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Due to a platued economy, I have returned to school to gain my Masters, and I am currently enrolled in a Student Service in Higher Education and Sociology of Juvenile Delinquency. Both of these classes require that I keep up with current events, which I often avoid due to the sensationalism of the media. I am usually so good about not discussing the red-hot cases but this one got my goat.  There is a case buzzing around mainstream media outlets that just truly have me shaking my head not only at the crimes, but the media + governmental responses to the events. The case I am referring to is Steubenville, OH Rape.


This case is odd to me on so many levels. I will began with the obvious, why were these 16 and 17 year olds tried as juveniles? I feel it much more commonplace for older teens to be tried as adults.And also why were the teens only sentenced to one or two years, which is one-fifth of the maximum sentence for a similar crime tried in adult courts. Not to mention that once they serve whatever reduced sentence will actually serve due to over-populated facilities. The offenders record will be sealed and there actions of no consequence after they are released. I fear that the fact their crime was against a women may have lessened the punishment served by the justice system.

The bigger picture: The most disturbing aspect of this crime is the role that social media played. Twitter and Facebook acted as a digital archive of the assault and actually led to the the victim even knowing she had been assaulted, because of her severe alcohol consumption. The sick and macabre relationship that digital natives posses is highlighted in this extreme case. The bystanders were not paralyzed, they did act, they acted by filming and documenting, discussing, and sharing the act they themselves identified as rape without interfering or suggesting the offenders stop. Rather they encouraged the assailants and verbally bashed the unconscious stranger from out of town.

Even Bigger Picture:
When I was in Psycology 101 we dicussed the case of Kitty Genovese:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/kitty_genovese/3.html
Although Genovese's crime was more brutal and resulted in death, there is a common theme in the presence of  bystanders who did act, but only to increase their awareness of the crime, not to act to contact the police. Kitty Genovese's case took place long before Facebook or Twitter's creators were even born. Is this just a negative side affect of human nature and group think. The assumption that it is not your responsibility but instead someone else's? And the choice to take action but not to help another, especially another who is in obvious need of assistance.

The goal of this blog is to spark dialog, if you agree of disagree please feel free to respectfully share your opinions.

Links:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/kitty_genovese/3.html

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/18/justice/ohio-steubenville-case/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenews

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/17/opinion/simmons-steubenville-verdict/index.html

two sense

A customer at my workplace is a spiritual healer who splits her time between the hustle and bustle of the DC Metro area and the spiritually infused Sedona Valley in Arizona. Her zen-like qualities are easy to spot, especially among the metaphorical and literal rats of the race. Her peppered hair is soft like her voice, whispering enlightened words that soothe my existence.

Today she arrived a little later than usually, and I immediately noticed her visually striking necklace. She approached the counter, and explained the symbolism of her ornamental chain. It was a cluster of light-purple gem stones embellished with two silver fish forming a parenthesis-like shape around a silver ball. After I asked about them pendant she informed, "They represent two fish swimming effortlessly through life going with the flow, they are contrasted by fish who try an swim upstream." She turned the pendant over, equally entranced on the necklace and the women who impacts my spiritual journey, even in our limited and brief exchanges. "This side has a snake that represents transformations of life, they are Tibetan symbols that I truly cherish".

She shuffled off and I sat in amazement. I have always been fascinated by the power of words, and their ability to comfort me. Her sentiments immediately took me to thoughts of a converstion I had with my sister the previous night. I was driving home, and discussing my life-plans with my younger sister. I began, "I think I want to...", before I could even conjure images of my future my sister cut me off. " I don't want to sit here and listen to the things you MAY do. I need you to make a choice and carry it through", her words stung me; a physical an emotional response to the truth.

Both of the sentiments impact my current position. As most twenty-somethings, I'm lost. I moved 400 miles away from my family and while I do not want to return to my home state, I can no longer deny my desire to relocate. I have been a fish, going with the flow, which I may add is against my nature, and feel as if I am aimlessly wandering without a true plan or identity. While I know that I have success on my horizon, I am unsure if my path is correct. I frequently suggest balance to others in conflicting circumstances, but take no solace in my own words. While I am going with the flow, I fear--I know, that I am doing it incorrectly. This post has no resolution as of yet, just a soul lost with so many unanswered questions. A human so blessed that instead of worrying about shelter or my next meal, I am privileged to think of my future, to hope for greater.

& so it is.

Just a friend?

My mind has been flooded with so many questions regarding relationships. I have employed balance to be the important factor in all aspects of life but find that I have never been able to extend this philosophy to relationships. When I speak of relationships, I am referring to be connection or report with another human being, outside of my family. I consider family relationships to be a far more complex and subscribe to an entirely different set of regulations. I am specially talking about romantic and friendly relationships.

I have frequently extended myself beyond the metaphorical halfway point within interpersonal bonds, and eventually give far more than I receive. My desire to keep people around me has acted as a hindrance in my journey to self actualization. So, what to do? Stay away from all people? As unrealistic as that is, I would find it especially hard seeing as I am an extrovert, and have a great potential to gain positive energy from human interaction.    

I have expressed my desire for strong and healthy new relationships in my adult life. My adult life began with a swift slap of reality, and has been a lonely journey. I have left everything and everyone I know to pursue the credentials to positively influence this crazy mixed up world. My new experiences are filled with confusion and masses of grey area. My attempt for companionship has rendered my isolated and confused. There seems to be a new set of social rules at play, in which all people are disposable and easily forgotten.

I find myself constantly, “putting myself out there”, with no return on my awkward investment. I am twenty-three and have been unable to have a healthy romantic relationship and have made a few acquaintances on this journey. To clarify, I have wonderful friends, but the distance between us is far. I would love to forge a wonderful existence for myself, but have had little luck.

In an effort to not be alone, I have crossed my own boundaries. I have betrayed myself and an already damaged relationship, and I am still alone. Jill Scott sings my heartsong, and tries to paint a wonderful portrait of “one [being] a magic number”, but I am yet to feel completely secure in my solitude. I genuinely long for another soul to brave this cold world with. I would love a friend to eat lunch with or go into the city.

I long for the day when I can make a new friend, or develop an inside joke. I consider this writing to be a manifestation of my desire for friendship written and published to the universe. May my heart’s desire for an honest and loving friend become a new facet to my new life.

“I am a soul whose intentions are good. Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood.”-Nina Simone

Reflections:My Young Heart

While packing up my childhood home, I found a journal that my Grandmother gave me in 2001. In 2001, I was in middle school and would have slapped anyone who said they liked the Britney Spears more than me. I was fitted with a set of  braces, and acne, and a horrible haircut that my mother gave me our front porch, but after reading this journal I discovered a complex young girl who reflects the woman I currently am. Around this time I was being introduced to the world of poetry, and my very first poems are in this journal. I would like to share the emotions I was experiencing ten years ago:

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Beauty on the surface, but yet nothing underneath

Talk with a lot of big words, but no conversation to speak

You have so much going for you, but yet no action

All the things in the world, but still no satisfaction

No one is against you, but that isn't what you see

You only feel the lies you conjure emotion created by the false prefixes in your life

Love for [your]self is the only thing that can save you

The past ten years have gone by so quickly, I encourage you to reflect on your life; Are you the person you hoped to be? What are you going to do with the next ten years? 

Come Again?

After a night on the town filled with debauchery and a few too many gin and tonics, I am left with a dull headache and true concern for my fellow club-goers. I am constantly people-watching and over the past four years I have attended the same night club. As the years have gone by, I see more people masking their insecurities and displacing them onto others. Maybe it's me who has changed and not the club scene, but I feel the need to highlight the blatant problems I see commonly. I know that nightclubs are a place to let go and that some people attend them just to hook-up, but just like any other game there are rules. The rules of the game boil down to one key factor-- respect. R-E-S-P-E-C-T-- especially for oneself, is in extreme shortage. The most disturbing theme I observed is that people openly try to play other people's faces. The reality is, you are only playing yourself. If you have sex or hook-up with people that you do not respect you ultimately are disrespecting yourself. Why open up yourself, mentally and physically, to someone who you do not respect? Is an orgasm worth risking your life, your safety, and your self-worth. The answer NO. Please evaluate your actions and realize a drunken roll in the sack may be doing more harm than you care to realize. I would also like to stress the importance of safe sex because 1 in 4 people have a sexually transmitted infection or disease, often without knowing. In the words of singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, “you only get what you give away, so give love” and I think that loving yourself is a perfect place to begin.   

Ignorance is not bliss.

Education is the key to the ball and chain that holds our nation captive, and our government chooses to take that key and melt it down, through budget-cuts and mass teacher layoffs, in order to remold the our precious key to freedom into bullets. Bullets used to terrorize the rest of the world. But according to our leaders we are “free”. The political leaders hold this delusional sentiment because they all too often overlook the racist and sexist institutions that they and their elitist fore-fathers help forge, that oppresses and divides the masses.

If people would reject the oppressive ideologies that focus on our slight differences, and instead realize that we are all in this together, a true revolution will begin. Not as black and white, or female and male, nor young and old; but humans with the same need for clean water, shelter, a balanced diet, a way to express ourselves, our family and friends, and a true opportunity for personal growth.

 Education can expand the boundaries of our possibilities through personal empowerment and discovery of practical solutions for our future. We as a nation are already on a downward slope, and we have almost nothing else to lose, so why not try?