to a life of criminal behavior, who knows what they will do. People who feel they have little to lose can do a lot of damage to society. No one ever thinks of this fact, but millions are spent each year to support unemployable people, millions are spent incarcerating those who are in open rebellion against society. We cannot doom young people to a dim future all because they pinched a kids butt at twelve, or dated a 15 year old when they were 18. We have children who are sex offenders for life or criminal offenders for life all because they acted like stupid kids. They needed a spanking, not prison. Oh that's right you cant spank anymore, but its ok to lock em up in prison for assault because they got in a fight on the playground. What the heck is wrong with our society, we get more messed up with each passing day.
Yeah, so to all those saying what is happening is overblown would you all say the same had a boy pinched her rear or breasts?
Yup, I doubt some here would be as dismissive if it were their own daughter that was inappropriately touched.
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. What the heck is wrong with our society, we get more messed up with each passing day.
