Drama

I was at the HS again today (that makes 3 days this week, and 4.5 for next week!), subbing for the teacher who last year put me in a bad situation and made me feel like crap, giving me the worst sub experience thus far; but I'm glad I was there today. Today was... interesting.

It was "green week," odd since Earth Day is in April, and the students got both a pep assembly and an hour-long lunch today. But that's not why it was odd. Apparently Friday night, a female student called the police and reported being raped by a fellow student. She was 14, he, 18. He is currently sitting in jail awaiting the trial on Monday, and she was escorted to school this afternoon by police to pick up her things. I didn't hear anything about it at all the other 2 days I was subbing, so it seems the situation at school came to a head today.

As in any criminal case, it's not cut and dried exactly what happened, and this being high school, there were endless rumors floating around- "He was a virgin! She was making out with another girl/ was drunk on the bus home yesterday! He would never do that! She's a liar, she was laughing about the situation!" etc. His friends decided to show their support by wearing t-shirts bearing slogans such as "I support [boy], bring him home!" They all say he was the nicest guy, he would never do something like that, etc. Obviously he was a popular, well-respected guy at school, and people honestly believed he was a good person. But that doesn't mean he didn't do it. Everyone thought Ted Bundy was nice and charming too, and the BTKer's family would never have dreamed he could perform such heinous acts.

Unfortunately, it's all too easy to get caught up in the hype and forget what's really important, to take the words of someone too emotionally involved at face value (I've been guilty of that too, when my friend found out her husband had been sleeping with their 12 year old foster daughter, believing her say the girl seduced him, when that DOES NOT MATTER and was almost certainly wrong anyway). Everyone forgets that it's wrong to talk about a crime scene being investigated, and it's false to assume you know what happened just because you know one person involved. Even if he didn't force her, it would still be statutory rape (though people are also saying she lied about her age, which makes things complicated). What's important is that either way, someone's life was ruined Friday night. Blaming the victim doesn't make it any more OK, even if she is an attention-grabber type.

The students were very upset with the way the administration handled things, particularly that people with "we support [boy]" shirts were told to take them off or go home. Obviously students at school don't have the same rights at school as an adult on the street, but there have been cases similar to this in the past (students wearing unmarked purple armbands to protest something) proving that it is stifling their free speech. Where do you draw the line between allowing people to show support for someone they believe to be wrongly accused, and creating a potentially hostile environment for a girl who was brave enough to report a rape? Apparently one of her own friends tried to beat her up yesterday, so there is certainly some proof to the "hostile environment" theory.

It doesn't matter if she's a "bad girl, a slut, a liar," whatever; or if he's a "good, wholesome, popular, nice guy." Something happened, and only they 2 know exactly what and how, and the rest of the school needs to let the court decide the truth. I understand their frustration, but it's just a horrible, sad situation no matter what happens, and becoming overwrought and getting yourself suspended won't make things any better. There are times to stand up and protest and say "this is wrong, we won't take it!" but a case like this is not one of them.