Anita Shreve wrote Testimony. The book is about an incident of sexual assault at a private school in Vermont. The school has some day students and some boarders. Three male students (17, 18 and 19 years old) have consensual sex with a 14 year old female freshman student in a dorm room. The assault is posted on YouTube. How the incident is handled by the school administrators, the parents, the police, the town, the other students and the media all influence each other. Lives are forever changed. I think Anita does a good job delving into the teenage mind and the reactions of parents when their kids get into trouble. She jumps back and forth in time and gradually we learn why the characters acted as they did. Fascinating book.
2 comments:
That is a prime example of how kids don't think ahead. They think all things are fun until they get caught. Consensual or not a minor is a minor. Those kids knew what they were doing but apparently didn't care about consequences.
I'm sure the parents were quite shocked to find out about the behaviors of their *children*.
When I was 14 things were so different. I'm so glad I grew up in the era I did.
I don't think most high school kids know that an 18 year old having relations with a 14 year old (in the same school) is considered statuatory rape. Somebody should tell them.
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