When I was in fifth grade I was in Mr. Hrach’s class, and the biggest scandal that year was that someone brought some pictures to school from Playboy magazine, and all the boys were passing them around. I will not divulge who did it, but it was not me. That was a long time ago and the principal (Mr. Keller) was pretty upset. They wanted to know who was responsible and although it seems hard to believe these days, principals could spank students, so this was serious business. We all had to speak to him one by one and honestly I don’t remember what the outcome was, I just remember that was probably my first exposure to Playboy.
A couple of weeks ago some students at Hillsdale Elementary in North Highlands CA were caught passing around a naked photo of a female classmate, using their cell phones. Clearly there are a lot of differences here, for one the use of cell phones, and more importantly this was an actual classmate. Apparently these sixth graders are facing felony charges. Ouch. Let’s be clear here, what these kids did was wrong, and they need to be punished. They violated the young girl’s rights and not only do they need to learn that this is wrong but a broader message needs to be sent to other kids about cell phones and privacy. I am just not sure about felonies for sixth graders.
Many people advocate sex education begin in kindergarten. A recent New York Times article advocates appropriate sex education at all levels, including Kindergarten and sixth grade. The article quotes statistics by the Guttmacher Institute that notes that half of all young people have had sex by age 17. We do need sex education in schools, of some sort, I am just concerned about the way we present it, and I am not sure at what age we should begin introducing these ideas. But if half of kids have sex before reaching 17, then we have a responsibility to at least teach them how babies are made and what the names of body parts are. My official education was in 7th grade, where Mr. Box did a good job in health class of making it all sound very dry and uninteresting.
As everyone is aware in the last election cycle Todd Akin put a massive foot in his mouth when he introduced the term Legitimate Rape. He then dug his hole a little deeper by trying to explain that if it is legitimate rape the female body has ways of “shutting that down”. There was, of course, massive outcry and we all learned the unquestionable truth that “Rape is Rape”. I will of course not defend Mr. Akin or his remarks, mostly because they were wrong and made no sense. He went on to lose the election after deciding not to get out of the race. It is certainly true that all rape is evil and unacceptable.
When someone forces themselves sexually on another person who is not consenting, they have committed a horrible crime. We all picture an older man holding a knife (picture, let’s say, Todd Akin), and forcing himself on a younger woman who is sobbing and pleading for him to stop. But of course there are other cases, for example the high school football players who took advantage of a young girl who had passed out. They were found guilty and rightly so. Whether she would have consented if she was awake is of no consequence, she was not awake and therefore could not consent.
Beyond the cases of obvious rape discussed above, society has also rightly determined that young people are not old enough to be able to consent to sex, and so we have statutory rape charges that apply to anyone who has sex with a minor. We also do not allow minors to enter into legally binding contracts or drive an automobile, for the same reason. They are not old enough to make these decisions by themselves, because they cannot understand the consequences. In the case of sex, we have the famous example of Jerry Sandusky, the Penn State coach who was caught showering with young boys and is now in prison. Jerry Sandusky is a sick man and his actions are disgusting. Even if he had not molested these boys, any sane adult knows that you do not ever get naked around a child lest you be charged with improper conduct.
The recent decision by the Boy Scouts to allow gay boys to be scouts, and not to allow gay scout leaders, was always in part about fear of litigation. Youth leaders from Scouting to Little League are trained over and over to never be alone with young people, but to always have two adults present, and to avoid situations where any hint of inappropriate behavior could exist. Scouting is and always has been about teaching young men to be good, moral adults. There is nothing immoral about being gay and so I applaud their decision to allow gay scouts. But I suspect the decision to not allow gay leaders is about fear of litigation if a Jerry Sandusky comes along and wants to be part of the troop. Not sure how I feel about that but let’s just say it is not as clear cut as it would appear.
And now what of the case of Kaitlyn Hunt, the 18 year old young lady who is facing 15 years in prison? She is charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior, which is Florida’s term for statutory rape. Kaitlyn is a senior in high school and was involved in a lesbian relationship with a 15 year old girl. They were both on the basketball team and when the coach found out she was kicked off the team. She was expelled, and as I said, faces 15 years in prison from felony charges.
As every boy learns when he turns 18, any girl younger than you is “jailbait”. The laws that define statutory rape are necessarily arbitrary. A line must be drawn, whether it is 17 or 18, and people below that age cannot consent and people older than that can. The parents of the other young girl waited until Kaitlyn turned 18 and then filed charges. So two young people having a relationship who are 17 and 18 are not equal, one is a criminal.
But the question must be asked, what activity constitutes actual rape? Is it kissing? Or as we used to say, first base, second base, third base, or a home run? If a home run is intercourse, then the question there is pretty clear. An 18 year old boy is unwise to have intercourse with a younger girl, for a number of reasons. First, you might get her pregnant. Second, you could get an STD. Third, as pointed out, you could go to jail. But can an 18 year old boy kiss his 16 year old girlfriend? Where is THAT line?
I must also point out that Kaitlyn Hunt was in no danger of getting her young friend pregnant for obvious reasons, and they cannot have traditional intercourse. So in this case the rape involved must have involved something else. Since they were on the same basketball team they were in a position where showering together was acceptable, so long as there was no touching. Not so with an 18 year old boy and his 16 year old girlfriend, where simply being naked with her might be improper.
My point as always is that whenever we start spouting absolutes such as “rape is rape”, we need to pause and perhaps more carefully consider all of the circumstances. Society must draw an arbitrary line somewhere, but perhaps judges should have some leeway to consider the actual case, which is apparently not the case in Florida. “Legitimate rape” is a horrible thing, but I am not convinced that Kaitlyn Hunt deserves 15 years behind bars, or that every case of statutory rape is exactly the same. Kaitlyn Hunt is not Jerry Sandusky. Rape is Rape, except when it isn’t.
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