While I'm quite sure these aren't the youngest alleged deviants, this article did catch my eye:
I'm going to flip a coin: "Everyone does it to each other" vs. "Overenthusiastic".
In the article, one of the boys' fathers points out that, "My boy's never been in trouble ... He's never done anything inappropriate. He's not that way". And I do understand. But then, I also think of the things I got away with in my time:
I never mugged or extorted, vandalized or anything like that. But, dude! My corner of the generation came up as stalkers. It's part of the reason internet content is only shocking to us in its blatant stupidity (as opposed to its blatant iniquity).
And when I try to factor in the number of times we almost got ourselves killed doing what, it turns out, were very tame mischiefs ....
I realize that most boys are not the "boy who would do that". But my generation, we're all fucking devils, and I see no signs of improvement among those who follow.
And this isn't huge. But also it is. At some point, you have to draw a line. To correct racism, there will be a generation of sacrificial lambs. To correct sexism, there will be a generation of sacrificial lambs. To nullify, de-mystify, and hopefully destigmatize gender and sexuality in themselves will require a generation of sacrificial lambs. If it's not these boys, then which boys? And when? And for what?
Between right and wrong is a hairline separation at best.
My opinion? Run 'em through the process through pretrial. If they put on the proper show of contrition, drop the charges and let everyone get on with their lives. And make it embarrassing: "That these boys were too stupid to have a clue should not require us to condemn them to such an eternity. The State is satisfied that they are capable of learning, and did not intend such malice as the charges suggest."
Make them whipping boys if that is what must happen, but let's not brand these two as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. Come on. Seriously. (I could have similarly been branded a terrorist watch suspect from ... oh, age ten?)
But being branded an idiot? At twelve or thirteen? Welcome to the freakin' club. At least, in their cases, it's official.
As a random note: Homophobes in Oregon may not have been overreacting to Sharon Stone's role in Basic Instinct. My college girlfriend and several of her friends confessed one drunken evening to exploring their bisexuality in response to the movie. To the other, though, they were from McMinnville.
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Notes:
A 13-year-old boy and a 12-year-old boy have been charged with sexual abuse after a teacher saw them slapping the backsides of female classmates, McMinnville police said ....
.... School district spokeswoman Tanya Gross said a teacher saw students "slapping each other's bottoms" last week and ordered them to stop. When they continued, she said, the teacher reported the situation to Principal Jim Torgerson and Vice Principal Steve Tillery.
Based on what they learned from interviews with students, Torgerson and Tillery concluded that activity of a "more serious nature" had taken place, and notified police, Gross said ....
.... In court Tuesday, it was revealed that the boys also allegedly poked breasts.
Parents of the two boys said officials overreacted. They said they were aware of nothing more serious than a dance move in which bottoms are swatted. The father of the 12-year-old boy said students have been engaging in the so-called "party boy dance," popularized in the movie "Jackass," for several months.
"Everyone does it to each other, that's what I'm gathering," he said. "They're all friends. I don't think anything was done maliciously or in a sexual way" .... (SeattleTimes.com)
.... School district spokeswoman Tanya Gross said a teacher saw students "slapping each other's bottoms" last week and ordered them to stop. When they continued, she said, the teacher reported the situation to Principal Jim Torgerson and Vice Principal Steve Tillery.
Based on what they learned from interviews with students, Torgerson and Tillery concluded that activity of a "more serious nature" had taken place, and notified police, Gross said ....
.... In court Tuesday, it was revealed that the boys also allegedly poked breasts.
Parents of the two boys said officials overreacted. They said they were aware of nothing more serious than a dance move in which bottoms are swatted. The father of the 12-year-old boy said students have been engaging in the so-called "party boy dance," popularized in the movie "Jackass," for several months.
"Everyone does it to each other, that's what I'm gathering," he said. "They're all friends. I don't think anything was done maliciously or in a sexual way" .... (SeattleTimes.com)
I'm going to flip a coin: "Everyone does it to each other" vs. "Overenthusiastic".
In the article, one of the boys' fathers points out that, "My boy's never been in trouble ... He's never done anything inappropriate. He's not that way". And I do understand. But then, I also think of the things I got away with in my time:
- Saved a friend's hand in a roman candle fight; my parents never heard about that one because I wasn't the kind of boy who got into roman candle fights.
- Sexual harassment; bra-snapping, skirt-peeking, and panty trivia (what's she wearing under those white pants?) dominated my middle-school experience.
- "Pantsing"; or, more appropriately, "de-pantsing", the art of walking up behind some schmuck wearing insufficiently-secured pants and whipping them down to his ankles. Females were targeted, too.
- The high-school history video; those familiar with my prior mentions of Molotov cocktails and smuggling a bomb into an airport might be amused to realize that I don't think I've ever mentioned it to my folks, that I got a "B+" for committing acts of terrorism. My dad would probably appreciate that story.
- How many acts of overt sexuality, knowing or otherwise? Seriously, my parents, when I was 13, would probably have said I wasn't the kind of boy to masturbate on a church retreat. (I always thought those retreats were specifically for creating an environment of temptation. Clowns ... flowers ... oh, dude! Is that silk? Prob'ly just nylon. Ooh. Polyester. And it's pink!)
- Hell, one of the reasons my psyche is viewed with concern now (as opposed to then) is that my parents never thought of me as "a boy who ...."
- Sexual harassment; bra-snapping, skirt-peeking, and panty trivia (what's she wearing under those white pants?) dominated my middle-school experience.
- "Pantsing"; or, more appropriately, "de-pantsing", the art of walking up behind some schmuck wearing insufficiently-secured pants and whipping them down to his ankles. Females were targeted, too.
- The high-school history video; those familiar with my prior mentions of Molotov cocktails and smuggling a bomb into an airport might be amused to realize that I don't think I've ever mentioned it to my folks, that I got a "B+" for committing acts of terrorism. My dad would probably appreciate that story.
- How many acts of overt sexuality, knowing or otherwise? Seriously, my parents, when I was 13, would probably have said I wasn't the kind of boy to masturbate on a church retreat. (I always thought those retreats were specifically for creating an environment of temptation. Clowns ... flowers ... oh, dude! Is that silk? Prob'ly just nylon. Ooh. Polyester. And it's pink!)
- Hell, one of the reasons my psyche is viewed with concern now (as opposed to then) is that my parents never thought of me as "a boy who ...."
I never mugged or extorted, vandalized or anything like that. But, dude! My corner of the generation came up as stalkers. It's part of the reason internet content is only shocking to us in its blatant stupidity (as opposed to its blatant iniquity).
And when I try to factor in the number of times we almost got ourselves killed doing what, it turns out, were very tame mischiefs ....
I realize that most boys are not the "boy who would do that". But my generation, we're all fucking devils, and I see no signs of improvement among those who follow.
And this isn't huge. But also it is. At some point, you have to draw a line. To correct racism, there will be a generation of sacrificial lambs. To correct sexism, there will be a generation of sacrificial lambs. To nullify, de-mystify, and hopefully destigmatize gender and sexuality in themselves will require a generation of sacrificial lambs. If it's not these boys, then which boys? And when? And for what?
Between right and wrong is a hairline separation at best.
My opinion? Run 'em through the process through pretrial. If they put on the proper show of contrition, drop the charges and let everyone get on with their lives. And make it embarrassing: "That these boys were too stupid to have a clue should not require us to condemn them to such an eternity. The State is satisfied that they are capable of learning, and did not intend such malice as the charges suggest."
Make them whipping boys if that is what must happen, but let's not brand these two as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. Come on. Seriously. (I could have similarly been branded a terrorist watch suspect from ... oh, age ten?)
But being branded an idiot? At twelve or thirteen? Welcome to the freakin' club. At least, in their cases, it's official.
As a random note: Homophobes in Oregon may not have been overreacting to Sharon Stone's role in Basic Instinct. My college girlfriend and several of her friends confessed one drunken evening to exploring their bisexuality in response to the movie. To the other, though, they were from McMinnville.
____________________
Notes:
Associated Press. "Spankings lead to sex charges against Ore. boys". SeattleTimes.com, February 28, 2007. See http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003593299_webslap28m.html
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