13 year old boy faces assault charges for kiss made on a dare at Md. middle school

[KitSileya]

74. Exactly. We had this discussion on DU two years ago when a 6-year old boy was suspended

for repeatedly kissing one of his classmates. The usual brigade was in uproar because they only saw it like in your picture, completely ignoring that the boy had been suspended for the same offense previously, and for roughhousing. The mother objected because on the second suspension, the school told her that it would go into his file at school. She was encouraging him to kiss his "girlfriend".

I argued that even if it was consensual (it was not) it was problematic, as the behavior was unwanted by the teachers. He kissed her during story time, ran up to her and kissed her at random times as well. All of this is problematic not only because it was non-consensual, but because it was behavior he had been told to stop doing. He didn't, probably because his mother encouraged him, I would guess. Since the behavior was 'cute' it was permissible to too many DUers.

The 13-year old in this case should know better, and the girl has every right to expect that violations to her bodily autonomy be sanctioned. In this case, it is probably just a stupid stunt, egged on by his friends, but the assault on her is an assault regardless of the cause. At 13, you should have learned that you do not have the right to touch others without their consent. How is this different than being egged on to hit someone? Would those who consider this to be cute have any problems if this was a slap and not a kiss?

When I was her age, a classmate, his brother, and his friend held me down and felt me up, and no one did anything because I was laughing. I was laughing because they were tickling me, and I am extremely ticklish. It was an assault, and they knew what they were doing. These days I warn my friends that if they try to tickle me, I am no longer their friend. I will not be in the presence of anyone who disregards my bodily autonomy. I was not heard when I told people about the assault - they considered it cute and claimed he must have a crush on me. In other words, I was supposed to allow him to assault me because he had a crush on me. That is what we teach girls, and that is what we teach boys when we do not treat these cases seriously.