The Appollo's and the Haephaestus'
Well, where to start.I suppose I'll start with my nephew who recently ran afoul of the law. As is to be expected there was more to the story than I revealed (or had revealed to me) in my last post. It seems that he was guilty of making a threat, though it was after having endured a recent bout of bullying from his schoolmates. I don't want to apologize for his statement (which went along the lines of going home to get a gun for use on the boys that were bullying him) however it does come down to the straw that breaks the camel's back. What he said was obviously out of anger, and a terse reaction to something immediate that would not have any realistic fruition. He had already planned to stop going to that high school on his 16th birthday (which was this past Monday) and be done with the administration and teachers there that had either targeted him or turned a blind eye to the bullying that went on. He had suffered repeated visits to the principle’s office to explain things that the principle simply had no business asking. Like where he got his money for instance (works for his parents trucking company, they pay him well for his maintaining the trucks).
He went to court last Tuesday, a preliminary trial where he basically confessed what he had done (or in this case, said). There was a potential 90 day sentencing when this issue actually went to trial, though that has fallen by the way side as his parents got a lawyer to fight it. The lawyer reviewed the statements made by him, and several teachers and called the prosecutor, telling my sister and her husband that there was very little chance of the situation going to trial.
It didn't. It won’t. All charges have been dropped and my nephew was released from detention yesterday. There was a statement by his resource teacher that she knew he had been being bullied for several years now. He suffers from learning disabilities, some speech problems, not to mention he is a small kid, always has been little. The lawyer also made mention that this particular high school has had several problems with bullies and threats for the last few years. It seems the potential to punish the victim instead of the victimizer is alive and well. Now don't misunderstand: I'm not condoning what my nephew said. He shouldn't have threatened the bullies, and it's that simple. On that same token however, something should have been done to help prevent the bullying before this. As it stands, the bullies are unpunished and not likely to be punished. The simple reason for this is because of athletics, the golden children of American high schools and universities. Not all athletes are knuckle headed, brutish Neanderthal’s, in fact many are very nice, well read, hardworking individuals. There are enough however that fall in the former category as to give the remainder a bad reputation. And when those that know they have a talent for a particular sport realize they can get away with some tremendous bullshit because their school is relying on them for endorsements and recognition, well, that makes the situation all the worse.
I loath, in many ways, the way we here in the states treat athletes. That isn't to say there aren't countries worse than us, or at the very least, on par with us. It's a tradition however that stretches back to ancient Greek, and it's one that we still embrace. There are certain individuals that receive carte blanch on social mores and many times it is only due to name recognition. It is a fact that bugs me, but one I realize is unlikely to change in anybodies lifetime.
posted by F.G. Shaw @ 11:28 PM
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