Monday afternoon, a 14-year-old student was allegedly raped in an unused classroom at Wilde Lake High School by a 17-year-old student, who is being charged as an adult for second-degree rape. This is the sort of incident that brings a strong reminder that the greatest threats to school security come not from the random maniac with an assault weapon, but from the environment in our own communities and the sickness that rises in peoples' minds and souls that cause these sorts of acts to become things that are even considered as possible. Hopefully the victim will be all right.
Luke LaVoie has an article about the crime here.
It's certainly unfortunate that this person found an unlocked, empty classroom, but if not there, he probably would have taken advantage of his prey (allegedly) somewhere else. Maybe the better question is, how were these students both cutting class, but the details are uncertain about the amount of time between the class that was cut had begun and the time of the attack. May only have been several minutes.
No, I think the true culprit here is the socioeconomic culture that allows 17-year-old boys to think that rape could possibly be OK. This is not placing blame on any institution, but honestly, on the family of this boy, if anyone or anything. It's not the act of a rational human being to commit rape so obviously there is some problem with the person.
The alleged attacker should be punished for his crime if he did it, but he also needs help, being himself a very, very sick person.
Having had two kids at Wilde Lake, we are proud of what an exceptional school it is. The Principle, Mr. LeMond, is a respected leader. My son is quite concerned about how this adds to a negative view that many hold of Wilde Lake. The incident is indeed larger than just Wilde Lake. I think we all need to take some responsibility for this wound to our community, for I believe all our actions are interrelated. The boy has evidently needed help all along. Sometimes we need a wake up call to consider the troubled among us.
Posted by: Harry Schwarz | February 07, 2013 at 09:59 PM