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As disgusting as this event was, I’m not sure pressing charges against 8th graders is good practice. These are kids, they need education, not the criminal justice system.
Ironically, this is the same practice that has caused incredible harm to students of color. But not all equality is equally good.
Massachusetts is very puritan to this day. This punishment makes sense when you consider the state it happened in.
I’m afraid you don’t understand what’s happening here. Pressing charges is what leads to actual budgeting to develop and engage education to improve the situation for everyone involved, including the perpetrators.
Is it? I have not heard of any such process, can you provide more information?
I couldn't agree more. This will ruin these kids lives over stupid kid shit
It’s a tough issue because I’ve also seen similar behavior defended as “it’s just kids being kids” to dismiss the seriousness of what happened and deflect from any corrective actions. This is not healthy or harmless behavior for kids to be engaging in and it does need to be addressed. I just don’t think the courts are the best tool for the job.
Unfortunately, our society has largely failed to develop any rehabilitative or restorative forms of justice and so we often get stuck between doing nothing or turning to state violence. Neither of which is going to make the situation better.
How is it ruining their lives? They haven't even been tried yet, let alone sentenced.
These are the kids who will turn into the adults that will ruin, and end, many lives. Early intervention is the best option.
Not that the US criminal justice system is good at this kind of thing but ... they're white, middle-class kids. The chance of them getting a custodial is way, way lower than if one of them accused a Black kid of, say, stealing their rucksack.
Because our legal system is awful and not at all focused on rehabilitation, it's all punishment and making minor offenders into life long felons. You're acting like this is unheard of
What is a "mock slave auction"?
Seems kind of self-explanatory...?
Joking about setting up a venue in which white people bid on black chattel slaves. Literal human trafficking and insanely racist. It's what Americans did in the Antebellum (pre-Civil War) South.
Well at least we're not teaching proper American history to these kids, or they may have realized that what they were doing was monstrous and felt guilty about it. We can't be making white kids feel guilty, y'all.
Where did they get all of that from? I'm guessing the racist apple doesn't fall far from the racist tree.
Other than a few pockets of blue, Western Massachusetts is very rural and leans conservative. I try to avoid going out that far if I can help it.
These kids would be right at home in the South.
Southwick is basically Connecticut. It's literally the little weird bump at the bottom of Massachusetts (called the "Southwick Jog"). It is also, unsurprisingly, one of the most Trump-leaning areas in the entire state.
WESTERN Mass is actually deeply blue like eastern Mass. It's really central Mass and then the area around the Southwick Jog that are the "pockets" of red. I.e., https://media.wbur.org/wp/2020/11/1105_Mass-Map-1000x531.png
Boston has had its share of racism issues too.
The district attorney initiated forward-looking steps to "prevent future harm, encourage empathy, and build stronger communities free of hate."
They include a curriculum around hate and bullying being delivered to the Southwick school community and a partnership with the attorney general's office to create a program that addresses and remediates the harmful forces of bigotry, racism and bullying in schools.
I appreciate that the response, at least, wasn't "Crucify these specific kids and ignore the underlying symptoms".