Makes ME Wanna Holler.

Did you ever read Nathan McCall's 1994 book Makes Me Wanna Holler? If so, you might recall a graphic and honest recount of McCall as a young boy participating in an abhorrible act - the gang rape of a young, unsuspecting girl. The section is entitled "Trains" - the nickname given to the act of one boy after another participating in this group rape. And, it makes you sick to your stomach reading it...


It's hard to get the image out of your head. The questions that arise about the attackers are endless, the answers unsatisfying. Why? How could you take part in this? What makes you think it's acceptable? How could you not care about another human being like this? There is hardly a response that will lessen the anger you feel as an outsider looking in.


And, you should know that as you read this story that came out of the Bay Area in October. On the school grounds of Richmond High School, during a homecoming dance, a 15-year old girl was brutally beaten and raped by 10 young men, while at least 20 people watched and did nothing. As with so many of these gang rapes, the victim went voluntarily to the destination - in this case, an alley near the school - but, what began as hanging out turned quickly to an attack.

The details of the story can be found in the article link above and won't be revisited here, but so many phrases from the article pop out at you: "macho," "bravado," "degradation of women." We've heard these terms associated with boys and young men for far too long. But, they are important to remind us what we're up against in raising young boys to make smart choices in becoming positive young men.

A teacher at Richmond's quotation in the article speaks volumes: "Those boys who did what they did weren't picturing that girl as a human. I think you see these kinds of boys at a lot of high schools - so desensitized it was like they saw her as a toy. Boys like that - there aren't many like them, but they can be so hard. All they needed was something to set them off."

Here's to hoping there really aren't "that many like them."

When Facebooking Goes Wrong...

As social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter continue to grow in popularity, more and more related issues are being unearthed: Are we losing human contact and face-to-face interaction? What is appropriate to reveal online? Are we spending too much time updating our statuses?

Schools are restricting access; businesses are researching candidates' online "brands" before hiring; sports teams are enacting rules about what, where, and when you can "social network." Apparently, even our government is cracking down on tweeting...

What is clear, is that there is very little that is clear. When are inappropriate times to use these social networking sites? When is regulation impinging on free speech? How much information is too much to share?

We are very interested to hear what your school or organization's policies are where social networking sites are concerned. Can students be held accountable - by the school - for what they post on these sites? Have you encountered incidents of student bullying or harassment through these sites, even if not on school time? Please feel free to add a comment here or shoot us an email: javaid@gp-bp.org

No matter what the policy, there is one rule we should all learn from this story: If you're going to break into someone's house, don't use their computer to check your Facebook account!

(Or, at least logout...)