This past spring, the Concord community learned that a 13-year-old student was raped by a former school district employee. The assaults happened when the individual was an employee of the district. As details have come to light, and shock has turned to anger, frustration and disappointment, we should consider the following.
What if the principal who first received reports of inappropriate behavior had taken those reports seriously? If the principal had conducted an impartial investigation – rather than suspending the reporting student – a predator may have been identified and removed from our schools.
What if the victim in this case – or the student reporters who flagged inappropriate behavior multiple times – was your child, your sister, your niece, your granddaughter? Would you characterize this as something that we need to move on from and forget about? Would you stand by while members of the community unfairly characterize rape as negative media or a student reporter as a gossip or other student reporters as fabricating stories?
What if good people make mistakes? It happens all the time, but it does not absolve accountability.
We need to stop maligning victims and student reporters. Unfortunately the missteps and disparagement of students has been so severe we need new leadership
Ask yourself: What if this was my daughter? Would you accept this? If your 13-year-old was raped, would you sit by idly waiting for other facts? Sadly we know the most heinous of facts. Enough is enough.
MAUREEN QUINN
Concord