Comments:

Samantha - 2005-06-20 16:14:26
You wrote that the boys got probation, not jail time. If they didn't think past a certain point of comprehending actions and consequences, well, now they have. And probation is a warning not to do it again, not really a punishment.
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Kelly - 2005-06-20 16:18:38
I actually think your last sentence is brilliant, too bad it rarely happens. I'm terrified for my daughter and I hope that I can have an open but not too open dialogue with her regarding who she is sexually. I'm afraid though that things have come to a point where its way past normal exploration by kids. They completely lack dicipline, any forthought, and responsibility for their actions.
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Mary - 2005-06-20 16:23:19
Dude, the girl has got issues. Mommy and Daddy, I'm sure, made her say she was "forced." Sounds like her family needs to look into some group therapy.
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Gumphood - 2005-06-20 16:28:20
I think I agree Samantha. I just don't see that sending masgonistic males to jail will make them come out better people. I think that the threat of taking away things they enjoyed and the trial, and showing them how people will hurt, will help. I learned some of my lessons of why not to hurt people, from hurting people unintentially. The girl does have issues. The is for sure. I went easy on her, but I read alot trashing her, and I don't nessarly think that this is her fault. I think that she just, as you said, needs therapy.
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jes - 2005-06-20 16:31:01
**sniff** wurd, my brotha. (I think this article is right on, actually) As the great John Lennon said, "Imagine [a world where people could chill the fuck out about honestly teaching kids about ses]." (meh, that's pretty close to what he said).
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kevin - 2005-06-20 16:45:53
Fucking fantastic, one of your best, what a gem. I admit when I first heard about the situation my knee jerk reaction was that the boys were clearly in the wrong and that the girl was being exploited. But then when you delve into it, while not being a healthy relationship in the least, maybe perhaps that wasn't the case. Maybe in a strange way they were all just exploring. That statutory rape statute is a tough one, it seems that the ages are so aribitrary, I can understand not wanting someone much older to be exploiting someone who is much younger, but the idea of 15/16 being the cutoff point...it just seems, again, so arbitrary. But I do agree that we need to be more frank and open about these thigns, like that substitute teacher. I learned about sex the exact same way that you did: with a group of my friends in a basement. And back then (and maybe perhaps now) it just made sex seem gross and sort of disturbing. Not the best way to learn. Anyway again this was awesome.
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GoingLoopy - 2005-06-20 17:05:24
I think the statutory rape laws in MA are pretty fried...most states have a "peer sex" clause, where if the parties are close in age, the statutory rape laws don't apply. However, I think all of these kids need some counseling.
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Jennifer - 2005-06-20 17:12:15
Ummm...why are high school kids having birthday parties in hotels? This sticks in my mind as a big important question in seeking an answer about why situations like this happen.
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andreeb - 2005-06-20 17:20:08
Did I miss something here? I didn't read in the story anything about this being forcible. This is definitely her parents pushing the issue.
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Pandi - 2005-06-20 17:41:35
I'm with Jennifer. Since when do kids get to have parties in hotels? Sounds like all of them were missing some serious parental guidance and influence. Also, junior high is much too late for sex ed. Sex ed should start the minute a toddler asks "where do babies come from?" There are ways of explaining it that they can understand. That's what my sister did, when her kids were three years old. She also explained the technique of airbrushing when she caught her then-teenaged son with a bunch of Playboys, and told him that when the time comes for him to be with a real person, not to expect what's in the magazines, or make a girl feel bad if she doesn't look like that. On an unrelated note, this reminds me of the big scandal with the Washington Capitals years ago. Several of them got BJs from a seventeen-year-old in a limosine. There were charges, all of that, when it turned out that when she got out of the limo, she thanked them all for the experience. It was totally consensual. Lawdy, I don't think I could be a parent these days.
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P.S - 2005-06-20 17:42:40
The Washington Puck-Bunny also lied about her age.
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xquzme - 2005-06-21 10:24:46
I'm with Kelly and Kevin -- excellent write up on a touchy but important subject, Gump. And why does it HAVE to be touchy? I got lucky -- before I lost my Mom at 13 she gave me The Talk, but it was honest and forthright and HELPFUL. Thanks to her I am viewed by my friends' teenage kids as someone they can go to about ANYthing -- sex included. That's not always good, but dammit... someone's got to be honest with them. Thanks Mom -- and thanks, Gump. Great entry.
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DanjerusKurves - 2005-06-21 12:30:29
First off, as somebody who was once a 15-year old girl, I didn't automatically conclude that the "fault" was on the boys' part. Fifteen year old girls are not made of sugar and spice, they are made of flesh and hormones. LOTS of hormones. Second, teenagers have not been having sex or experimentally sexually for only the past generation. They've been doing that since sex began. It is society who has tried to instill age rules, not Nature. Last, my "sex education" consisted of my parents sitting me down when I was 9 years old and stammering out about two sentences that left me uncomfortable and utterly ignorant. And which led me into some very bad situations later in my teens. I only wish that in addition to the clinical aspects of sex education that there was an alternative source for all of our teenagers to turn to.
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fawning admirer - 2005-06-21 12:59:22
thank god for the return of sensitive gump
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bethany - 2005-06-21 14:27:55
well BRAVO dr. kinsey!
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bethany - 2005-06-21 16:32:02
well I'll be in Michigan camping, so kiss my grits!
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Pandi - 2005-06-22 09:23:25
About the purple, that would have made things at least tolerable. Today I'm wearing emeralds. The world should be afraid.
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