The Boston Globe reported Saturday that a 7-year-old first grade boy is being investigated for sexual harassment after he reportedly kicked another boy his age in the groin. The two were apparently involved in an altercation over a pair of gloves.
Tasha Lynch, the 30-year-old mother of Mark Curran, said her son had every right to defend himself.
“I think my kid was right to fight back," she said. “He wasn’t doing anything except protecting himself."
According to the Globe, Boston public schools spokesman Matthew Wilder did not comment on the incident and said the school does not discuss confidential student information.
“Any kind of inappropriate touching would fall under that category," he said.
“The school administration is conducting a full investigation that has not concluded yet. Certainly, once that investigation is through, we’ll then make a final conclusion as to who will be disciplined and how."
Maria Cramer wrote that interim school principal Leslie Gant told the boy's grandmother the incident was reported to the Department of Children and Families.
The Globe adds:
Gant said Mark confessed to punching the other boy in the groin, according to Lynch. But later Mark said he had kicked, not punched, the student.
“She said, ‘It doesn’t matter who hit who first,’ ’’ Lynch said. “ ‘He said he hit him in the testicles. That’s assault. That’s sexual assault.’
“I said: ‘The kid choked my son first and that’s called attempted murder. He said he couldn’t breathe,’ ’’ Lynch said.
That day, Lynch said her older son came home from school with a letter from Gant, telling her that Mark had been accused of violating codes of discipline related to sexual harassment and endangering the physical safety of another student.
A hearing has been scheduled for Monday regarding the incident.
But the idea that a first grade boy is being investigated for "sexual harassment" after kicking another boy in the groin has some scratching their heads.
Mark Steyn wrote at National Review that boys have done that to each other throughout human history.
"One can understand that a school board might wish to discourage such activity, but not that it is so irredeemably, obtusely perverse as to categorize such an act as 'sexual harassment'”, Steyn added.
Steyn had harsh words for school officials:
There may be “another side” to this story, but it’s hard to foresee any version of events in which a First Grader can plausibly be guilty of “sexual assault”. Nevertheless, if found guilty, Mark Curran when he turns 18 will be placed on a “sex offender registry”, and his life will be ruined. If officials of the Boston public schools system genuinely believe that when a seven-year old kicks another seven-year old in the crotch that that is an act of “sexual harassment”, then they are too stupid to be entrusted with the care of the city’s children. If, on the other hand, they retain enough residual humanity to understand that a seven-year-old groin-kick is not a sexual assault but have concluded that regulatory compliance obliges them to investigate it as such, then they are colluding in an act of great evil.
He concludes by noting that "sometimes societies become too stupid to survive," explaining:
If you’re wondering how a candidate’s presidential campaign can be derailed by allegations of “gestures” of “a non-sexual nature” that made women “uncomfortable” two decades ago rather than by his total ignorance of foreign policy and national security, well, this stuff starts in kindergarten. The loss of proportion and of basic human judgment in the American education system ought to be an unnerving indicator.
"Moral of the story: Don't fight back, keep your head down, and try not to attract the attention of your minders," notes a post at punditandpundette.com.
This is what you get when political correctness is allowed to take the place of common sense.
More on Political Correctness at examiner.com here.
Comments