Blog 7: Shame, Shame
I ran across this article today, and I was horrified. The article details a 2 1/2 hour gang rape that occurred at a high school homecoming dance. At least 15 people watched and participated in the brutal assault on a fifteen year old girl and no one called for help. Word spread through the dance, people went out to watch, and no one called for help. This makes me sick, and very, very sad. I understand that when people are a part of a mob, their thoughts and perceptions can change. I understand that humans, as a collective species, can give in to herding behaviors. I do not understand how so many people can stand around and watch a classmate get brutalized for 2 1/2 hours without being concerned. Do these kids have no simple human compassion or decency? Where was the adult supervision, for this to continue for so long right outside the school?
Two things from the article stand out. First, the police are looking at social networking sites in case someone releases video footage. The idea is that most of today’s youth have little awareness of privacy and are happy to post personal information and videos with little regard to consequences. If someone were to release video footage, taken with a cell phone or other device, the perpetrators and witnesses would be identifiable, beyond suspects already in custody. In my mind, witnesses should also be prosecuted.
Second, the article mentions that ”She ended up with those guys under her own will because she knew one of the boys who had gone to the high school before,” (investigating officer Lt. Mark) Gagan said. “Right now, we’re looking at toxicology reports to determine her blood-alcohol content and to determine if she was drugged.” This to me looks like the beginning of blame. Lt. Gagan describes the attack as brutal, and seems genuinely interested in catching and prosecuting the perpetrators, but if it was her own fault… well, we know where this goes. Yet, just because she may have chosen to step outside the dance with a few boys she knew, she may have chosen to drink or whatever, does not meant that they had the right to commit such horrible acts upon her. It is important to remember this: that no matter what her choices were preceding the event, she is still a victim.
I cannot imagine what it must be like at the high school today. I cannot imagine being a teenage girl sitting in a classroom that is potentially full of boys who stood around watching this happen to a classmate. I cannot imagine the fear that would go along with that, as well as the loss of trust and security.
Someone from the area called the police after they “overheard people at the assault scene “reminiscing about the incident,” Gagan said. Thankfully someone called; she was found in critical condition.
I hope that those who didn’t call see no end of shame. I hope that they recognize their compliance and their guilt.
