Like many of you, I’ve been following the Steubenville Rape Case. I still haven’t been able to completely wrap my head around the events that took place in this small community August 11 -12, 2012. I’m not sure I ever will. But being a teacher in Ohio in a district where sports are highly valued, makes me want to try. These kids aren’t unlike the students in my class. Yet, I have difficulty believing that any of them could do something so heinous to another person. Could they? Are we raising kids to be so callous that they refuse to stand up for what is right? Is our society becoming so unfeeling that when rape happens right in front of us, we laugh?
The entire story of what happened that night isn’t known. Depending on which site you visit, you may get a slightly different version of the events and who exactly was involved. And to be honest, based on the things Michael Nodianos tweeted and said during his disgusting 12 minute video, I’m not buying that he wasn’t there. Even if his lawyer claims that. These are his words:
I understand that boy humor is often crude. But this boy humor is about a girl, who was raped, in front of him. His behavior is hideous. Grotesque. And downright vile.
We know that two Big Red football players have been arrested. Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond will be tried next month as juveniles for the hours of molestation and rape that occurred to this young woman. JUVENILES. These two committed rape, had it videoed and photographed, and will be charged as juveniles. The things that they did to this young lady, including being urinated on, are not juvenile. These are adult crimes. These two should be tried as adults in adult court with adult punishments. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in second chances. But think back to when you were 16. Was there any part of you that would have thought this behavior was ok, funny even? This is not juvenile behavior or “boys will boys”. This is rape, which should be in an adult court.
There are so many different aspects to this case. From the cronyism, to the Big Red Football Team running the town, to the drug use, it’s hard to sort out all of the corruption in this small town that led to the violation of a 16 year old girl. And one of the aspects troubling me the most is the fact that nobody went to help her and they are having a hard time finding witnesses. I think back to when I was 16. If a girl passed out at a party (yes, I drank,) the other girls, whether we knew her or not, took care of her. We made sure she was ok. We made sure a GIRL took her home. I can’t imagine being at a party and seeing the images that have been shown online without standing up. I realize that this young lady was not with her friends, she was at a neighboring school’s party, but WAS THERE NOBODY THERE WITH ANY MORALS? How could all of these things happen to her IN FRONT OF OTHER PEOPLE and NOBODY felt the need to help?! Was the town and the town’s police THAT corrupt that they were scared to help? Or were they that scared of this “Rape Crew?”
In my opinion, if these boys did not get caught and if the media attention was not as widespread as it is, they would have continued having parties where young girls were being violated. Because if nobody came to her side to help, this tells me that this probably wasn’t the first or only time this has happened. There have to be more victims. I pray for these young ladies. I pray for their healing. And I pray that those involved get punished to the fullest extent of the law. It won’t make that night go away, but it’s the right thing to do. Finally.
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Jester Queen
01/14/2013
Sadly, I think it’s very common, and that it was when I was growing up, too. I grew up bullied. I know exactly how unlikely it is for people to stand up for you if you’re an underdog of any kind. I wasn’t ever raped (thank God), and I scared the other kids enough that they stuck largely to mockery and emotional abuse. But, yeah, that kind of mindset makes such violence easy. There is a kind of evil in high schools that is hard to explain to the people who don’t see it, even the people who are there everyday but just don’t participate in it. (And not every high schooler is evil, even the football jocks.) I consider this horrific and shocking. But it’s surely happening the nation, the world over, and only getting negative press in a few cases.
Nichole
01/14/2013
I know you’re right. I’ve seen it myself. I just want to believe that people will do the right thing, the moral thing.
*sigh*
Damon
01/14/2013
I tend to agree with Jester Queen that not only is this not uncommon, but nothing new. I think what HAS changed, however, is the fact that we are now so connected (via social media, etc.) Although the Tweets and the pictures make me cry, they are the engines that will wake us up to what is going on and, hopefully, usher in some sort of change.
Lance
01/14/2013
There were several cases like this in the late 1980s, when I played high school football. One in particular happened at a school we played when I was on the JV team, so that’s 1985. I thinkwhat’s not being talked about here is how much power the football coach and football booster club has in this town. That’s rare these days, regardless of where it is. It’s sickening how backward the priorities of stuebenville seem.
Sarah
01/15/2013
I will say this– in college, I was so sick and tired of playing “mom” to every girl who drank way too much and had to be taken home, that I just stopped going out all together. We always took care of one another, even if we didn’t know someone well (or at all), or if it pissed us off to have to leave, cart someone around, and invariably clean up the car afterwards.
Then again, I never saw a guy try to date rape or drug rape a girl, either, so I think both gender’s mentalities have changed. And I think that’s part of the rise of the rape culture in our society. It’s almost as if it’s becoming more acceptable to be a rapist (or, at least, walk the line of being a dangerous person) these days.
The Sweetest
01/15/2013
what the hell is wrong with people? i have always wanted to keep the belief that people were generally good, but shit like this (and all the other crap that happens every damned day) sort of confirms the opposite. call me negative.