Eeveelution
Among the few morons with straight A's.
Recently at my school we were reading a book called "Speak", or at least beginning it. I have a habit of reading ahead in whatever book my class is reading, so to try to control it I read an interview with the author in the back of the book. One of the answers said something about the book including rape, so I told my teacher and she decided the class should not read it (or at least not yet) to prevent any controversy among parents. (I go to a small school for kids with learning problems like Dyslexia or ADD, some kids even have very mild forms of autism, so that was a smart move on her part.) I asked to keep reading the book, though, and she lent me a copy. It was a very good story, but the one thing that really disturbed me was something author said in answer to one of questions.
She said that she had received emails and letters from "young men" (that's what she called them) who said they liked the book, but didn't understand why the main character was so upset by being raped.
As I am 14, and am a Freshman, this brings both horror and terror to me. I first learned about rape in fifth grade from my mother, so I have generally thought most people understand the horror, or at least most girls. Right now I'm at an age where people might find me an easy target for rape, and learning that there are boys who don't get what's so bad about it is not very reassuring.
It seems that some adults are afraid to talk to kids about why rape is so bad. Since I am not a parent, I don't know who is given the task of talking about, and assume that parents usually are given the task. But whoever is supposed to tell kids about the bad effects does not always do a very good job. Censorship only makes this worse. If "Speak" was censored, there is a chance the readers who sent the mail asking what was so bad about rape may still not know why. It is the same for other books dealing with that as well.
I understand that rape is a very sensitive topic, but shouldn't we make more of an effort to talk about it? Maybe if we did, there wouldn't be so much of it happening. For now, it is terrifying that there are people who don't understand it. Those people may be more likely to do it, as they would not expect it to hurt the victim emotionally, or even cause the person they raped to be considered a victim.
In summary, why are people so afraid to talk about why rape is bad, or even about rape, to minors?
She said that she had received emails and letters from "young men" (that's what she called them) who said they liked the book, but didn't understand why the main character was so upset by being raped.
As I am 14, and am a Freshman, this brings both horror and terror to me. I first learned about rape in fifth grade from my mother, so I have generally thought most people understand the horror, or at least most girls. Right now I'm at an age where people might find me an easy target for rape, and learning that there are boys who don't get what's so bad about it is not very reassuring.
It seems that some adults are afraid to talk to kids about why rape is so bad. Since I am not a parent, I don't know who is given the task of talking about, and assume that parents usually are given the task. But whoever is supposed to tell kids about the bad effects does not always do a very good job. Censorship only makes this worse. If "Speak" was censored, there is a chance the readers who sent the mail asking what was so bad about rape may still not know why. It is the same for other books dealing with that as well.
I understand that rape is a very sensitive topic, but shouldn't we make more of an effort to talk about it? Maybe if we did, there wouldn't be so much of it happening. For now, it is terrifying that there are people who don't understand it. Those people may be more likely to do it, as they would not expect it to hurt the victim emotionally, or even cause the person they raped to be considered a victim.
In summary, why are people so afraid to talk about why rape is bad, or even about rape, to minors?