Yet another reason why I don't read the newspaper
From the Arizona Republic, Thursday, 8 February 2007:
Sigh. Is it any wonder those home-schoolers have the right idea? This is just disgusting on so many levels, and sadly, the boys in the class aren't the most disgusting of the bunch. I hate to say this, but for 13-year-olds boys, a "boys will be boys" mentality prevails. I'm certainly not excusing these kids and if one of my daughters ever told me a boy did this to her, I would hunt that child down and make him suffer (and I don't care if I'm bigger than they are). But a lot of these hijinks, I suspect, were things the boys did because they didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Sure, they knew it would piss the girls off and that they would get in trouble if they were caught, but I wonder if they thought it was any different than tugging on a girl's ponytail or flicking boogers at a girl. Gross and mean, but not psychologically damaging. Maybe they did and didn't care. I'm not sure. The kids I taught, who were a few years older, weren't all that sophisticated when it came to sex (despite the children they bore), so these kids might not have known how awful they were. Again, that's not an excuse.
The people who really piss me off in this situation are the parents and the teacher. First, the parents. Where do you think these kids get their ideas about abusing girls? Sure, they get it from popular culture, but that's filtered through their parents. If these kids hear people in pop culture calling women "bitches" and "whores" and their parents don't say anything about how awful it is, even if it's not to them specifically, then they'll think it's okay. Of course, a lot of these parents call women "bitches" and "whores," which might be even worse. I don't know how we're going to do as the kids get older and get exposed to more of this stuff. We will try to let them know what's right and wrong, though.
The teacher also is to blame for a lot of this. I just can't believe it went on without him catching on, especially the extent of it. Yes, the girls might have been embarrassed to say anything, because the boys were popular and bigger than they were and because they had a male teacher. But how, exactly, does a kid masturbate in your class in front of other kids? I used to show movies occasionally, and there were some dark corners of the room where this kind of thing could have happened, I suppose. I could even believe a kid jerking off without anyone knowing about it. But in front of classmates? Wouldn't that be hard to miss? As for a lot of the other stuff, maybe the girls didn't want to say anything for any number of reasons (although, again, it comes back to parenting, and we're going to try to raise the girls to be the kind of people who would not only report this, but kick the boy's ass in the process), but if a boy whipped his dick out in front of a girl in the class, there would be a reaction - either loud cries of how gross it is or even giggles. Either way, it's something the teacher should have heard and investigated, even if he wasn't sure what was happening. There's a difference between normal goofiness that goes on in class and something like this, which would definitely draw a different reaction by the victims.
I hate to get all conservative, but modern society makes me sick sometimes. What a horrible story. Yet all anyone in the big-time media wants to talk about is the death of a woman who once took her clothes off for money. But that's a whole different post!
As many as three eighth-grade boys accused of sexually abusing female classmates at Desert Arroyo Middle School committed sexually graphic acts in class, according to a police report released Wednesday.
Victims told police that the 13-year-olds grabbed girls' breasts and told them to touch the boys' genitals during a social studies class, according to Scottsdale police sex-crimes investigators.
...
The boys face criminal charges that range from indecent exposure to sexual abuse. Several students reported that the boys repeatedly groped 13-year-old girls and tried to solicit sex acts in class.
...
Several students told Scottsdale sex-crimes detectives they saw the boys expose their genitals and inappropriately touch girls during teacher Craig Bragg's social studies classes.
Bragg, who remains on paid administrative leave, denied witnessing any misconduct. He told police that students would have to be "sneaky" if they didn't catch his attention.
"I feel bad. I don't feel negligent," Bragg told detectives. "I keep a good rein on the kids. There is not a lot of bad behavior in my class."
...
Incidents reported by students in Bragg's class include:
• One boy exposing his genitals to classmates "at least 10 times" over several weeks, including five times in one class.
• One of the boys putting his pubic hairs on a girl's pen, which she inadvertently put in her mouth.
• During a movie in class, one of the boys masturbated in front of classmates.
According to the report, one girl told investigators that one of the boys put his hand up her pants and groped her during a Spanish class the previous school year. The boy often slapped her rear end and touched her in other inappropriate ways, but she was scared to tell anyone because even though he was a "pervert," he was popular and physically larger than her.
Sigh. Is it any wonder those home-schoolers have the right idea? This is just disgusting on so many levels, and sadly, the boys in the class aren't the most disgusting of the bunch. I hate to say this, but for 13-year-olds boys, a "boys will be boys" mentality prevails. I'm certainly not excusing these kids and if one of my daughters ever told me a boy did this to her, I would hunt that child down and make him suffer (and I don't care if I'm bigger than they are). But a lot of these hijinks, I suspect, were things the boys did because they didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Sure, they knew it would piss the girls off and that they would get in trouble if they were caught, but I wonder if they thought it was any different than tugging on a girl's ponytail or flicking boogers at a girl. Gross and mean, but not psychologically damaging. Maybe they did and didn't care. I'm not sure. The kids I taught, who were a few years older, weren't all that sophisticated when it came to sex (despite the children they bore), so these kids might not have known how awful they were. Again, that's not an excuse.
The people who really piss me off in this situation are the parents and the teacher. First, the parents. Where do you think these kids get their ideas about abusing girls? Sure, they get it from popular culture, but that's filtered through their parents. If these kids hear people in pop culture calling women "bitches" and "whores" and their parents don't say anything about how awful it is, even if it's not to them specifically, then they'll think it's okay. Of course, a lot of these parents call women "bitches" and "whores," which might be even worse. I don't know how we're going to do as the kids get older and get exposed to more of this stuff. We will try to let them know what's right and wrong, though.
The teacher also is to blame for a lot of this. I just can't believe it went on without him catching on, especially the extent of it. Yes, the girls might have been embarrassed to say anything, because the boys were popular and bigger than they were and because they had a male teacher. But how, exactly, does a kid masturbate in your class in front of other kids? I used to show movies occasionally, and there were some dark corners of the room where this kind of thing could have happened, I suppose. I could even believe a kid jerking off without anyone knowing about it. But in front of classmates? Wouldn't that be hard to miss? As for a lot of the other stuff, maybe the girls didn't want to say anything for any number of reasons (although, again, it comes back to parenting, and we're going to try to raise the girls to be the kind of people who would not only report this, but kick the boy's ass in the process), but if a boy whipped his dick out in front of a girl in the class, there would be a reaction - either loud cries of how gross it is or even giggles. Either way, it's something the teacher should have heard and investigated, even if he wasn't sure what was happening. There's a difference between normal goofiness that goes on in class and something like this, which would definitely draw a different reaction by the victims.
I hate to get all conservative, but modern society makes me sick sometimes. What a horrible story. Yet all anyone in the big-time media wants to talk about is the death of a woman who once took her clothes off for money. But that's a whole different post!
Labels: Education ranting, Gruesome things, People who should be locked up, This insane world, When I rule the world
posted by Greg | 9:48 AM
2 Comments:
Yeah, that's fucked up. I'm with you 100% on sharing out the blame ont hat one.
Why is it the only name mentioned is the teacher, Mr. Bragg? Why not let the public know the name of the spanish teacher and the librarian, or the name of the sick perverted kids? I don't understand why there is so much concentration on the school or the teachers. It is the fact that the boy is a rich black kid and his mommy sees no wrong in him. How sick is that for her to defend him? I think that instead of getting lawyers and screaming "racism", the dads should get a belt and beat the shit out of these boys. Then the parents of the girls that knew this was happening but didn't tell should get the shit beat out of them. Next, the boys should have to be entered as sex offenders and the whole world should know that they need to watch out for them because they will be the next rapist, so lock up you daughter if they are around. It sickens me to think that kids are like this. I have gradeschool kids and I fear them going any further in school. It is sad that these kids will get a tap on the hands, while a teachers life has just been flushed down the drain. Also, Mr. Bragg is not allowed to talk, so why not wait and get the facts from him before the media ruins him. The parents that went to the media and blamed him should be embarrassed of themselves and their kids and should take responsibility for their actions. I could go on and on because it sickens me how kids act these days and the wrong people get the worst end of it. Parents need to step up!!!
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