News and Events => Opinions & Editorials => Topic started by: Shana A on February 27, 2008, 07:10:56 AM Return to Full Version
Title: Boys Will Be Boys
Post by: Shana A on February 27, 2008, 07:10:56 AM
Post by: Shana A on February 27, 2008, 07:10:56 AM
Boys Will Be Boys
The dark side of teenage angst
Published On Wednesday, February 27, 2008 1:05 AM
By JULIET S. SAMUEL
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=522150 (http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=522150)
On Monday, police in the small, liberal town of Oxnard, CA, declared last week's school shooting of a 15-year-old boy to be a hate-crime, motivated by the victim's sexuality. The boy, Lawrence King, recently came out as gay to his peers at his junior high school. A few weeks later, a classmate shot him dead.
On the face of it, the Oxnard shooting is another tragic case of a gun-toting kid with inappropriate access to a deadly weapon. But this incident has implications beyond gun control laws (California's are some of the nation's strongest). The killer, 14-year-old Brandon McInerney, murdered King not because he had access to a gun, but because King had declared his "abnormal" sexuality both explicitly and, allegedly, by dressing and acting in what was perceived to be an inappropriately feminine manner.
The dark side of teenage angst
Published On Wednesday, February 27, 2008 1:05 AM
By JULIET S. SAMUEL
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=522150 (http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=522150)
On Monday, police in the small, liberal town of Oxnard, CA, declared last week's school shooting of a 15-year-old boy to be a hate-crime, motivated by the victim's sexuality. The boy, Lawrence King, recently came out as gay to his peers at his junior high school. A few weeks later, a classmate shot him dead.
On the face of it, the Oxnard shooting is another tragic case of a gun-toting kid with inappropriate access to a deadly weapon. But this incident has implications beyond gun control laws (California's are some of the nation's strongest). The killer, 14-year-old Brandon McInerney, murdered King not because he had access to a gun, but because King had declared his "abnormal" sexuality both explicitly and, allegedly, by dressing and acting in what was perceived to be an inappropriately feminine manner.