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So people always say that rape should never be allowed no matter what because the word rape itself implies a lack of consent, but what if someone put herself in that situation? Well that's what happened in this story here: A 14 year old special needs girl was persuaded by a teacher aid to act as bait to catch a 16 year old boy (in the act) who was reputedly a sexual predator but had never been caught. The vice principal was even notified; however, when the event took place, the boy led the girl to a different bathroom than what was initially planned and proceeded to rape her. The school states that the girl was responsible for herself, but then again, she said that it was non-consensual and she believed she would be safe. I honestly would classify the school faculty as inadequate protectors, the teacher aid as negative encouragement, and boy as the assailant. Yes, she did this of her own accord, but should she really be blamed for this? Thoughts anyone? Who is at fault?
I don't think that the young girl "put herself" in any situation that asked for her to be violated in such a way. I cannot imagine that anyone in the world would have a desire to be raped. It is unbelievable that the school stated that the girl should have been responsible for her own actions, because no one expects anything like that to happen to them - it is an act that is uncontrollable. Rape should never be allowed in any situation; both parties must consent in order for it to not be considered rape. In this situation, the boy was entirely at fault for the act, as well as the teacher aid for assisting. The victim is never at fault - no means no.
ReplyDeleteTo start this off, it is horrible to hear that a teacher tried convincing a disabled student to have sex with another student to catch them in the act. The girl should not be considered that she had "put herself out there." The administrators should have used a completely different tactic to catch the boy in the act. They should not have used a student to try to catch him. Both the rapist and the teacher who tried to catch the boy in the act should both be arrested and put into jail. This is sick to hear that a teacher had done this to a child.
ReplyDeleteI believe that because the girl did not want or plan to have sex and that she did not say yes that this is rape or non-consensual sex. It does get unclear in the fact that she was bait and did mean to meet up with the boy but she never said yes so in my opinion, it is not her fault. I don't think that it was right for the teacher aid to ask her for help and not set up precaution to protect her. I also don't think that it was right for them to ask someone with a disability to help them as well since she would be less likely to be able to protect herself. The blame should be shared on the teacher-aid and the teenage boy for taking advantage of a victim.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is the girls fault because she made the decision and nobody forced her to. However, people might say that it is the faculty's fault and they did not have the right approach to the situation. In addition it is the girls fault because she went to a different bathroom, consequently putting herself in danger.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely not the girl's fault; the girl should not have been persuaded into the position of "bait". The teacher aid was responsible for seeing the 14 year old girl act as bait for a sexual predator. In this situation, instead of persuading the young girl to take part in unwanted sexual activity, she should have received help and taken care of the situation in a much more sensible way. The teacher aid and the school is responsible for letting a predator take advantage of the young girl. Rape is never the victim's fault.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Jordan; I believe it was not her fault. She was a special needs kid and we do not know what her disability was. It is gruesome that an adult would do that to a child in middle school regardless if they had special needs or not. I blame the teenage boy and the teacher-aid for this because they are the ones who should know better and know that it is wrong to rape someone. Since the teenage boy was already considered a sexual predator and never got caught, he thinks that it is OK to do because he has not been caught yet. The girl did not know we was going to get raped, or she would not have gone to the bathroom.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Aileen, the girl is a victim of rape. She not only is a special needs kid, but her teacher arranged for her to be used as "bait." Her teacher allegedly set up for the girl to be assaulted; teachers should be the ones protecting the students, not putting them into these types of situations. However, the school is using the excuse the girl "consented" and therefore set herself up to be raped. The girl did not consent, the faculty forced her to be put into a situation she never would have chosen to partake in. The school knowingly allowed the special education student to be raped by a sexual offender. The school says they could not claim the other child was indeed as sexual offender because the student has not been caught in the act. The teachers were going to catch the kid while he was sexually assaulting another student.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Parisa and Gabe. Though this girl agreed to do what this teacher persuaded her to do, it did not make her being raped her fault. She was an adolescent that was trying to do what an authority figure told her to do. She also believed she would be safe, this girl did not expect to be raped. She thought that she was just going to be "bait" and that the teachers would catch the 16 year old boy. I find it unacceptable that the school did not take responsibility for what happened to this girl. Everyday parents trust our schools to take care of us from when school starts to when school ends. Aragon does a really good job of that, and as a student I would be horrified if I went to a school like this. Even thought she did not directly say "no" she showed many signs of not given consent, which should be enough for a human to stop their actions. Overall, I feel that this incident was not the girls fault and that the school should take a lot more responsibility for what happened knowing the boys past and their actions to not stopping the rape.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I see where Jordan is getting his point from, I have to disagree with him. Indeed, no one had "forced" her to agree, but she had been persuaded to agree by Simpson. She clearly knew about the dangers and had refused initially, but Simpson had promised her safety, thus convincing the girl to agree to the plan. Although it may be argued that it is the girl's fault for following the boy into the wrong bathroom, but it may have been difficult for a special needs student to think up of an idea to decline the suggested meeting place and instead meet up at the other one without getting the boy to suspect that something was happening. Based on this school's definition of "rape," the boy should be given more punishments and the school should take responsibility for not giving the girl the safety they had promised.
ReplyDeleteIn the article, there is a very distinct controversy on whether or not this was consensual or not since the girl of special needs did agree to such an act that had been encouraged to her by a teacher aid to catch the culprit in the act. In my opinion, I do partially agree that it had been the girl's fault that she had been in such a situation. She has a voice and she could decline to such a plan with or without pressure from anyone. Though, on the other hand, I agree with what Shinhyun had explained, and that brushes on the fact that she is someone of special needs. That variable does play in the situation of whether or not she understood entirely of the situation at hand and if so, she may not have known how to get herself out of playing a role in the whole 'catch a criminal in the act' action. In the end, I believe that the school should tighten up their authority on their students so situations like the one explained in the article doesn't happen again.
ReplyDelete-Bryanna M.
Thank you for your insight to this matter, everyone. This is a somewhat difficult situation to interpret. After reading all of your comments, I find that my initial beliefs have now been reinforced. Like Jordan said, I honestly would have blamed the everyone involved, but only if she had not been in special needs. It did say that in the article, she wasn't really disabled, but then why would she be classified as such if she was completely normal(relative)? Overall, I hope that the people who deserve it are brought to justice. True justice.
ReplyDeleteI disagree because its the school fault for going as low as taking advantage of a special needs girl to use as bait instead a having a different plan to catch a sexual predator. They're the ones who had someone persuade her, maybe lying to her when she was being "persuaded". To her, being persuaded might have meant non consensual.
ReplyDeleteI don't think its the girl fault because the teacher was responsible for the 14 year old girl. In this case I think its the teachers fault because she was supposed to take the girl to the bathroom, the teacher was responsible for her. And also she was in special needs so no one should be blame but the teacher.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is not the girl's fault because although she agreed to the plan, she thought she would be safe, and they would catch the boy. I believe that this is the school's fault primarily the teacher aide because they could have found another way to seize this sexual predator, but instead, they made a 14 year old girl who was disabled. This is not the victim's fault at all, it is the people who persuaded her to help capture this boy.
ReplyDelete