13-Year-Old Boy Faces Assault Charge for Kissing 14-Year-Old girl on a Dare

[Shins]

Ehhhh..

I remember being 13 and getting kissed when I wasn't looking for it. When you're 13 you know right from wrong, but you don't think about shit too deep. nothing is a big deal because you don't understand serious outcomes or consequences. That guy now lives two blocks from me with his wife and twin girls, and is an EMT. Nice guy.

I'm really on the fence with this. I think pressing charges is really extreme, but in the same token, I think situations like this need to be addressed seriously in order to curb the rape culture. "No means no and you can't just do what you want."

It's a fine line. But if his parents are being assholes about telling him what he did was wrong, the court might need to intervene. It could be one of those homes where "sonny boy does no wrong and everyone else is just out to get him" - which is way dangerous.

[Jumaki15]

Ehhhh..

I remember being 13 and getting kissed when I wasn't looking for it. When you're 13 you know right from wrong, but you don't think about shit too deep. nothing is a big deal because you don't understand serious outcomes or consequences. That guy now lives two blocks from me with his wife and twin girls, and is an EMT. Nice guy.

I'm really on the fence with this. I think pressing charges is really extreme, but in the same token, I think situations like this need to be addressed seriously in order to curb the rape culture. "No means no and you can't just do what you want."

It's a fine line. But if his parents are being assholes about telling him what he did was wrong, the court might need to intervene. It could be one of those homes where "sonny boy does no wrong and everyone else is just out to get him" - which is way dangerous.

I was always way too shy to even attempt to just plant a kiss on a girl, so I am kind of lost as to how I feel about this.

[Boston Babe 73]

I'm still thinking that we need more background to this to determine if criminal charges should have been pressed. Honestly, each incident should be treated based on if there's a history of harassment and what occurred. Case by case basis because on one hand you may need to stop a behavior that could escalate and on the other you could ruin a kid's life.

[OctoberT]

Yeah, I'm hung up on this one too. It's really shitty that he was aggressive about it, but on the other hand, he's only 13. He's barely a teenager. There's just so many factors that could be at play here, aside from the obvious fact that there are a ton of changes in their brain chemistry and structure at this age so it's expected that they're going to be extremely impulsive and reckless at times.

I wonder what his home life is like. A lot of the aggressive teenagers I've known had really crappy home lives. Not that it excused their behavior, but you could at least understand it. They became a product of their environment.

I'm still not liking the idea of a criminal record for this kid, but I honestly do understand why others find it necessary. I just wish other forms of punishment were more common. I actually think restorative justice would work phenomenally in cases like this since it focuses on the needs of the victim and restoring justice to the community rather than just punishing the offender.

[hazydaze]

It does sound like something that should have been dealt with within the school as a first incident, maybe better education programs surrounding what is and isn't appropriate/acceptable for all students etc. If he was encouraged to do it by fellow students, it's more than likely that the schools culture is off and it's not just this one boy.

[Kelly-Jane]

If she wanted to press charges, I see LE getting involved. He's being charged as a juvenile so will it even appear on his permanent record or will he have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life?

Here again we find the problem of not enough backstory. In High School I had a stalker that made my life a living hell. He harrassed me constantly and it was a serious deal. Cops and school did nothing. YEARS I had to put up with it and it was devastating for me. If HE had done this, he absolutely should have been arrested and charged. He should have been arrested and charged for what he already did to me. It carried on for 6 years and in to my college life. He ended up kidnapping and raping a six year old girl from Maine eventually the sick fuck.

I wonder if this girl had a history of being harassed by him. Or some kind of similar instance. If so its COMPLETELY justified if not light on him.

Wow Bb that's horrible !