Love's Loss

University of Virginia student Yeardley Love was brutally killed this last week by someone she had cared for. Love was a senior at the University of Virginia and was also a lacrosse player. She is said to have had bright personality and to always be smiling. She was killed by her ex boyfriend George Huguely, who she had been dating on and off for about a year and half. Nobody was quite aware of Huguely’s violent past and what would happen to their dear friend.
The police are charging Huguely with first degree murder of Love. Huguely has come forward to the police, waved his Miranda Rights and told them what had happened that night. He says that he and Love had broken up and were communicating by emails when he became upset. He went to Love’s residence in the middle of the night where he kicked down her door in order to get into her room. Once in there he shook her violently and repeatedly slammed her head again the wall until she was dead and then he took her communication devices with him. He later told the police where they could find her computer. His lawyer is also saying that it was accident and that he never meant to kill love. "We are confident that Ms. Love's death was not intended, but an accident with a tragic outcome," said Francis Lawrence, Huguely's lawyer.” There was an autopsy performed on Love, but at the time of this report the results had not been released yet. Huguely is being held right now without bond.
The worst news was yet to come when the police began to look at Huguely’s rap sheet and see that this was not the first time that he had been trouble with the law. He had been charged with things such as possession of alcohol by a minor. It is reported that Huguely was known to have a violent temper and also a drinking problem. Officials say that Huguely was cooperative but visibly upset about what had taken place. They are still withholding information such as the motive and have interviews to conduct, but there were no witnesses leading up the murder so it has been difficult.
The family laid Love down to rest yesterday at funeral in her home town. Her lacrosse teammates chartered a bus so that they could be present and the funeral and the prayer service that was held the previous night. It was also reported that some of the members of the boys lacrosse team were going to be paul bearers at her funeral.
While this comes as a shock to the university, some people are saying that could have possibly been avoided if the university had done a background check on their students. Some people disagreed with this saying that it is a violation of students rights because they would be looking at their background and not the staff’s. The administration said that they are mourning her and death and find it more difficult that it was another one of their students that killed her.
As a university student I feel that it is the responsibility of the University I am attending to have my best interest at hand. I would like to be notified of a fellow student who has violent in order to protect myself, and for that matter I think that the staff should have background checks also. It is all about protecting the students and with the technology available today, there is no excuse for not doing everything possible to be aware of who is attending their colleges.

Mean Girls Update

In an earlier blog I reported on the tragic story of fifteen year old Phoebe Prince. A quick background of her story was that Prince, who had just moved to Massachusetts from Ireland, was being bullied by a group of nine teenagers. These went as far as to harass through Facebook and text messages. The bullying became so bad that Prince felt there was no way out besides to hang herself.
Out of the nine teens that have been accused of bullying Prince, three of them have been charged so far. None of the teens wanted to make a comment to the public except for one young girl named Sharon Velazquez who had her attorney speak on her behalf. Her attorney says that he feels his client has been unfairly charged and in fact, she has now become a victim of bullying herself. She has now started to be bullied via the internet and that Velazquez and her family fear for her well being. Instead of speaking of remorse for what had happened he used to time to turn the story into almost a pity party for Velazquez. It is too bad that she has begun being bullied, but I look at it as karma. She was a part of a group of teens who tormented Prince to the point of death, so now maybe she is getting a taste of her own medicine.
The staff of South Hadley High School now may also face charges. It is being said that they did not execute proper procedure when dealing with Prince’s case. They were aware of the bullying situation and yet they did nothing to help her. The superintendent said that he was not aware of the bullying, but Prince’s mom Anne spoke to him and two other staff members. It is also brought out that some of the staff had witnessed the harassing that these teens were objecting on students, and yet nothing was done to put a stop to it. There is now talk of a class that will teach students, parents, and teachers how to properly deal with a bullying situation in order to prevent this from ever happening again.
This is so important because it is something that may have been prevented if the teachers had been properly trained on how to deal with situation. I know if I were teaching right now and I witnessed what she was going through, I would not know the proper to deal with the situation, but I do think I would bring it to the attention of higher officials and then keep my eye for the student being bullied. As a future I would love to take a class about how to deal with bullies so that I can ensure I know how to best assist my students someday. This is a heartbreaking story that so many of us can learn from. Words do hurt and we all need to remember the cardinal rule: Treat others as you would want to be treated.

Student-Teacher Relationships?

On Friday March 26, 2010, Good Morning America reported on a story that affects a number of students attending college to become a teacher. Amy Beck, an English and social science teacher at David Starr Jordan Middle School in Burbank, CA had turned herself into the police for an affair she was having with a fourteen year old student for six months. The relationship had been over quite some time, but she says she turned herself in because she could not deal the guilt any longer. The unusual thing in this story, besides the obvious moral issues, is that she had refused bail, which was set at $175,000, and opted to stay in jail. Beck’s lawyer says that she has declined her bail in order to avoid the media and to earn credit towards her sentencing. Her lawyer says that she will receive two years in prison, but with the good behavior she will only have about a year in custody. Her sentencing is set for May 7. Since Beck’s made a plea, the young boy, now fifteen, will not have to testify which is what Beck’s wanted to avoid. Their relationship lasted between last March and September. Beck’s is married to a police offer and has three children. Her lawyer says that her husband plans to stand by her and keep their family intact.
This is such an important story for people to read because I believe the media is making Beck’s look like a good person, which may be true, she may have a really good heart, but she still committed a serious crime and it should not be ignored. I do think she is doing the right thing by turning herself in and by assisting the police so to avoid putting the boy’s name out in the public. Even though she is doing this all, I still think this is unbelievable. As a future teacher and a mother I am outraged at this act. I cannot understand how come a teacher would cross this line with their student. There does not seem to be a reason that would make this seem forgivable. Beck’s did take the right steps in dealing with this by turning herself in, but I feel she needs to face the media also. She owes an explanation to everyone, especially her students. I cannot imagine what she, her family, the boy, his family, and the school is going through. She was reported as being a wonderful teacher, a favorite among students, and now because she crossed that line, she will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life. I just cannot see how a relationship with a fourteen year old boy could be worth it.

I am sure you are all aware of the recent kidnapping, rape, and killing of 17 year-old Chelsea King from a parking lot San Diego County after going for a run. Well there was an arrest in her case and the man that was arrested appeared in court for the first time on Wednesday. He was a man of few words, but that didn’t stop the public from speaking out. Someone even went as far as to write, “Chelsea’s blood on you—move out,” on his mothers’ garage door and when a few men tried to cover it up with paint they were yelled at saying they were protecting a guilty man. The main point of the article was that they interviewed John Walsh from “America’s got Talent.” In his interview Walsh said that he met with President Obama and while President Obama congratulated him on his 1,000 episode, they also had time to talk about the Adam Walsh Law, which was named after son, that was signed by President Bush three years ago, but was never given any funding. President Obama assured him that the law would now receive the funding that it needs. Walsh said that one of the questions that everyone asks is why this man was even out of the streets. Nobody seems to understand why, since he had been accused of crimes much like this one, he was even roaming the streets. The only answer Walsh could come up with was that the law just isn’t clear enough. “Former San Diego County District Attorney Paul Pfingst was slightly more objective.
‘I am of the view that people who do harm to teenage girls should go to Gitmo and stay there for the rest of their lives and be waterboarded,’ he said.”
I think this is so important because I am of the same view of Pfingst, I strongly believe that even if the person is accused of a crime like Gardner was, he needs to be watched closely so to avoid the opportunity to strike again, like he has been able to. It seems to me that if this man had been convicted before and if not convicted had surveillance on him this horrific crime may have been able to be avoided. This is just so important because I think people need to take a stand to get sexual predators, high priority predators, behind bars and I believe they should be there for life. What these people do to children is a horrible experience that no one should ever have to go through and we need to stand together to get these people behind bars to protect our own children.

The Rise of Teenage Pregnancy

In a recent article written by Kari Huus, she discusses teenage pregnancy and how it is on the rise once again for the first time in twenty years. She talks with an expecting father named Nate Howell, 19, and his girlfriend Samantha Keith, 17, about their pregnancy and the future of their baby. Nate and Samantha never expected they would be in the situation they are in today. Nate was a high school football player and had attended on playing football at the college level, but because he did not get a scholarship he was unable to attend. Nate was working at a local grocery to help provide for his family and to earn money to attend a community college where he could raise his grades, but now that dream is on hold. Nate is barely making enough money right now to support Samantha and the baby, but he says he will do whatever it takes to make sure his baby has a better life than he had. He is planning on living with Samantha and her parents after the baby is born so they can save money to live on their own and also to buy a car. Nate says he will work in a factory for the rest of his life if it means he will provide a better life for his daughter, which they have already named Alana. Bill Albert, a spokesman for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy says that what Nate is doing is rare, usually the fathers leave the mother to provide for the baby alone. Children who are born to teenage parents are more likely to struggle. These daughters of teenage moms are more likely to have children when they are teenagers than a daughter of an older woman. The reasons for the increase in teenage pregnancy are debatable, but the Guttmacher Institute that one of the reasons is having an abstinence only policy and not properly education these young people on birth control. Samantha notes that she feels these young girls are getting pregnant because they are young and think they are going to be with their boyfriends for the rest of their lives, which is usually not the case. In Samantha and Nate’s case though, it was failed birth control. Nate says that he has a promise ring for Samantha and he plans on marrying her in the future.

I feel that this article is so important because this is a problem that is once again in the rise. I have to side with the Guttmacher Institute and say that teens are not being properly educated in the sex department. When I was in high school the only thing we learned about was abstinence, but I think we need open our eyes and realize that a lot of teens aren’t practicing abstinence so we need to educate them in other options. If we were to give them the education they need to practice safe sex, I feel that the numbers of unplanned teenage pregnancies will start to decrease again. I also agree with Samantha though that these girls are just young and naïve about being in love. I think some girls are alright with getting pregnant because they think they are going to be with their boyfriend for forever, but that is rarely the reality. These girls need a educational sex class where they can explore all the different options of birth control rather than everyone just saying abstinence.

Real Life Mean Girls

The parents in a Massachusetts town are reacting the recent suicide of Phoebe Prince who killed her two weeks after she was being cyber bullied by a group of true life “mean girls.” Prince was a 15 year old female whose family had recently moved to Massachusetts from Ireland. Police are not releasing a lot of information about why Prince hung herself, but it is known that she was being cyber bullied from a group of girls over a boy. Bullying is becoming more extreme now because of all the different ways of contacting the person. Bullying simply does not just take place in the schools, but online through sites such as Facebook and also through text messages. The bullying of Prince was so extreme that even after she took her own life, the girls who had been taunting her continued to leave her message on her Facebook.
South Hadley School, where Prince had been attending, had a meeting for the parents where a lot of them stood up to voice their opinion on what had happened. They were upset to say the least, they did not feel that the situation had been handled the right way. One parent even said that while he is upset at the girls who caused the problem, he is also upset with the parents to be raising such “monsters.” It is the parents job to monitor what their children are doing and this is something that the parents should have taken control over. Other parents stood up and talked about the stories of their own children who were dealing with the same kind of bullying in the school. One of the most striking things that the was reported was that there were more students who wanted to talk about what had happened, but they were scared of what the group of “mean girls” would do to them if they spoke out. Another thing that was incomprehensible to me was that some of states had a bullying protection, but North Dakota was one that did not.
This story is important because it really shows how prominent cyber bullying has become. It was especially close to me because I am going into teaching and if I had to sit back and watch this bullying happen with little retribution, it would be extremely hard for me. I feel that every state needs to enforce an anti-bullying act to protect our children from the cyber bullying. There is a website that contains information about cyber bullying and what to do if you are being bullied or if your child is being bullying. It contains signs to look for if you think your child may be being bullied. This is just such an important issue and a young girl, one of many, lost her life because she felt she had nothing else to do to escape the bullying.

Teenage Sex Scandal

16-Year-Old Starbucks Barista Sues Over 'Sex Demands' at Work

            ABC’s news program 20/20 recently reported about the high number of high school students reporting sexual advances by their bosses. One of the stories they reported on was about a 16 year old girl named Kati Moore from Orange County who is suing Starbucks because her 24 year old boss began demanding she have sex with him and they did nothing to protect her from him.  He would even go so far as to send her messages saying, “I’d like to f--- tomorrow.”  Moore told ABC that this was an everyday occurrence and she felt like she had to have sex with him in order to keep her job. He had complete control over her job and he also knew her friends and family. Moore said that other supervisors and managers knew what was going on, but nobody did anything to help. Help came when her mother found out what was going on and she reported it to the police. Kati is now suing Starbucks who says that it is not their fault, but her own. They even went as far as to bring out Kati’s sexual history with other men before she even started working at Starbucks. In another article, they asked her if she drank, smoked pot, and had sex and her answer was yes. Tim Horton, 24 years old, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of illegal sex with a minor and served four months in prison. Starbucks is confident that they did nothing wrong and that the case will ultimately be resolved.

            ABC also reported on two other cases of this kind of ordeal. The first was again McDonalds with a case of their 16 year old employee, Kasey Ramirez, and a 23 year old employee who brought Ramirez into the back and there grabbed her by her waist and pulled her in close to him. She was able to break away and go report this to a supervisor that man is no longer working for McDonalds. The second case was in a Taco Bell in Memphis, TN where a man raped two of his 16 year old employees and got one of them pregnant. One the victims he attacked had been working with him for about two months before anything happened and he raped the other girl on her first day on the job. The article says that one in three students report unwanted sexual encounters according to a study conducted in Maine. The idea of this article is to raise awareness to employers that while having high school students work for them is great, they need to take of them.

            I feel that is not only very important that this story is told, but it is also brave of these girls to come forward and share their stories with the world. High school students are typically good workers because they are earning their own money for the first time and it is still a fun thing for them, but when we don’t protect them and watch out for them I feel the franchise should take responsibility. Since Moore reported that her other supervisors and managers knew what was going on they definitely should have reported it to the right people. Since this did not happen, I fell that Starbucks should take responsibility rather than exploit this young girls’ life. An apology and retribution would go a long way in this case and in showing other high schoolers it is alright to come out if this is happening to them.