By JOSEPH VITALE

STAFF WRITER

Two students were arrested in late February for the statutory rape of two girls in Connecticut. This was merely the beginning of a long list of events that I would characterize as disgusting and unacceptable. My question: Was it really just the beginning?

The students charged, Edgar Gonzalez and Joan Toribio, were 18-year-olds attending Torrington High School, a school in the middle-class town of 36,000 in northwestern Connecticut. Both were on the football team; Edgar was the star quarterback.  The victims, minors whose names cannot be released, were both 13 and students of Torrington Middle School. One of the victim’s parents ffiled the charges.

In Connecticut, persons between the ages of 13 and 15 are legally unable to consent to sexual contact with a person who is three years or older than themselves. Under this state law, the two students were accused of statutory rape.

In response to their classmates’ arrests, students at Torrington High School have not been quiet; in fact, they are outraged. Even better, they are being vocal about it. They are taking to Twitter; they are taking to Instagram; they are taking to Facebook; they are using the power of social media to defend those who are the true victims here. In their minds, however, that would be the convicted 18-year-old boys.

“Consensual underage ‘statutory rape’ is a victimless crime. Thanks for victimizing, RC,” tweeted @Nate860.

“@JagvirlKAUR and that’s all on you I mean now a days girls like that girl stay opening there legs just for the D so yeah ! #FreeEdgar,” tweeted @CookieBrianda.

It gets worse.

“Young girls acting like whores there’s no punishment for that, young men acting like boys is a sentence,” one student anonymously told reporters outside of the high school.

“Sticking up for a girl who wanted the D and then snitched? have a seat, pleaseeee,” tweeted                       @ShelbyyKullinski.

It gets even worse.

Following a victory in an annual dodgeball tournament meant to “get that spotlight on the good,” according to the Torrington High School’s principal, Joanne Creedon, the students posed with their fingers extended showing 2’s and 1’s (Gonzalez’s football jersey number). The picture was posted with the caption “#FreeEdgar.”

Surely this was not the beginning. It is instead a single instance in the continuing narrative of the rape culture in America. It comes at a time when rape, specifically statutory rape, remains regular, almost accepted and even expected. Now, it is being followed by a debate regarding our youth’s understanding of laws, morals and liberties.

While I am tempted to blame the students who were not involved in the situation for their ignorance, what is just as  pertinent is the extension of free speech to social media outlets, namely Twitter. Do I think the students are acting ignorantly? Yes. Do I think they are lacking a lucid view of the issue at hand? Most definitely.  Do I believe they possess the freedom to voice what they believe in a public forum? Of course I do, because it is their right.

With this in mind, there is no legitimate reason for these students to be in trouble at school or with the law. As Americans, they are free to voice their every opinion and idea, regardless of its validity in the eyes of their parents, the victims or the education system.

People too often forget this. Those claiming that these students deserve punishment from the school system are merely silencing those who have a voice just as they do. Those claiming they should be banned from Twitter are limiting the freedoms they themselves are using so freely. The students’ reactions in support of the two boys may not be empowering the vulnerable members of society who need it most, but the acts remain empowering in themselves.

To freely express something without prosecution under the law speaks to the power of social media today. It is remarkable that young students who needed nothing more than an Internet connection could spark a national debate in support of their friend. It is not as remarkable, however, that they are not using their freedom to speak out against the dangers adolescents continue to impose upon themselves so freely and willingly.

With every Twitter account comes an equal voice, but suppressing this voice is not the solution. The solution is educating the voice: about laws, about morals, about decency and about what it means to be a gentleman.

Joseph Vitale, FCRH ’16, is an English and political science major from Staten Island, NY.