Today in Norman Oklahoma students are walking out in silent protest against their school and how the school handled the bullying of rape victims. First the facts, as they are at the time of this blog.
- The alleged rapes occurred off campus away from the school.
- The alleged rapist has not been charged or arrested by police, despite the incident happened two months ago. Rather the investigation is still ongoing.
- The alleged rapist was suspended from school for passing around the video of the encounter
- At the time of the suspension only one victim was known, currently there are four.
- When the girls returned to school they were met at the door by their classmates taunting them. At this time the school had no knowledge of the alleged rapes.
- Now that the other victims are known, they are cooperating fully with the police.
So my question is this. Other than suspending the alleged student and fully cooperating with the police, what more could they have done. They had no prior knowledge of the events, thus no way to foresee the bullying that happened to these young girls. Maybe I just don't get it. Why of all things do they protest a school that has done nothing wrong?
Why not protest the rapist. Four victims, plus a video floating around school it can't be that hard to find him. How about protesting the people who bullied these girls. Why not protest the person filming. These are the people who should be protested. As for me I support our teachers.
Anyway here are some of the protesters demands.
- School must fully accommodate the educational needs of the victims and take all necessary steps to ensure the victims feel welcome and safe at all times on school grounds.
- Nice words but how exactly do you pull this off? How exactly do you make someone feel safe when each person has their own standard for "feeling safe"
- School administration shall request a full investigation by law enforcement into the child pornography passed around school and into any teacher or administrator who failed to make mandatory reporting of child abuse as required by Oklahoma Statutes, Title 10, section 7103.
- Ok this point makes sense. If any teacher knew of the existence of the video and failed to report who was passing it around then that is a problem. If however the students were like the students in my high school we knew better than to have contraband in front of an adult.
- School shall create a new, full-time position of Victims’ Advocate for students who report sexual assault, sexual harassment or bullying. That position is responsible for overseeing all such reports and following up with the student, the student’s parents and law enforcement.
- Not every school district can afford a full time victims advocate, many don't even have a school nurse on staff. This is not a realistic demand.
- School shall create a notice of victims’ rights to be provided to any student who reports sexual assault, sexual harassment, physical assault or bullying.
- A simple pamphlet isn't that expensive, I would like to add that as a poster as well.
- School shall prioritize the immediate implementation of sexual assault, sexual harassment and bullying prevention education for students and faculty.
- You can't prevent bullying or assault. How exactly do you do this. Hold a lecture telling boys not to rape? Bullying is not only part of high school, but it is an important part. It prepares young men and women for the harshness of the real world. You can't prevent it, you can only punish those who do it.
- School shall promptly train all faculty on victim sensitivity and the appropriate response to reports of sexual assault, sexual harassment and bullying.
- FYI this is exactly what the school did and you are protesting them anyway.
- School shall establish a committee comprised of three students, three parents and three faculty to oversee the implementation of these demands and to review the programs and policies implemented every 90 days.
- You don't need another committee and if such a committee were formed it would be foolish to include three students who are only there as tokens. This is something best left up to the school boards.
So again, maybe I just don't get it but how does walking out of school and holding signs on the road accomplish anything of value when the perpetrators are sitting at home watching television?
Read the letter from Scott Beck the principal of Norman High School here
Read the letter from Scott Beck the principal of Norman High School here
