Right Wing Nation tells the story of a Colorado Springs (my adopted home town) special education student who was molested by a boy who was, for some unknown reason since he was a minor and untrained, assigned to watch and/or assist the girl. And according to the parents, the school district tried to push the assault aside and then hush it up.
If the story as told at the link above is true in its specifics, then the school district people involved in this issue are bastards, every single one of them. If only they could be held individually liable for their parts in this travesty.
This story reminds me of one told in my high school psychology class by our teacher, Mr. Bettis. One day, much earlier in his career, a "retarded" girl (that was an acceptable term back then) walked up to a very popular boy on campus and laid a pretty heavy kiss on him, right on the lips. The boy was so mortified that he actually decked the girl. An investigation revealed that this boy was one of several who, recognizing the girl's mental state and knowing she'd be easy prey, had each been having sex with the girl--and as payment they'd give her a pencil. Mr. Bettis would angrily reinforce that last point, "They were screwing her for pencils!" The girl, not knowing there was anything wrong with what they were doing, saw this boy and went up to kiss him, apparently as she had done during one of their interludes. As I recall the story, several boys got in heap big trouble when the facts became known.
Molesting the helpless. Does it get any sicker than that?
The story is indeed true, and the specifics are as well, it was all over the news here in the Springs.
ReplyDeleteSick.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, Rampart itself was a good school. Perhaps they wanted to keep that reputation, thus the hush-up?
Schools generally don't like the media frenzy that follows such instances. We had a very public one that was national news at our school. What the news didn't reveal was that there was more to the story than came out. It was a prize example of spin control. Many of the teachers that know the whole story were disgusted before the news hit the media. I wish I could say this wasn't common, but it seems even more so with the advent of MySpace and other sources to circumvent detection.
ReplyDeleteAnd you wonder who needed adult supervision
ReplyDelete“The boy, who had been suspended 20 times the previous year and had a 0.0 grade point average, was assigned by the school to be her peer trainer, Weeks said.”
So you take a kid who trust everyone and team her with a record setting problem child…this is worth putting the person who made this decision into a room with the girl’s father!