Blaming The Victim

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Published on Tuesday, 07 April 2009

Written by Scott Morgan, FYR

I wrote recently about the pending Supreme Court case stemming from the strip search of a 13-year-old student. School officials suspected Savana Redding of possessing prescription ibuprofen (yes, that's Advil), so they searched from head to toe, including her underwear. Nothing was found.

Along with highlighting some interesting legal issues, the case reveals a great deal about the general lack of respect for students' rights that is all too common in our schools. This passage in the New York Times caught my attention:

"They didn't even look at my records," she said. "They didn't even know I was a good kid."

The school district does not contest that Ms. Redding had no disciplinary record, but says that is irrelevant.

"Her assertion should not be misread to infer that she never broke school rules," the district said of Ms. Redding in a brief, "only that she was never caught."

That is just a disgustingly cynical and unfair attempt to rationalize mistreating an innocent young woman. To insinuate that Redding may have engaged in other conduct violations that went undiscovered is absurd. It's irrelevant, unsubstantiated and inappropriate.

This is really the perfect window into the mindset of the abusive authoritarian who, when concerned, insists that their victim must have done something to deserve it.

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