“Homecoming 2009 for Richmond Highschool students will be a night that will never be forgotten, but not for the right reasons.” This is a quote from Claire Illies in an article she posted on her blog http://claireilliesblog.blogspot.com/ on the gang rape that occurred at the high school in California. The victim was 15 years old. At least 10 people witnessed this awful event and did nothing, and security personnal did not do their jobs correctly to prevent this from happening just outside the school during the homecoming dance. This might never have happened if the right precautions were taken.
First of all, it is easy to point blame at the people who were supposed to be in charge of the conduct of the high school students during the dance. A very big part of the reason the rape happend, however, was that security was neglecting to patrol outside. Just think, if they had even walked around the school once, the victim and her attackers would have been discovered. It also sounded to me like the students at the high school knew that there wouldn't be anyone patroling the alley way where the gang rape took place. If the students knew this was a hot spot, why weren't there people standing in the middle of it with big flashy signs that said, "Go back to the dance, nice try"?
Second of all, there were students that stood witness to the rape who did absolutely nothing to help the victim or allert authorities. They just stood there and watched. Maybe they were horrified, petrified by shock and fear. Maybe they cheered the young men on. It sends shivers down my spine to think that no one helped her. No one did anything to stop this awful invasion of human dignity. Why?? Why were these kids not taught the difference between right and wrong? Why were they not taught how to take action in high pressure or violent situations? Shouldn't they have been taught these things?
First of all, it is easy to point blame at the people who were supposed to be in charge of the conduct of the high school students during the dance. A very big part of the reason the rape happend, however, was that security was neglecting to patrol outside. Just think, if they had even walked around the school once, the victim and her attackers would have been discovered. It also sounded to me like the students at the high school knew that there wouldn't be anyone patroling the alley way where the gang rape took place. If the students knew this was a hot spot, why weren't there people standing in the middle of it with big flashy signs that said, "Go back to the dance, nice try"?
Second of all, there were students that stood witness to the rape who did absolutely nothing to help the victim or allert authorities. They just stood there and watched. Maybe they were horrified, petrified by shock and fear. Maybe they cheered the young men on. It sends shivers down my spine to think that no one helped her. No one did anything to stop this awful invasion of human dignity. Why?? Why were these kids not taught the difference between right and wrong? Why were they not taught how to take action in high pressure or violent situations? Shouldn't they have been taught these things?
The ironic thing is that the gang rape took place at a school. A school where teenagers should have been taught how to tell if something is right or wrong and what to do about it. Even a class as simple as the D.A.R.E. program would have inspired at least one of those students to DO SOMETHING. Instead, this poor girl was subjected to two and a half hours of torture and then discarded under a bench, passed out cold.
Fortunately, the girl has recovered from her physical injuries. Unfortunately, because of the actions and mistakes of so many, she will never fully recover from her mental and emotional scars.
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