Mark Curran is a presumed sexual harasser under investigation in South Boston. Nothing strange there. There are unfortunately a great number of sexual harassers in every city, but Mark Curran is seven. Officials at South Boston elementary school have informed his parents that Mark is the subject of a sexual harassment investigation after he kicked another boy in the crotch.
It is a regrettable fact that groin kicks are a common problem in school yards. Mark’s mother says that he kicked boy because the boy was bullying him and was choking him at the time of the kick. The school, however, insisted that the location of the kick made it a matter of suspected sexual harassment. She says that the official told her “[y]our son kicked a little boy in the testicles. We call that sexual harassment.” A disciplinary hearing was set for Monday to determine if Mark is the country’s youngest sexual harasser. However, he now appears to have been transferred to a new school.
Much like the blind application of zero tolerance rules on drugs, sexual contact, and guns, criticized in prior columns, this seems like another case of zero thought by administrators. For kids who have not even had sex ed, sexual harassment seems a rather unlikely motivation in a schoolyard squabble.
Source: CBS
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Stay out of school, kids. Nothing’s taught there anymore.
angryman, well said. I see an amusing story today that suggests sometimes there is justice in the world. Or Karma. Or something.
Seems erstwhile mugger Anthony Miranda held up a guy at gunpoint and ordered him out of his parked car. It might have been a smart move had the intended victim not been a well known Ultimate Fighter champion. It did not turn out well for poor Anthony. To add insult to injury (literally) Anthony managed to shoot himself in the foot with his own gun while getting a one-on-one clinic in hand to hand combat from the intended victim.
Anthony’s mug shot is a keeper. And an object lesson for bullies everywhere.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/05/anthony-miranda-tried-rob_n_1129836.html?ref=mostpopular
I’m glad to hear that no charges were filed. I wonder if that had more to do with the mother claiming that if her child was to be charged with sexual harassment/assault then the other boy had to be charged with attempted murder for choking her son.
Greetings all,
I know it’s hard to believe but I just turned 53. I went to school ahile ago but I also have had experiences with bullies as have all of my three children. I started school in Baltimore City; moved to Baltimore County; and then moved to Pennsylvania for High School. My high school had a zero tolerence policy; except when star atheletes were involved. When that happened no one was punished. Other than that everyone was punished regardless of who they were or who was at fault. The staff did a pretty good and a pretty fair job of stopping bullying although of course they could never be 100% effective.
Having said that, I must also say that in all of the other schools I attended, bullying was taken as a fact of life and no real attempt was made to stop it.
I have one boy and two girls. We are just now at the end of eighteen years of public school. Their schools have not been like my High School. I am thankful that none of my children were gay or outside the “norms” of human appearence or small or timid or most of the other things that trigger bullying and harrassment. They did all; at one time or another struggle with their weight and this was the cause of most of the bullying that they encountered. Despite repeated attempts to deal with school administrators, little help was received.
When the kids first encountered the problem and we got no help; it made up my mind. I don’t give a tinker’s damn what the school or the court or the Demoocrats or the Republicans or anyone else said. I was not going to see my children beaten and pushed around while I stood like a stooge with my hat in my hand talking to a principal who really wasn’t going to do anything substantial to help my child.
So we taught our kids to punch. We taught our kids to disable. We taught our kids never to hit first. Never to pressure or bully anther child into hitting them. We taught them to defend those kids who were too little or too timid to defend themselves. I carried the 2nd amendment right to bear arms through to include fists. We taught our kids that they were never to hit first; but if another child hit them; they were to hit back and continue hitting back until that child was unable or unwilling to attack again; then to look them in the eye and say, “The next time you mess with me; I’m going to hurt you.”
Now you may find this brutal and you may find this extreme and you may say I’m not a good Liberal; but you will never say you saw me on the news as the father of a bullyed child. My kids followed my advice and they got in a few fights. They almost always won and when they didn’t, they fought even harder the next time the bully attacked which generally was good enough to satisfy the bully that an easier target would be advisable. They have all been suspended from school at least once for defending themselves or someone else and my eldest daughter served five days in jail for defending herself when attacked by a neighbor, who conveniently had the only witnesses. I couldn’t be more proud of all three of them.
Obeying the Law and following rules is all well and good and the powers that be will insist on it but trusting school authorities or Police to protect your child at school is just buying in to the fantasy they create about their power and ability to control. The fantasy may work out for awhile as all fantasies do. As they say, “It’s all fun and games until the flying monkies attack.”
And when your baby is the target of the attack; you better give up the fantasy and start teaching the kids to Swat Monkies
I’m surprised someone hasn’t been arrested for giving someone a wwedgy. This would be hilarious if it weren’t true. As one commentator said, what will The Onion do now such stupidity is becoming common? You can’t satire this, it would be satiring Borat.
I will miss your posts, erykah.
Great story OS.
Mike,
The Nuns would not stand for any bullying if they caught wind of it when I was in grade school. High school was not as easy, but playing sports helped.
I started wondering what it the little kid had aimed higher with his kick.
Many years ago, my step-grandson had been taking martial arts for a number of years. My son was a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and also skilled in Shotokan style karate, so it was natural for the kid to want to follow in his footsteps. The boy was quiet and never bragged or even told the other kids he was a regular down at the Dojo and had a bunch of trophies he had won. When he was in the fourth or fifth grade, another bigger boy would not leave him alone. This went on for some weeks and the teachers would do nothing to intervene.
Finally, one day he had enough. The bigger kid came running at him from behind with the clear intent of face planting him on the concrete of the basketball court. Lance let go with a roundhouse back kick to the bully’s throat. With, of course, the inevitable result. When the bully could finally get his breath and talk again, he ran to the teacher complaining, but one must say the teacher was consistent. She did not get onto Lance for whacking the bully.
There was no further bullying.
OS,
As you know, when we were kids the were very few Dojo’s available anywhere. I fervently wish there had been because I would have benefited from both the kowledge of self defense, the discipline and the philosophy. My 7 year old grandson is taking Karate lessons. He is a gentle, shy and studious boy, who is independent of thought even at his tender age. In short a perfect target for bullying. I was thrilled when I learned he was going. Kudo’s to your son for his perception as a father.
“I apologize to everyone for making this personal…” -Mike S.
Bullying is, by its very nature, extremely personal. Thank you for being so open…