Recently,
the Steubenville rape case has caused much debate regarding media coverage. Two
high school football players from a small town in Ohio, Trent Mays, 17,
and Ma'lik Richmond, 16, were found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl, while
she was highly intoxicated. The ongoing case has been highly impacted by the
use of social media. The peers of the victim and reporters from national media
organizations have all affected the case by voicing opinions regarding the case
through multiple social media outlets. Social
media posts of images, text messages,
and especially a 12-minute video of the offenders discussing raping the victim
plated a large part in the prosecution’s case.
Two teenage girls were placed in house arrest and ordered not to use any forms of social media after they were accused of threatening the victim via Twitter. According to NBC station WPXI, one of the threats posted on Twitter said, “You ripped my family apart. You made my cousin cry. So when I see you it’s going to be homicide.”
Social media is something people, especially students, encounter on a daily basis. With the rapid growth of social media use, there has also been a growth in “cyber-bullying,” as seen in this case. However, this is not news to most high schools and college campuses, including here in Reading.
Recently Facebook group pages have become increasingly popular among Albright College students. Two pages in particular are places where students can post anonymous confessions either of themselves, or fellow students. While the rules of the Facebook page clearly state to not use specific names, this has not been the case.
Social media outlets such as these can be detrimental to a person socially, but also emotionally. Recent cases have been emerging from the news of young rape victims committing suicide after feeling attacked through social media. Cyber bullying is a growing problem in our society, but what is being done to inform students and young people of these threats before they arise?
When freshmen attend orientation before beginning their first year at Albright College, there is a portion of the orientation where the males and females are separated into two different rooms. The females are introduced to the dangers of sexual assault that could arise, especially since there is a higher risk of becoming violated during the first year of college. The girls watch skits of potential scenarios they could find themselves in, followed by an open discussion on the topic, where they are encouraged to ask questions.
The college also offers R.A.D., or Rape Aggression Defense training, through the office of Public Safety. The college’s webpage says that Albright began offering the classes in 2001 and over 600 women.
I plan on interviewing Ashley Becki, who is the coordinator of the R.A.D. classes (Interview is scheduled) Questions will be related to the college’s goal when they first began these classes and if they think they have succeeded in this goal.
Two teenage girls were placed in house arrest and ordered not to use any forms of social media after they were accused of threatening the victim via Twitter. According to NBC station WPXI, one of the threats posted on Twitter said, “You ripped my family apart. You made my cousin cry. So when I see you it’s going to be homicide.”
Social media is something people, especially students, encounter on a daily basis. With the rapid growth of social media use, there has also been a growth in “cyber-bullying,” as seen in this case. However, this is not news to most high schools and college campuses, including here in Reading.
Recently Facebook group pages have become increasingly popular among Albright College students. Two pages in particular are places where students can post anonymous confessions either of themselves, or fellow students. While the rules of the Facebook page clearly state to not use specific names, this has not been the case.
Social media outlets such as these can be detrimental to a person socially, but also emotionally. Recent cases have been emerging from the news of young rape victims committing suicide after feeling attacked through social media. Cyber bullying is a growing problem in our society, but what is being done to inform students and young people of these threats before they arise?
When freshmen attend orientation before beginning their first year at Albright College, there is a portion of the orientation where the males and females are separated into two different rooms. The females are introduced to the dangers of sexual assault that could arise, especially since there is a higher risk of becoming violated during the first year of college. The girls watch skits of potential scenarios they could find themselves in, followed by an open discussion on the topic, where they are encouraged to ask questions.
The college also offers R.A.D., or Rape Aggression Defense training, through the office of Public Safety. The college’s webpage says that Albright began offering the classes in 2001 and over 600 women.
I plan on interviewing Ashley Becki, who is the coordinator of the R.A.D. classes (Interview is scheduled) Questions will be related to the college’s goal when they first began these classes and if they think they have succeeded in this goal.
I also plan on interviewing a student who has participated in these classes
(interview pending). Questions will include if they feel more prepared after
these classes and if they know more about the topic and feel more secure on
campus.
I would also like to interview a POP Leader about
how they prepare for their skits for females on being sexually assaulted. I
plan on asking if they collaborate with any other organizations on campus that
may help inform the freshmen about such a serious topic, etc.
Interesting start and good integration of links! I'd recommend making your lead more dynamic (for example, you could reference the Steubenville case then provide more details later in the article.) Right now the link between social media and sexual assault education on Albright's campus isn't clear; you could address this through revision as you fill in more interviews.
ReplyDeletep.s. For some reason a lot of your text is a different color and difficult to read on this background; you might play with fonts/colors to fix that.
ReplyDelete