My 2 Second Shelf Life

" They all denied any involvement"

Back in November when these boys denied assaulting this young woman, I posted my personal experience with sexual assault at school.
I applauded this girl for having the courage to come forward, regardless of the firestorm she would create.

This story kept coming back to race, which obscured the real issue, which is sexual assault in schools. Young girls have fought this off for decades, often too ashamed of being called a "slut" to come forward and tell an adult that they were "felt up" in a corridor, or dragged into the boys washroom and mauled.

When I was in school, I knew one young Asian girl who told friends that she was raped by a boy, but never went to an adult or her parents to say anything.
That boy was never investigated or punished.
Do I think that my experience and this girls experience were unique?

I do not.

And now, in this society and culture, which glamourizes sluttiness, with videos both on TV and on the internet showing young women allowing young men to slap their asses to the beat, while they shake their barely covered tits and bootys...puts excess pressure on young girls who attend school.
Catholic School is no stranger to the hiked up kilt fantasy that many guys have.

I think that middle schools and high schools must address this issue in a big way, and I hope that this debacle kick starts some awareness to a problem that has been secretly slithering through the halls of schools for decades.

I must say though that I am impressed with the two boys who were man enough to admit to doing something unacceptable, and being adult enough to do the right thing by taking their lumps.
Now, I know that there are people who don't want to believe that it's possible that they are guilty. And I expect that there will be continued accusations that these boys were forced to confess.
And that's a shame.
A shame to deny that this problem even exists, and that all teenage boys are misunderstood, angelic little beings.
Denying that there are aggressive hormonal boys of all cultures and races, who need to be shown that they can't get away with it.