The Insults Keep Coming...

Normally I don't get riled up enough to write rants on Blogger, but for once, I'm going to forgo my usual "don't say anything because people are crazy nowadays and might kill you for having an opinion" way of doing things to speak out about something I feel that needs to catch people's attention.


You readers know that "The Coffee Shop" is written on experiences from those who had come from abusive homes, schools, and who have inflicted abuse upon themselves and others due to their upbringing. Their stories mean everything to me. These KIDS mean everything to me, for a few of them are my really good friends. That makes it hard for me to read headlines like this: SUIT FILED AGAINST REPUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT, DISTRICT DIDN'T PROTECT GIRL FROM SEXUAL ASSAULT

I'm a huge fan of Laurie Halse Anderson, and SPEAK still is one of my favorite novels of all time because it affected me like few other books have. I speak of Laurie because it was her blogpost that got my attention of the filed suit in the first place.


For those of you who may or may not read the article/blog post that I linked to, it's basically summarized this way:


-Girl is harassed, assaulted, and raped by a boy in the 7th grade.
-Girl complains to school officials, who don't find her story credible. They make her WRITE AN APOLOGY LETTER to the boy who committed the rape and GIVE IT TO HIM PERSONALLY.
-School officials then SUSPEND the girl, after going through her claims multiple times WITHOUT HER MOTHER PRESENT and the biggest kicker is...
-NO ONE CALLED THE POLICE.
-Girl begins school next year, the same process repeats itself. The girl, knowing that her story wouldn't be believed by the school officials, told her mother. This time, to gain proof, mother and daughter go to a child advocacy center, where semen from the boy was found to back up the girl's allegations.
-A year later, a suit is filed, the boy is arrested, but the girl IS SUSPENDED FOR DISRESPECTFUL CONDUCT AND PUBLIC DISPLAY OF AFFECTION.


Does any of this sound remotely familiar?


One of my "Caleb" muses suffered from an event JUST LIKE THIS ONE. I was pissed off enough at the time to write a letter to the middle school, and used the experience for Caleb in "The Coffee Shop" not to invoke pity to his plight or something like that, but because crap like this happens every day - even in the United States. It's disgusting, it's heartbreaking, and I while I wish I could say "I can't believe it, say it ain't so!", but I know I can. My mother teaches an entire generation of students who in 5th grade are thinking of babies, sex, and use violence to get results.


So what's the point of my post? Simple: BE AWARE of what's going on in your community. LISTEN to your children when they come home from school and talk about their day. LOOK around the school yard when you pick them up from school. PAY ATTENTION. Don't let those who are silent fall through the cracks - those are usually the ones who need your help the most. And finally, SPEAK UP. If you don't, that's the greatest atrocity of all.


That's my rant for the day,
-Lily

Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men. -- "The Boondock Saints"