Yes, Michigan. The state with the law on the books making adultry a crime punishable by life in prison.
Anyway.
CNN reports that a 19-year-old man from Ecorse went on trial today in Michigan. He's the father of a brand-new, bouncing baby girl. Mom was eleven-years-old when she got pregnant.
Three of the five counts in the indictment are against him for first-degree sexual conduct, person under thirteen, which carries a possible life sentence. The two other counts in the indictment are against his mother and the mother of the eleven year old.
His defense? Not guilty by reason of insanity.
And in mom's neighborhood? No one is outraged or enraged. It's not their business. And this seems to surprise the reporter.
It used to be that I would see my nineth-graders come into high school and get pregnant during their freshman year. About three or four years ago, they began coming in with babies who turned one during their freshman year.
Yes, that means they were getting pregnant at eleven. In junior high. In middle school. Call it what you will.
And no one seemed to care. Not the moms, not the mothers of the moms, or the dads. We were just supposed to fix it all by making sure they passed their classes and the standarized tests that NCLB demands.
They'd fall asleep in class, when they came, because they'd been up all night with the kid. The level of support they had at home was minimal. What we can give them in school falls far short of what they need.
And yet we're held accountable.
When is too soon, too soon? And why is this case any different than all the others? Should we be prosecuting this guy for doing what hundreds of others do? Or should we be charging every sexually active male who has consensual sex with an underage minor with statutory rape?
Who decides? Who's responsible?
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4 comments:
It's really a tragic situation. I know in my high school classes there was one girl who was raising a child at the same time - but had help from her parents. I had a lot of respect for her.
This issue really tests our conception and cultural norms of childhood, sexuality, and the value of human life. It can never be decided on a black and white dogmatic basis.
P.S. Thank you for linking to my Indeterminacy site. After the dust settles from this blog of note thing I will update my links and include your site as well.
Yes, it really is a tragedy for everyone concerned. What sort of life can anyone involved reasonably expect?
And you're right. The issue is hardly black and white. The social factors that influence the cycle of generational poverty are far too intertwined.
And as the gap between the haves and the have-nots becomes a chasm, access to education becomes to us what the color line was to DuBois.
Far too many children are falling on the wrong side of this line.
And btw, can I tell you how much I adore your site? Such a lovely idea, the combination of images and words in a collaberative setting.
Really wonderful.
People should read this.
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