Education, or a lack thereof, would be one in any number of factors that could lead up to a scenario like this one.
Not sure. Anyway, my point essentially is that there are a thousand things that contribute to an occurance like this and if people actually want to do anything about it they would be wise to look at the whole picture. TC coming and his “dirty little rapists” comments are beyond idiotic.
Apparently. Didn’t you read the article? The girl went back to playing with the rapists.[/quote]
A wide selection of the posters seem to be of the opinion that sex education could have done nothing to help prevent this case.
Well, perhaps it couldn’t have prevented it from happening. But it might (note “might”) have educated the victim to go and report this case to the authorities, whoever that might have been.
I remember that in my first sex ed class (gr. 7, age 12) there was a short but succinct lecture that basically says, “if someone touches you in the part of your body that’s covered by your bathing suit, you should tell a teacher, parent, or police officer. And remember that it’s not your fault that you were touched there, even if you feel bad about it.”
It may seem self-evident to us adults posting here that the victim of repeated rape should have reported the incident to someone. Sex ed couldn’t guarantee that she would do that, but it could have increased her chances of doing so. It might even have dissuaded some of the rapists from carrying out the act if they had known that the victim would have known what to do in that situation… although I admit that’s stretching the point a little bit.
A good start might be to see that these boys are actually punished in some meaningful way, so that the next girl this happens to will have a reason to report it.
From what the article says, they aren’t being.
I take it we are talking about a rape here and not some sort of elementary school swingers party?
It seems to me that sex education would be useful here because, from the article, it sounded like the 10-year-old girl didn’t really know what was happening. The younger boy, at least, must not have had much of an idea either, since some of the bystanders were telling him what to do.
My niece is 10. She has not yet had sex education at school that clearly explains what happens during sex. She has a vague idea - but the other day, as an eg. of her ignorance: her dog licked me on the mouth and my niece said that now I was going to have puppies. If a 10-year-old boy raped her, would she know to say she had been ‘raped’? Something happened, sure, but what exactly? She has a good relationship with her parents, and so would probably say something. Maybe the girl in the case here in Taiwan doesn’t have a good relationship with an adult, and had no one to tell.
We’re dealing with a local “reporter’s” take on a police “report,” so there’s probably a lot more than a million facts about this case we don’t know.
Bob, and just what kind of better education do you feel is required. Sex education for a 10 year old is out of place.
Bob, and just what kind of better education do you feel is required. Sex education for a 10 year old is out of place.[/quote]
She needs the kind of sex education where they tell her what abuse is (in terms children can understand, such as the ‘touching you in the area covered by your bathing suit’ example i mentioned). She needs to know that abuse is not her fault. She needs to know where she can safely report this information if the traditional paths (i.e. teachers in this case) are cut off. No one’s saying she needs to be taught how to use a condom or anything like that. “Sex education” covers a wide variety of topics and is usually an ongoing process — children are given the information they need to defend themselves as soon as they are capable of understanding. Then when they get older they can be told more about reproduction and etc. I’m no expert, but I think a few girls begin to menstruate at age 10 or even younger, so sex education would be useful for explaining that, even if it comes from a parent.
Apparently it’s not.
When children start raping children, it is time to raise the awareness at home and in the classroom. Our children will probably have to teach their children in kindy about these issues. Now thats a scary thought. 
I agree. And I still don’t think it is “Sex” education that would control issues like this. Rape. Is. Not. About. Sex.
I dunno for sure but I think the age where kids learn (hear) about sex or engage in sexual activities is getting lower and lower, thus it would make sense to start sex education earlier.
True. But often sex education does cover issues of rape, how to respond, etc. Sex education is just a name. Imagine how much more vilified it would be if they called it ‘Rape education’, or even ‘anti-rape education.’
I’ve never thought that statement made too much sense.
Let me ask you all a question: How many of you have actually been raped/sexually assaulted/abused? Judging from the replies to this topic so far, I’m guessing not many.
This isn’t something I would normally ever consider saying on a forum, but I was sexually abused when I was 12 years old for almost a year by someone within my family. I had plenty of Sex Ed before it happened, both from my parents and at school, I knew what was happening wasn’t my fault and was wrong but you know what? That didn’t help me one damn bit. The feeling of shame and self-loathing that overcomes you is almost unbearable. You feel that it is your fault that this is happening, no matter how much you know that to be untrue. It took almost a year before I could work up the guts to tell anyone what was happening. I felt that everyone I loved would thing I was a disgusting little pervert for letting someone do that to me. I knew I could put an end to it at any time by telling someone, but one thing and one thing alone stopped me: FEAR. The power someone holds over you when they rape or abuse you is immense. Your entire life becomes filled with fear. You fear that everyone you care about will stop loving you because you “let” yourself be abused so you let it go on. You don’t put an end to it or say something to someone because of the pure, panic-inducing fear that overcomes you everytime you think about it.
When I finally did work up the courage to tell my parents (mum and step-dad) I was terrified of what they would think. I was suicidal for a long time.I tried three times to kill myself because of what happened. It almost destroyed me, despite all the education I had received about it not being my fault.
Now the reason I’ve said all that is this; all you people harping on about how education could have prevented this whole thing don’t actually know shit about what it’s like to have that happen to you. You can have all the education in the world and still be too terrified or ashamed to admit it happened, even though you know it was wrong.
Granted, I don’t all the facts behind the story here, but if we take the story at face value, try imagining for just one second what the damage to that girl’s psyche would have been if she was being raped while her classmates not only watched but encouraged the rapists. Do you not think that maybe, just maybe she would have been so ashamed that the prospect of not telling anyone would seem easier to live with than bringing it out into the open?
And by the way, Canada and America still have their fair share of rapists, despite the presence of a Sex Ed program.
So here’s a final thought for you. Before you start going on about how Sex Ed could have prevented this, try to put yourself in the victim’s shoes. Maybe then you might have a fucking idea of what it’s like to be raped.
rob…excellent post.
That’s got to take a lot of courage to share. 
[quote=“rob_the_canuck”] Granted, I don’t all the facts behind the story here, but if we take the story at face value, try imagining for just one second what the damage to that girl’s psyche would have been if she was being raped while her classmates not only watched but encouraged the rapists. Do you not think that maybe, just maybe she would have been so ashamed that the prospect of not telling anyone would seem easier to live with than bringing it out into the open?
…
So here’s a final thought for you. Before you start going on about how Sex Ed could have prevented this, try to put yourself in the victim’s shoes. Maybe then you might have a fucking idea of what it’s like to be raped.[/quote]
While I feel for anyone that has been through the sort of experience you describe I think that you are letting anger cloud your perceptions. We know that there was a group of students encouraging this incident. That’s not a hypothetical. It is what happened, and on the basis of that fact, and the fact that nobody who knew about the incident (likely half the student body) chose to say anything about it, we can conclude that something is wrong with the education system. Nobody said that sex education would prevent “all” such occurances. We said that the Taiwanese police officer was not incorrect when he said that there was not enough of it. Sex education isn’t the complete answer either of course, but it is part of the answer. Imagine for example how your own situation would have developed if you lived in an environment where people were not only afraid, but encouraged to keep such things hidden, partly by a lack of attention to it in school.
[quote=“bob”]
While I feel for anyone that has been through the sort of experience you describe I think that you are letting anger cloud your perceptions. We know that there was a group of students encouraging this incident. That’s not a hypothetical. It is what happened, and on the basis of that fact, and the fact that nobody who knew about the incident (likely half the student body) chose to say anything about it, we can conclude that something is wrong with the education system. [/quote]
Or maybe the culture? After all, an education system is a product, a reflection of it’s culture.
Or maybe the culture? After all, an education system is a product, a reflection of it’s culture.[/quote]
That’s it, right there.
Or maybe the culture? After all, an education system is a product, a reflection of it’s culture.[/quote]
The educational system creates the culture.