ebracer05
Senior Don Juan
http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/former-senior-high-teacher-gets-days-for-rape-of-student/article_b1f84190-ef23-5868-8799-b779c0421dc1.html#.UhzzKLoIbxk.email
This news story hit me the wrong way on several levels and I'd like to hear some assessments form the guys here.
I have personally always had an issue with the idea of statutory rape. I say that carefully and to a point because I realize that children can be so young that they are not careful of rational choice - you could talk a 5 year old in to doing a lot! That being said, let's think about where we have come from: 100 and especially 200 years ago, people were getting married and pregnant at 14 and earlier. They were starting their lives and as a matter of practicality didn't have time for things like "adolescence", "finding themselves", and a "childhood experience". We don't expect anything out of kids today and baby them innumerably. If we actually exerted an expectation on our children, I don't believe this would even be an issue.
Instead, we're too busy shelling out thousands of dollars for the average high school prom (for a child who has never had a job but enjoys luxuries like smartphones and a nice car).
I also have a big problem when people try and blame a person's (or child's) suicide on another person, outside of coercion (which is murder). In any other circumstance, if I pushed a person far enough to do something like say, rob a bank, I would generally not be found guilty of doing anything wrong - because I wouldn't have. The person who robbed the bank would be guilty because they had the ability to freely choose whether or not to rob the bank.
I just think all of this is inflaming the wrong kind of ire from the population. People are circulating petitions trying to unseat the judge... why aren't people circulating petitions encouraging parents to invest more in their children so less of them commit suicide?
My mind has been distracted lately and I'm having a hard time expressing what it is that this story seems to not vibe well with... maybe someone else can help articulate it.
This news story hit me the wrong way on several levels and I'd like to hear some assessments form the guys here.
I have personally always had an issue with the idea of statutory rape. I say that carefully and to a point because I realize that children can be so young that they are not careful of rational choice - you could talk a 5 year old in to doing a lot! That being said, let's think about where we have come from: 100 and especially 200 years ago, people were getting married and pregnant at 14 and earlier. They were starting their lives and as a matter of practicality didn't have time for things like "adolescence", "finding themselves", and a "childhood experience". We don't expect anything out of kids today and baby them innumerably. If we actually exerted an expectation on our children, I don't believe this would even be an issue.
Instead, we're too busy shelling out thousands of dollars for the average high school prom (for a child who has never had a job but enjoys luxuries like smartphones and a nice car).
I also have a big problem when people try and blame a person's (or child's) suicide on another person, outside of coercion (which is murder). In any other circumstance, if I pushed a person far enough to do something like say, rob a bank, I would generally not be found guilty of doing anything wrong - because I wouldn't have. The person who robbed the bank would be guilty because they had the ability to freely choose whether or not to rob the bank.
I just think all of this is inflaming the wrong kind of ire from the population. People are circulating petitions trying to unseat the judge... why aren't people circulating petitions encouraging parents to invest more in their children so less of them commit suicide?
My mind has been distracted lately and I'm having a hard time expressing what it is that this story seems to not vibe well with... maybe someone else can help articulate it.
