Editors note: I started this blog in April, I am not sure why I didn't post it but an article on yahoo in regards to the Ohio case and Serena William's comments made me come back to it and I realized I needed to hit publish.
This week I read an article about Canadian teen Rehteah Parsons who hung herself after over a year of being bullied after pictures of her surfaced being raped and were circulated throughout her school and community. Today I read an article about a Californian teen, Audrie Pott, who hung herself 8 days after allegedly being sexually assaulted while unconscious. There were pictures in this instance as well that circulated her community and school. Finally there is the Ohio instance of a young girl passing out and being sexually assaulted at a party. The only way she knew something had happened were the photos the circulated her community and school.
What is wrong with teenagers today and where are the parents and other adults in their lives? Where are they going to get alcohol, why do boys think it's ok to sexually assault an unconscious female, take pictures of it happening and circulate them, and why do the other teens find it appropriate to then share these horrible pictures with others? The pictures which could be described as child porn.
I feel like there is an epidemic going on with teens today that needs to be addressed. 1st why are boys not being taught that a passed out girl is off limits? Why do they think its ok to touch a passed out girl? Then how is it that their brains allow them to think it's ok to take pictures of their actions and share these pictures? I am starting to think that everyone who sent these pictures should be charged with child porn and anyone who didn't send them but received them and didn't report them should also be charged. This has to stop!
2nd alcohol isn't something they should be getting their hands on especially in these quantities, where are the parents and how do they not notice all of this alcohol being consumed? If its not happening at homes then elsewhere how are the teens getting the alcohol, the articles do not mention older people involved, everyone mentioned is under age. Which leads me to believe either parents are supplying the alcohol and should be held responsible or retailers are selling to underage kids and should be shut down.
3rd girls need to start having more respect for themselves as individuals and as a group. Why are the girls who receive these images not appalled by them and forced to take action? What if that was them, wouldn't they want someone to stand up for them? I just don't understand this.
4th where in the hell are the adults in these communities? In the Canadian instance the girl reported the assault but the police said it came down to "he said/she said" and couldn't go to court. Because clearly picture evidence isn't worth a damn in Canada. The girl left school due to bullying, why wasn't the school administration working to help her and teach the others how to behave since clearly the parents/adults in the community had failed. In the Ohio situation, the accused are star football stars and the community didn't want to hurt their football season. Are you flipping kidding me? The girl in California suffered for 8 days before she hung herself, there may not have been time in that instance to know there was a problem. I think kids can be secretive when something is bothering them. However in the other two cases the adults around the girls were well aware of the issues going on and didn't do anything to help them.
As a society we need to do better. Boys need to be taught that you cannot take advantage of a girl, if she is unconscious she is off limits, if she in inebriated she is off limits, if she says no she is also off limits. It doesn't matter if she flirted with you at one point or another, it doesn't matter if you thought she would be ok with it nor does it matter what she is wearing. If you think you might get in trouble you probably will so don't, it's that simple. Girls need to be taught to respect themselves. No person is allowed to take advantage of you, it doesn't just happen, and it's not your fault. Adults need to figure out how to stop the flow of alcohol into our youth bc clearly that helps the bad situations to become worse. School personal need to be vigilant and if that means overly cautious so be it but they need to work on stopping the re-victimization in the schools. Law enforcement need to start punishing the boys who do the victimizing, the kids who do the bullying, and the parents who turn blind eyes to the crap their children are doing or the kids around them are doing.
