Outrage At What Happened At A High School Dance – UPDATED

what on earth is wrong with you? I just read the story, read the comments, and then went back to read yours again -trying to understand. I dont understand. Maybe you will get the chance to be raped, while 10 other males stand around you in a circle to watch.

Something is wrong with you. clearly.

Whether you live in L.A., San Fran., Denver, Charleston–it doesn’t matter. Even our smaller cities face these types of problems.

There’s a 1997 book entitled Our Guys: The Glen Ridge Rape and the Secret Life of the Perfect Suburb. It’s by Bernard Lefkowitz. Read it and be really sickened again.

I am not sure that this is a new phenomenon at all, or one that is found only in poorer and rougher neighborhoods, as is evident by the school referenced in the book title above. (When I read the linked reports the mention of rape with an object, made me think of the rape that is detailed in the book I just mentioned–against a special needs girl.)

I sometimes get the impression that a pack of teenaged boys who have been allowed to roam free without much supervision become like a pack of feral dogs–very dangerous.

But then, there are several good books out too that examine the nature of girl-on-girl bullying. It’s pretty nasty, too, though it usually ends up being more psychologically and emotionally damaging than physically damaging. As a high school teacher, I saw the effects of that often.

Again, it’s why I personally would not want to be a teenager nowadays in our huge American city high schools. There just aren’t enough adults in the building, no matter what you try. I can’t remember having police officers assigned to our high schools, but now it’s an absolute necessity. Sad!

I have a friend who worked for awhile in an L.A. high school that had a high fence with barbed wire lines at the top all around the grounds. She said it was like working in a prison. But it was more to keep people out than to keep people in.

I’m in L.A. too. This was near San Fran.

Here here!
We can hope that she was unconscious for most of that hell.

If any of you saw the movie, “Last Exit to Brooklyn” you would know the horror that this girl experienced. That film actually caused me to vomit in the movie theater. Don’t rent it. You won’t sleep for a week.

I live in SF so I know the area fairly well. Richmond is not a wealthy town. They definitely have pervasive crime problems there. It’s a horrible, horrible story.

Oh, they were sitting on there asses, people watching, instead of actively doing their jobs, securing and monitoring.

Here, the friend of the girls says it best

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/29/california.rape.victim.friend/index.html

Evil has always been an equal opportunity employer.

As many as 10 people were involved in the assault in a dimly lighted back alley at the school, police have said. Another 10 people watched, without calling 911.

I just said the same thing to my hubby. I saw the video of the girl saying there were 12-15 men sitting outside.

And, aprox 10 men/boys participated in the repeated rape while another 10 watched. Was this like a special club planned event or something and the guys were paid of to stay inside?

THis is just so sick.

And, it is the behaviors of these men at this school that allowed this to happen. C l e a r l y. Their mind set and how they view women. How in the world did no alarms go off that you had this goingn on. Why in the hell did they have security guards there?

Pigs. And that is how they should be treated. Dirty animals that attacked a young girl.

All the children of Mexican immigrants that I know personally all speak English fluently and have assimilated just fine. They also work.

Is is not possible to appreciate the absolute depravity of this particular case without making sweeping attributions of society based on media-popular anecdotes and selective statistics ?? Something may be ‘poisoning’ our culture and this marks a new hysteria in the epidemic of juvenile violent crimes….but that’s really not borne out by the numbers.

As one point of reference, juvenile crime has actually been steadily DOWN in this country since the mid-90′s. According to experts, as a result of more sophisticated early intervention, comprehensive social services, efforts at juvenile rehabilitation, general drop in crime levels etc.

So process the horror of these individiual heinous cases of youth gone rampantly wild without abusing the political significance. Because they definitely are the exception, they’re not the rule.

“These high school boys need some major discipline and not suspension, that won’t help anyone. They should be forced into some kind of juvie hall.”

No, the crime they committed was brutal and they deserve a brutal punishment.

These punks think they’re “hardcore”. Then give them their just reward. They’ve earned their place in a hardcore general population prison.

I can just hear the self-righteous protests from the left “Oh but how can a 15 year old boy defend himself against hardened, brutal criminals that are bigger and stronger than he?”

My answer to that is the same way a 15 year old girl was expected to defend herself against heartless, brutal savages who were bigger and stronger than she.

And it’s been the 3rd world for some time. I worked in the financial district in SF during the 90′s. The homeless were everywhere; many mentally ill (thank you Ronald Reagan who, as Governor of CA, decided to close down the institutions and let out patient clinics treat psychotics). I had a half block walk to my building from the bus stop and would be hassled for spare change by stinking, filthy men a dozen times before I got to the safety of the lobby. One poor sod, who hadn’t a clue where he was, would pull his pants down and defecate against the side of the building. You couldn’t pay me to live in that PC filth again. Maybe that explains some of our more dense bots from SF…simply desensitized away from normal existence.

Didn’t someone videotape the entire thing while others stood and watched?

I completely agree and I understand both sides. I happen to be Latina (my parents are originally from South America).

I don’t have any patience with the idiotic PC police that refuses to acknowledge the realities facing our society anymore than I do with those who obviously dislike minorities and take full advantage of any tragedy to let rip their prejudices.

Now, having said that, we do our country and by extension ourselves a GREAT disservice by refusing to confront some unpleasant realities for fear of appearing “racists”. We can not attempt to lessen our problems by refusing to address issues in an honest way.

Last year, a large part of the media was afraid to treat Obama the same way they would have treated ANY other politician for fear that they would be labeled “racist” by the PC bullies. Now, look at the result.

Lou Dobbs’ MEXICAN-American wife was nearly killed this week when shots were fired at their house by people who don’t like what he has to say! The very people who accuse him of being anti Latino nearly killed his Latina wife!

I agree and KNOW that most Hispanic immigrants are good people who only want a better life for themselves and their children, but I also know that there’s a nasty but VERY vocal minority within that group that’s encouraged and protected by groups with other agendas who whenever they’re confronted about ISSUES try to make it about race.

I read this EXCELLENT article by British journalist, Melanie Phillips (who I don’t always agree with) but I strongly encourage everyone on this site to read it because it addresses how the “mainstream” encourages the rise of extremists by refusing to address the concerns of regular citizens.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1221354/MELANIE-PHILLIPS-Our-leaders-queuing-prove-virtue-denouncing-vile-BNP-But-blame-rise.html

Do you really think that’s where all rapists come from? I could tell you, based on first hand accounts and personal experience, that rape also comes from behind closed doors with families that attend church, are not single parent families, appear to be pillars of the community, and have not one child that is a gang-banger, drug user, or career criminal.

As a matter of fact I had a friend who was molested by her father. A career upstanding officer. Why was it hidden? Wouldn’t want to ruin daddy’s career now would we? I also know of a case where a career military chaplain molested his children.

It ain’t just street gangs, rappers, and the like. But let’s not talk about that. Dear old dad on Wall Street may have a thing for his daughter. But that won’t make front page news.

I watched a former Miss America many years ago tell her story. She was from a wealthy well connected family. She had a mother and a father never divorced. Let’s just say dear old dad was more than fatherly.

So let’s realize this is part of the culture, needs to be stopped, and not limited to a class of people sans mom and dad who are irresponsible.

Scary ain’t it?

“I have to say that I am shocked by the naked racism in this thread towards Mexicans, Central Americans and South Americans. I won’t make any excuses for anyone involved in this crime but let’s not tar every Latino or Hispanic with the same brush.”

I have to say I am horrified by the racism expressed in this thread. It blows my mind. And it’s so completely irrational. People make these most ridiculous statements “they don’t want to be assimilated.” That’s such utter nonsense. I have dated and had tons of Mexican-American friends. I don’t speak a lick of Spanish. So HOW can I be friends with them? Well, gee, first off, they all speak English as their main language!

The guy I dated earlier this year, Mexican-American, actually told me his Spanish was only at a 5th grade level, that he could “get by” in it. His main language is ENGLISH.

He is an AMERICAN. He listens to American music, watches American movies, and acts like an American. His skin is slightly more tan than a white person’s that’s all.

NEVER MIND the fact that I know Mexican-Americans with WHITE skin and who you wouldn’t know were Latin-American except for the “Martinez” in their last name (or whatever).

So this whole issue is personal to me, these are my friends and lovers you are talking about here.

Thank you, Katmoon, for your rational thinking on this. I have been horrified by what appears to be naked racism running through this thread as we attempt to make sense of the senseless here. I can see what you are driving at.

I still think some of the comments here have been too broad (all Mexicans are bad) and I think we need to expect more from ourselves. But, case-by-case, we might have to ask hard questions. This crime was first and foremost a crime against a woman, in my opinion. Was the fact that this woman was white a factor in her being the victim? I don’t know. It’s a mixed bag of scum that’s been arrested so far. You have given us much to chew on.

Another good post. Your question at the end, Katmoon, was answered by the incident in Chicago, where a young kid [15, I think] was beaten to death in the street, the video caught on a cellphone. The kid himself [from what I read] was a good kid, a good student who stepped in to help someone else who was being whacked with a 2×4.

A senseless waste!

But I think there is a different but no less brutal equation with the rise in violence on women. The disrespect we hear on a daily basis, the extension of that through the arts that young men are exposed to, the fewer number of grown men to provide guidance and mentoring for these kids about what it “really” means to be a man, drug and alcohol abuse, etc., etc., etc.

The problem isn’t caused by one thing but a myriad of things. But the backstory does not excuse a brutal, gruesome crime for any race or any culture we may find ourselves in.

As far as certain groups or races having particular weaknesses. I’m of Irish descent and the standard joke is how the Irish love their pints. Unfortunately, in my family the stereotype is real. I received a phone call this morning that my cousin, 52 years old, died last night. That’s way too young to die because of the love of the bottle. And she joins many in my family who went to the grave for the same problem.

So yes, we need to stop this fingerpointing and defensive posturing. For all our sakes. Otherwise it will be same old, same old. And we’ll be hearing more and more of these cases.

Margaret — I’m so sorry for what you went through, but I’m glad you call yourself “survivor” instead of victim. I can’t imagine what you’ve had to do in order to reach a point of healing, but I admire you for speaking out on this topic when it must cause you to relive memories you’d rather leave behind.

The courage of all the “survivors” who’ve posted here makes me proud to be a woman.

Brodie, good for you, to stand. I know it doesn’t make you “popular”, in some people’s eyes, who cares. You have the understanding and the courage to act, and that is what it takes; to do something. We have a collection today of various kinds of murders, rapes and a series of what is now a lethal dose of hate crimes against women.

I think we also need to look at the sentencing for rape; making it a much longer sentence; the survivor lives with that crime for the rest of their life.

“..,WHERE THE HELL WAS THE SUPERVISION????” Good question. I’m also forced to wonder what the parents of these monsters are like, and what type of moral instruction they exposed their kids to. The dreadful moral decay that would lead to such a horror did not start with this new generation. There has been a long and steady breakdown of ethics, manners, morals, and respect for people in general. When children witness prominent adults, like Gore Vidal wishing he had murdered Bush, or the comedienne (I forget her name) hoping that Sarah Palin would come to New York and get raped by her homey buddies, say such horrible things and get away with it, what kind of lesson do they take away? When the POTUS can be a thinly disguised racist/misogynist/liar and still sit comfortably on his thrown, don’t you think observant kids are going to recognize the new disconnect between abyssmal behavior and the consequences for it? How much lower can the moral bar be dropped before it becomes subterranian? Perhaps when it clunks on Satan’s head, that will be low enough.

This is a joke, right? WTF!!!!

Vigilantism I agree, and give the perps exactly the same treatment they gave their victims: Brutal rape, assault, intoxication, and leaving them on the ground unconscious. And then, after they recover physically, expose them to crowds of people with a sign on their forehead saying “I am just a piece of trash,” so they can be ridiculed, insulted, and made fun of. They probably then would know how it feels to be on the other side. But I wouldn’t bet on it.