More on Bullying

I did a little research into the state's sex laws to find out if there are mandatory minimum sentences for statutory rape (there aren't) and came up with this gem:

MGL c.272, s. 4. Inducing person under 18 to have sexual intercourse.

Whoever induces any person under 18 years of age of chaste life to have
unlawful sexual intercourse shall be punished by imprisonment in the state
prison for not more than three years or in a jail or house of correction for not
more than two and one-half years or by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by both
such fine and imprisonment.

If I am reading that right, then having sex with someone under 18 is punishable by up to three years in prison...unless someone else did it first! Yes, we actually have laws that deal with taking someone's virginity.

That is not really apropos to this case (which is related to the laws for kids under 16), but it sort of sums up the absurdity of many of our old morals laws.

Back to the case at hand...I was a little bit surprised to get as few comments as I did, as this is a topic that tends to generate a lot of discussion. Which probably means that most of you disagree with me, since people speak up more when they agree. But really, I like it better when people tell me I am wrong. I can take it.

No one disagreed with the rape charges (at least out loud). So I am putting that to rest unless someone would like to speak up on behalf of the DA. Two interesting things did come up, though.

First, there were a couple of people who argued that the kids should be charged with assault. I hadn't really thought of that, and I am not sure that I agree. Again, a lot of this depends on exactly what the kids actually said and did, which has not really come out yet save for some anecdotes here and there. In fairness to the DA, she has acknowledged that the case appears to be a stretch, but has promised that the actual evidence is pretty damning. So, all judgement is couched by that.

Tammy from Nebraska brings up another interesting point...or at least she kind of hints at it (I don't want to put words in your mouth;-))...this is all based on what Phoebe decided to do to herself. What if she just plain overreacted? I feel like we need to be careful to judge only the kids' actions, and not consequences beyond their control. Assume they were really evil, and the story somehow got out, but the girl didn't kill herself...I am sure there would be a lot of people calling their actions despicable, but the suggestion that you should put kids in jail for non-physical bullying would not generate much support at all. In other words...should we let Phoebe's actions influence our view of the other kids?

I don't want to sound like I am sticking up for the bulliers, or dismissing their actions as "kids will be kids". Kids that age can be downright evil by any measure, and as Me pointed out, the pressure has become 24/7...it is technologically inescapable. And I can assure you that I see this shit every single day as the (kinda) parent of a 15 year old girl.

What concerns me is the witch hunt that has to follow a tragedy. What other pressures was she under? What other problems might she have had? Was it really the actions of these other kids that drove her to take her own life? Had she been totally happy when she moved here? Suicide is an awfully complicated thing, and it may be overly simplistic and unfair to pin this entirely on these other kids. (It also may not...)

Second is the question of the responsibility of teachers. Unquestionably, teachers have a role to play. They spend a lot of time with kids and they exert a lot of influence. However, teachers are not substitute parents. They are not law enforcement officials. They are not expert psychologists. And, to the far-reaching aspect of technology, they can not be everywhere and very specifically can't do anything about things that happen outside of school. These kids were shouting insults at her in front of teachers? Yes, absolutely, they can't just pretend they didn't see it. But my intuition tells me that it is never quite that cut and dried or that obvious.

And to be realistic...think about how this would really go. Let's say Johnny is mean to Billy, and Mr. Teacher thinks he is bullying him. What does he do? Any efforts to discipline Johnny are likely to lead to nasty letters and phone calls from Johnny's parents wondering why their perfect son is being needled by nosy teachers. And what can you really do to the kid anyway? Only parents can really punish most kids.

I know I have some teacher's that read regularly...maybe you could tell us what happens when you try and give a kid a well-earned bad grade, let alone report their behavior as unbecoming. Kids may be really mean, but often it is because their parents are total assholes...

OK...this is way too long and doesn't make much sense;-) So someone else start talking, please