High School Boys Make ‘Rape’ Joke At Breast Cancer Awareness Football Game

[gaymer77]

The Source

Four South Carolina students recently spelled out the word “rape” with spray painted letters on their chests as an apparent joke during a football game for their district’s annual Breast Cancer Awareness Night.

The incident occurred during Westside High School’s football game Friday against rival high school D.W. Daniel. Kyle Newton, the director of external affairs for the school district, told HuffPost that the four boys (two sophomores and two seniors) were part of a larger group that spelled out “BUMP CANCER” for the awareness event.

“Before the game started, the students essentially started playing scrabble by spelling out different words from ‘BUMP CANCER’ and taking pictures. One of those was RAPE,” Newton told HuffPost in an email. “The principal was informed later that night about what had happened, and worked to identify the students.”

The picture of the four boys was shared on Snapchat with the caption “What we do to Daniel,” referring to the D.W. Daniel team they were playing.

The Anderson 5 Citizens for Quality Education Facebook group, which is a “non-partisan group of concerned parents, students and citizens” from the school district, published a screenshot of the Snapchat photo to Facebook with a long post condemning the four boys’ behavior.

“Using the threat of rape, even as analogy, is not behavior that any school or any parent should (or hopefully would) condone,” the post read. “Rape culture in high school and college is a real threat to many students. The juxtaposition of a violent message with the breast cancer awareness symbology is of particular concern.”

“The assumption these young men seem to have made is that their position and privilege allows them to make ‘jokes’ about rape as a viable threat. We trust that the school administration, the district and the parents involved would never condone either that implicit attitude or the behavior itself,” the post continued. “We are puzzled, however, that no action seems to have been taken at the game, when these young men were standing proudly in front of attendees, the teams, and the coaching staff.”
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The group added that most of the students from Westside High who have seen the photo “seem to be appalled,” which it found “encouraging.”

The post has been shared over 300 times as of Wednesday morning.

All four students and their parents met with the administration Monday morning and were informed of their punishment, Newton said. Due to privacy concerns, the school district is not disclosing how the students were punished.

“We are very disappointed in their actions,” Newton said. “At best, what they did was extremely offensive ― at worst it could be traumatic to those who have suffered sexual assault. There is no place in any school or in any community for those types of actions.”

Seriously WTF is wrong with these guys that they think it would be funny to spell out RAPE at a High School football game and also post it on freaking SnapChat?!?!

[MatthewOU2015]

It's a joke not a dick , don't take it so hard

[Darththeo]

If it was unintentional it would be one thing ... but they took a picture and posted it with a message ... how are they that stupid?

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It's a joke not a dick , don't take it so hard

Yeah, but you do know there is such a things as an inappropriate joke right?

[gaymer77]

It's a joke not a dick , don't take it so hard

These boys took the time to group up, take a picture, upload it to SnapChat, and added the tag of that's what they do to the other school (Daniel). It was a completely tasteless joke and highly offensive.

[ohiostate124]

It's a joke not a dick , don't take it so hard

We're done here.

/thread

[Deleted]

What a non issue, kids will do as kids do. As long as they aren't actually harming anyone, at best they should recieve a verbal reprimand.

[Deleted]

If it was unintentional it would be one thing ... but they took a picture and posted it with a message ... how are they that stupid?

Yeah joking about raping a friend is just not cool.

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These boys took the time to group up, take a picture, upload it to SnapChat, and added the tag of that's what they do to the other school (Daniel). It was a completely tasteless joke and highly offensive.

Ask the guy they joked about raping if he thought it was offensive. If he says no, then how is it anyone else's business. You drama mama's.

[urasim]

These boys took the time to group up, take a picture, upload it to SnapChat, and added the tag of that's what they do to the other school (Daniel). It was a completely tasteless joke and highly offensive.

Should take them out back and shoot them.

Ask the guy they joked about raping if he thought it was offensive. If he says no, then how is it anyone else's business. You drama mama's.

He's saying their school rapes the other school(Daniel). May very well be true! People taking context out and assuming it's actual rape.

[Deleted]

He's saying their school rapes the other school(Daniel). May very well be true! People taking context out and assuming it's actual rape.

Daniel is the name of a school? Well then it's even less controversial.

[gaymer77]

Yeah joking about raping a friend is just not cool.

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Ask the guy they joked about raping if he thought it was offensive. If he says no, then how is it anyone else's business. You drama mama's.

They weren't joking about raping a friend (and that too is pretty damn tasteless). They were joking about raping another school. The other school's name is D.W. Daniel. That's why they said they rape Daniel.

[Martymark]

It's a joke not a dick , don't take it so hard

Is that a rape joke? Where are the mods?

[Molis]

So glad they didnt have social media when I was a teenager.

I have done my share of stupid things

[Deleted]

They weren't joking about raping a friend (and that too is pretty damn tasteless). They were joking about raping another school. The other school's name is D.W. Daniel. That's why they said they rape Daniel.

You can't rape a school, so what is the problem? You don't get that they are talking about figurative rape? It's basically synonymous with "destroying" or "humiliating".

Why this fuss about the use of the word rape in such contexts?

When comedians make the crowd laugh, they talk about how they "killed". We don't get upset over that, even though killing another human being is even worse. We don't get upset over that because we understand it's not meant to be taken literally. Lighten up you Mary's.

[Deleted]

I can see why the school is bothered by that sort of representation. It's also not that unusual term usage though, at least privately, it seems these guys just have no concept of what is and isn't appropriate in public. I don't think for a moment they actually fully intended for all the weight of the word rape to be put behind the message, but I guess they'll learn something from it.

[urasim]

You can't rape a school, so what is the problem? You don't get that they are talking about figurative rape? It's basically synonymous with "destroying" or "humiliating".

Why this fuss about the use of the word rape in such contexts?

When comedians make the crowd laugh, they talk about how they "killed". We don't get upset over that, even though killing another human being is even worse. We don't get upset over that because we understand it's not meant to be taken literally. Lighten up you Mary's.

Perpetually offended being perpetually offended. Nothing more nothing less.

[Antius]

It's a joke not a dick , don't take it so hard

This, this and this some more. Hope these guys stand their ground against the professional victims. Don't even give em credit for using pink paint to show they're breast cancer aware...

[swisscheese]

The assumption these young men seem to have made is that their position and privilege...

Was reading just waiting for that to be thrown at there...

Aaaand tumblr continues to spill out into the real world, nothing to see here.

[Silver Forte]

It's a joke not a dick , don't take it so hard

Google the word "tact" and then the word "grace"

[Orby]

The question that should be asked is, who goes outside with rape written on them? Why? Just why?

I mean is that a kid slang now days, like we gonna 'rape' you as a slang for 'beat'? I will never understand kids these days lol

[AwkwardSquirtle]

The question that should be asked is, who goes outside with rape written on them? Why? Just why?

I will never understand kids these days.

That's explained in the article too. There were more of them so they spelled out "Bump Cancer." These 4 just decided to make a joke out of theirs.

OT: Doesn't bother me but I get why it bothers others. It's not the sort of joke I'd make personally.