The recent attack on a Richmond, California high school student offers a terrifying picture of our times. The fact that not one witness called the police or chose to intervene to stop the gang rape of this teenage girl by a group of men and boys over several hours, reveals a distressing disconnection in our society.
This horrific incident can be looked at from many angles. Some students have spoken of the ongoing lack of security in this school, as compared to similar schools nearby. They tell us that on the night of the crime four security guards did nothing after they were informed of a group of suspicious individuals in the area.
The case also reveals an desensitization to violence and a lack of human compassion among youth weaned on a culture that exalts violence, particularly against women, in its media and elsewhere.
Much can be said about the shockingly brutal incident. Among them, it is incomprehensible that not even one Good Samaritan called the police after witnessing the multiple rapes. Reports indicate that many people had gone past the scene of the rape, which was in a public place, and some had even used their cell phones to take pictures. But not one called the police to report a crime in progress.
California law does not require a witness to a crime to report it to authorities. One would think that a conscience and basic human compassion should be enough to do the right thing.
What happened in Richmond is incredibly disturbing. It reveals a society which is violent and desensitized. The attackers are guilty but so is every individual who just stood by and watched the crime underway and chose to do nothing.
The recent attack on a Richmond, California high school student offers a terrifying picture of our times. The fact that not one witness called the police or chose to intervene to stop the gang rape of this teenage girl by a group of men and boys over several hours, reveals a distressing disconnection in our society.
This horrific incident can be looked at from many angles. Some students have spoken of the ongoing lack of security in this school, as compared to similar schools nearby. They tell us that on the night of the crime four security guards did nothing after they were informed of a group of suspicious individuals in the area.
The case also reveals an desensitization to violence and a lack of human compassion among youth weaned on a culture that exalts violence, particularly against women, in its media and elsewhere.
Much can be said about the shockingly brutal incident. Among them, it is incomprehensible that not even one Good Samaritan called the police after witnessing the multiple rapes. Reports indicate that many people had gone past the scene of the rape, which was in a public place, and some had even used their cell phones to take pictures. But not one called the police to report a crime in progress.
California law does not require a witness to a crime to report it to authorities. One would think that a conscience and basic human compassion should be enough to do the right thing.
