Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Angry!

This story: http://news.aol.com/story/_a/boys-face-trial-over-slapping-charges/20070724153509990001 has me seeing red. Two middle school boys went around slapping girls on their rear ends and are facing criminal charges.

I am angry that the yahoo district attorney started off swinging. Charging the boys with felonies, threatening to send them to juvie and requiring them to register as life long sex offenders. These kids are stupid 13 year olds.

Don't get me wrong, even if the girls did not mind this sort of touch, it was wrong. I would seriously question my parenting practices if my girls tolerate such behavior at any age! Nobody has the right to violate their person. I don't care if it is thought of as a 'handshake' as one girl is reported to have said. Just because the behavior is generally accepted, it is not necessarily right. The school was 100% correct in handing over these boys.

We have had too many generations of women who grow up thinking that being objectified is okay and normal. It is not.

I am angry that the choices for criminal punishment do not fit the crime. The article gets a little confused, but if I understand properly, the boys would not be permitted to spend time with their younger siblings should they accept a plea bargain Why can we not have a punishment that fits the crime?

Perfect punishment, in my not so very humble opinion:

1. Class time. These boys need a full-blooded in your face accounting of how women have been abused through the centuries. They need to be taught that what they were doing was wrong down to an emotional level. Slapping bottoms today can translate to worse later (Tailhook, anyone?) and even much worse.

2. Penance. Once class time has been completed, heartfelt letters of apology should be sent to each and every girl assaulted. It is up to the girl to decide whether she wants to accept. I feel as the victim, she needs to know that what happened to her was wrong.

3. Probation. These boys will need to keep to the straight and narrow until they reach age 18.

Should my 3rd child be a boy, and should he engage in this kind of behavior, I can virtually guarantee that he will beg the judge to send him to juvie. Anything the courts can dish out will pale in comparison to my wrath. I put up with this kind of garbage through high school, and I will NOT tolerate any child of mine participating in aggressive, demeaning behavior.

M.W.

2 comments:

Mayberrys said...

I think it needs to go deeper....from what I can tell, the ENTIRE SCHOOL probably needs some education on this subject and not just the two that got caught.
A handshake is a courteous gesture. A slap on the rear end is NOT.
But then again, oral sex is "just like kissing" so I guess this comes as no surprise.
God help us when our kids are teens...

Mrs. Wheezer said...

ITA. The entire school has a horrible mindset. It is just disgusting.