5 ms·

If you have a daughter this is so scary! Thanks for posting.

w1ntermute 14y ago
High school football players are treated like Gods in small-town America, and are allowed a shocking amount of leeway in terms of behavior. It's sad to see people turn so irrational over a game of teenage boys knocking one another over and playing with a ball. I never personally understood the fascination, which certainly didn't do me any social favors when I was in high school.
- GuiA 14y ago
  >I never personally understood the fascination 'Panem et circenses'
  - kijin 14y ago
    And Panem is the name of the fictional country where The Hunger Games takes place. A country where people turn so irrational over a game of teenage kids knocking one another over ... fatally. We, too, used to do this not so long ago. The stadiums are still around if you visit Rome.
    - pyre 14y ago
      The Hunger Games were instituted by the central controlling authority (the Capitol) as punishment to the worker castes (Districts 1-12) for their failed rebellion. Some of the Districts celebrated the games, but mostly because the winning District was given perks over the other Districts (extra food, etc), so rooting for your 'team' was also rooting for your community to get extra supplies rather than going without. This also pits the Districts against each other, making it more difficult for them to band together to stand against the controlling authority again. On the other hand, football in small-town America contains none of this. They don't get anything other than bragging rights when Smalltown 1 beats Smalltown 2 for some sort of football championship. The individual players might get scholarship money for university to play college ball, but that's about it.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- nashequilibrium 14y ago
  What is amazing is that the adults in this whole tragedy are acting irresponsible and like kids. These adults also hold position of power like police officers and prosecutors.
  - kaliblack 14y ago
    I wish I was amazed by adults being irresponsible and immature.
- socialist_coder 14y ago
  The amount of local connections that each person has in this situation is amazing. But... where are the connections to the victim? Where is her "aunt who works at the District Attorney's office"? How can you get anything resembling a fair investigation and trial in a case like this? It seems impossible.
- lostlogin 14y ago
  In New Zealand and (from news, not personal observation) Australia, it's rugby league that usually has this sort of disgusting behavior. Other sports have these issues, but rugby league, even at a very high level, does a pathetic job at managing its young, so called stars, behaviour.
- beedogs 14y ago
  Don't worry; football will be a thing of the past in a decade or so once the brain-damage lawsuits are in full swing.
  - w1ntermute 14y ago
    I can't wait. The amount of time, money, and energy that goes into this absurd activity is nothing short of pathetic. America will be a lot better off without football.
damm 14y ago
As someone who has been harassed and beaten up most of his school life, I can honestly say stories like this are why I never chose to pro-create. I refuse to help create a child who will only be harassed, bullied and possibly murdered by his fellow students. If anyone who doesn't think this is serious, is normalizing too much.
- orangethirty 14y ago
  I hope life got better after school. I went through the same things and mine did. Being a computer nerd before the new millennium was hard. I'm glad you made it out alive. :)
- lostlogin 14y ago
  Note, my fiddly ios app somehow let my reply be to the article, and not you. So i have reposted my comment where it belongs. I think your missing a huge opportunity. Help someone grow up in the way you didn't get to. Minimise and prevent the bad things that happened to you from happening to them. Do it the best way you can. If this is the only reason you're not having children, it seems a shame as your experiences can be used to better others lives.
  - gcheong 14y ago
    Couldn't his/her experiences be used to better others lives who are already here as well though? What advantage is there in creating yet another human whose outcome is uncertain?
- rdtsc 14y ago
  > I can honestly say stories like this are why I never chose to pro-create. Or maybe you should procreate so there is more normal and good people to stand up to the bullies.
- SoftwareMaven 14y ago
  Having been the target of that crap and a parent of a child who does everything in her power to be the target (dressing different, acting different, mentally ill), I'm pretty comfortable in saying things have gotten better. There is a lot of energy put into preventing and punishing bullying, a lot more than when I was a kid (before we had dirt). It changed enough that one of those high school football players asked her to prom last year (needless to say, I was worried about a Never Been Kissed prom scene). It is not perfect, and where you live still matters a lot, but it is better, and when supported by caring, empathetic parents, usually manageable. Sure, something could go drastically wrong, but I don't live my life around black swan events.
ams6110 14y ago
If you have a daughter this is a good example to use to explain why it's not a good idea to get black-out drunk with a bunch of guys. No I'm not blaming the victim. But reality is what it is. If you have a son this is a good example to use to explain how he should react if he finds himself in a situation where his "friends" are about to do something absolutely abhorrent.
- rdtsc 14y ago
  There is actually a perverse side of the coin here in respect to drunk driving laws in some states. Some states basically do not diminish the guilt and the punishment of someone who was driving drunk by arguing they should be completely responsible for what they did while drunk. That has been applied in cases of rape/sex while drunk at parties. Crime victims sometimes face an uphill battle in court if they had consented to sex while drunk.
  - xyzzyz 14y ago
    Crime victims sometimes face an uphill battle in court if they had consented to sex while drunk. I don't know how it works in the US, but in my country, when a person consents to sex while drunk, even though they wouldn't consent while sober, it's not considered to be a rape. The justification is that adult people know how alcohol works and may decide not to drink it, and the amount of alcohol needed to get someone drunk enough is too big to make someone intoxicated without them realizing. Of course, it also means that having sex with someone who passed out is rape, and so is getting someone to consent after giving them rape pills, for you can make someone ingest them without them realizing.
    - rdtsc 14y ago
      I think in some instances (in some states) the claim brought by the victim as "I was drunk so even though I consented I didn't mean to really since I was impaired" carries more weight than in others. This happens for young college students for example who go to parties with people don't know, drink and then have to deal with the consequences. So we want to protect the victims of sexual abuse but also be very harsh on drunk drives except that the two are at odds. Now there is nothing stopping laws to passed that are logically inconsistent but of course we need to preserve at least a superficial objectivity so people keep believing in the legal system.
Nursie 14y ago
It's horrific whether you have a daughter or not. People are vicious animals.

High school football players are treated like Gods in small-town America, and are allowed a shocking amount of leeway in terms of behavior. It's sad to see people turn so irrational over a game of teenage boys knocking one another over and playing with a ball. I never personally understood the fascination, which certainly didn't do me any social favors when I was in high school.

GuiA 14y ago
>I never personally understood the fascination 'Panem et circenses'
- kijin 14y ago
  And Panem is the name of the fictional country where The Hunger Games takes place. A country where people turn so irrational over a game of teenage kids knocking one another over ... fatally. We, too, used to do this not so long ago. The stadiums are still around if you visit Rome.
  - pyre 14y ago
    The Hunger Games were instituted by the central controlling authority (the Capitol) as punishment to the worker castes (Districts 1-12) for their failed rebellion. Some of the Districts celebrated the games, but mostly because the winning District was given perks over the other Districts (extra food, etc), so rooting for your 'team' was also rooting for your community to get extra supplies rather than going without. This also pits the Districts against each other, making it more difficult for them to band together to stand against the controlling authority again. On the other hand, football in small-town America contains none of this. They don't get anything other than bragging rights when Smalltown 1 beats Smalltown 2 for some sort of football championship. The individual players might get scholarship money for university to play college ball, but that's about it.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
nashequilibrium 14y ago
What is amazing is that the adults in this whole tragedy are acting irresponsible and like kids. These adults also hold position of power like police officers and prosecutors.
- kaliblack 14y ago
  I wish I was amazed by adults being irresponsible and immature.
socialist_coder 14y ago
The amount of local connections that each person has in this situation is amazing. But... where are the connections to the victim? Where is her "aunt who works at the District Attorney's office"? How can you get anything resembling a fair investigation and trial in a case like this? It seems impossible.
lostlogin 14y ago
In New Zealand and (from news, not personal observation) Australia, it's rugby league that usually has this sort of disgusting behavior. Other sports have these issues, but rugby league, even at a very high level, does a pathetic job at managing its young, so called stars, behaviour.
beedogs 14y ago
Don't worry; football will be a thing of the past in a decade or so once the brain-damage lawsuits are in full swing.
- w1ntermute 14y ago
  I can't wait. The amount of time, money, and energy that goes into this absurd activity is nothing short of pathetic. America will be a lot better off without football.

damm 14y ago

As someone who has been harassed and beaten up most of his school life, I can honestly say stories like this are why I never chose to pro-create. I refuse to help create a child who will only be harassed, bullied and possibly murdered by his fellow students. If anyone who doesn't think this is serious, is normalizing too much.

orangethirty 14y ago
I hope life got better after school. I went through the same things and mine did. Being a computer nerd before the new millennium was hard. I'm glad you made it out alive. :)
lostlogin 14y ago
Note, my fiddly ios app somehow let my reply be to the article, and not you. So i have reposted my comment where it belongs. I think your missing a huge opportunity. Help someone grow up in the way you didn't get to. Minimise and prevent the bad things that happened to you from happening to them. Do it the best way you can. If this is the only reason you're not having children, it seems a shame as your experiences can be used to better others lives.
- gcheong 14y ago
  Couldn't his/her experiences be used to better others lives who are already here as well though? What advantage is there in creating yet another human whose outcome is uncertain?
rdtsc 14y ago
> I can honestly say stories like this are why I never chose to pro-create. Or maybe you should procreate so there is more normal and good people to stand up to the bullies.
SoftwareMaven 14y ago
Having been the target of that crap and a parent of a child who does everything in her power to be the target (dressing different, acting different, mentally ill), I'm pretty comfortable in saying things have gotten better. There is a lot of energy put into preventing and punishing bullying, a lot more than when I was a kid (before we had dirt). It changed enough that one of those high school football players asked her to prom last year (needless to say, I was worried about a Never Been Kissed prom scene). It is not perfect, and where you live still matters a lot, but it is better, and when supported by caring, empathetic parents, usually manageable. Sure, something could go drastically wrong, but I don't live my life around black swan events.

ams6110 14y ago

If you have a daughter this is a good example to use to explain why it's not a good idea to get black-out drunk with a bunch of guys. No I'm not blaming the victim. But reality is what it is. If you have a son this is a good example to use to explain how he should react if he finds himself in a situation where his "friends" are about to do something absolutely abhorrent.

rdtsc 14y ago
There is actually a perverse side of the coin here in respect to drunk driving laws in some states. Some states basically do not diminish the guilt and the punishment of someone who was driving drunk by arguing they should be completely responsible for what they did while drunk. That has been applied in cases of rape/sex while drunk at parties. Crime victims sometimes face an uphill battle in court if they had consented to sex while drunk.
- xyzzyz 14y ago
  Crime victims sometimes face an uphill battle in court if they had consented to sex while drunk. I don't know how it works in the US, but in my country, when a person consents to sex while drunk, even though they wouldn't consent while sober, it's not considered to be a rape. The justification is that adult people know how alcohol works and may decide not to drink it, and the amount of alcohol needed to get someone drunk enough is too big to make someone intoxicated without them realizing. Of course, it also means that having sex with someone who passed out is rape, and so is getting someone to consent after giving them rape pills, for you can make someone ingest them without them realizing.
  - rdtsc 14y ago
    I think in some instances (in some states) the claim brought by the victim as "I was drunk so even though I consented I didn't mean to really since I was impaired" carries more weight than in others. This happens for young college students for example who go to parties with people don't know, drink and then have to deal with the consequences. So we want to protect the victims of sexual abuse but also be very harsh on drunk drives except that the two are at odds. Now there is nothing stopping laws to passed that are logically inconsistent but of course we need to preserve at least a superficial objectivity so people keep believing in the legal system.

Nursie 14y ago

It's horrific whether you have a daughter or not. People are vicious animals.