N.C. School Lets Student Facing Sexual Assault Charges Play Football, Suspends Female Athletes Who P

[sheshe2]

N.C. School Lets Student Facing Sexual Assault Charges Play Football, Suspends Female Athletes Who Protested

Link to tweet

A North Carolina high school is under fire for suspending female athletes who participated in a student-led protest over the district letting a male student play football while facing sexual assault accusations.

On Oct. 1, Olympic High students protested for the safety of females in the school after a male student charged with a sexual felony was allowed to continue playing on the school's football team.

"If you get your phone taken in class, you're benched, but yet he can be under investigation for a sexual crime and still get to play on Friday, that is ridiculous," Sereniti Simpson, one of the students who helped organize the walk-out told WCNC.

Multiple volleyball players who participated in the walk-out, including Simpson, were punished with a one-game suspension, she told WJZY.

..........................

WTF!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Questions remain after NC high school allows student facing sexual assault charges to play football

Questions remain after NC high school allows student facing sexual assault charges to play football, suspend others from volleyball team for ‘walkout’

NORTH CAROLINA NEWS
by: Derek Dellinger

Posted: Oct 7, 2021 / 06:13 AM EDT / Updated: Oct 7, 2021 / 06:30 AM EDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) – Questions still surround a decision from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to allow a student to play football, despite facing charges related to a reported sexual assault case and wearing an ankle monitor.

On Friday, the district said it, “did not make the right call,” without explicitly referring to the incident or the student in question.

However, the decision came after protests and a walkout took place earlier that day by students, who highlighted sexual assault cases, including one incident that happened in September at the school.

Students who took part in the protest now say they are being punished for the protests, and the community reaction is intensifying.

“It’s almost like they’re trying to silence this group of youth that would be instrumental in changing things going forward,” said Melissa McAtee, a mentor to Olympic High students. McAtee said one of the students she mentors is a volleyball player who was suspended from a game for taking part in the walkout.

“Students that were inside were not allowed out,” said McAtee. “The students that were outside were not allowed back in. There were some students that passed food to those outside, and they received an in-school suspension.”

{snip}

[sheshe2]

7. Thanks for thls, mahat.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

20. Good, more attention to this travesty is needed.

I’m glad the community is reacting. Put on the pressure!!

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

2. Next step is to make sure rape is legal state wide.

Well, if it is rape of a female only.

[Karma13612]

3. See. THIS

RIGHT HERE is why i am so completely defeated by everything going on right now.

NOTHING MAKES SENSE ANYMORE.

NOTHING!

[malaise]

4. Patriarchy

on steroids

[lindysalsagal]

5. $5 says the coach, principal, and school board are all male.

And if there are any female board members, they cow-tow.

[JanMichael]

6. Give me $5. There are 10 members. 9 women.

Elyse C. Dashew, Chairperson, At-Large
Phone:
704-659-6994 Fax:
980-343-7128 Email:
elysec.dashew


Thelma Byers-Bailey, Vice-Chairperson, District 2
Phone:
980-272-1943 Fax:
980-343-7128 Email:
thelmab.bailey


Jennifer De La Jara, Member, At-Large
Phone:
980-343-6207 Fax:
980-343-7128 Email:
jennifer1.delajara


Lenora Sanders Shipp, Member, At-Large
Phone:
980-343-6207 Fax:
980-343-7128 Email:
l1.sanders-shipp


Rhonda Cheek, Member, District 1
Phone:
980-231-1465 Fax:
980-343-7128 Email:
rhonda.lennon


Dr. Ruby M. Jones, Member, District 3
Phone:
704-579-1763 Fax:
980-343-7128 Email:
rubym.jones


Carol Sawyer, Member, District 4
Phone:
980-292-0554 Fax:
980-343-7128 Email:
carole.sawyer


Margaret Marshall, Member, District 5
Phone:
704-251-4981 Fax:
980-343-7128 Email:
margarets.marshall


Sean Strain, Member, District 6
Phone:
980-343-5139 Fax:
980-343-7128 Email:
seanc.strain


Breana Fowler, Student Advisor, At-Large
Phone:
Fax:
Email:
N/A

[mjvpi]

22. Those guys have funny names. Bad habit. Levity in the face of WTF.

Thank you for looking into this and posting all of that information. My guess is that none of this really made it out of the one high school until the young women called BS. A new principals job will be opening up soon, I would venture to guess.

[niyad]

30. Thank you for this handy list. And Thank Goddess for unlimited calling.

[lindysalsagal]

41. horrible sellouts. It's the worst when the women turn on each other.

[MagickMuffin]

8. ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY PENIS

I guess Mr.Rapey boy was not a bench warmer. Must help the school win at ALL costs. We need our heroic football player, so he'll he able to rape again and again and again AND SCORE!

[smirkymonkey]

9. What the ever-loving fuck?

[BlancheSplanchnik]

19. THIS!! Fucking HELL!!

[LiberalFighter]

10. Maybe they should get rid of high school sports.

They don't really have anything to do with education.

[SouthBayDem]

15. Way to take away an important after school activity for at-risk kids

whose parents won't be home till sunset. After school sports provide structure and teach valuable organizational/life skills especially to kids who'd otherwise turn to gangs or other illicit activity.

[niyad]

33. Apparently one of the skills it teaches is if you are an important enough athlete,

you can get away with anything. O. J. Simpson. Brock Turner. The list is endless. And I find it disgusting that sports programs are immune to budget cuts, when art and music are the first things cut.

[LiberalFighter]

39. With you on that.

Local news here spend way too much time on local sports.

[smirkymonkey]

46. +1000

[Jimbo S]

49. I was never taught that

[niyad]

51. So? Demonstrably, many athletes were/are.

[Jimbo S]

53. Disagree

'cause those of us on the cross country and swim teams were given the prima donna treatment.

[niyad]

54. I give you brock turner.

[Jimbo S]

55. An anomaly

[Jedi Guy]

60. You might get a giggle out of this high school memory of mine, niyad.

My high school's football team was legendarily awful, to the point that in my entire high school career they never won a single game. I was one of the kids in the AP US history class, and up to my senior year, no one had passed the national exam. I was leaving school late one day and I overheard the principal and the AP history teacher talking in her classroom. He was going on about how no student had passed the exam, so the class should be cut since it wasn't producing results. There was a moment of silence, and then Mrs. Green-Aguirre replied sweetly, "Well, the football team hasn't won a game in four years. Are we going to cut the football program, too?" The principal then stormed out of the classroom, his face so purple he looked like a grape perched atop a suit.

It's worth noting, of course, that the principal's son was the quarterback and that this was in the Deep South, where football is akin to religion. Alas, none of us in my class passed the AP history test. I came very close, as did several others. But even 23 years later, I still get a chuckle out of my teacher putting the principal in his place.

[niyad]

61. Good morning, Jedi Guy. I did, indeed, get a giggle out of your story. I can just

imagine that principal choking in shock at such a heretical idea. Many blessings to your AP instructor.

Thank you for sharing that delightful memory.

[LiberalFighter]

40. Considering what I have seen I don't trust high school coaches...

to be upstanding citizens conveying the morals the players need.

[Blue_Adept]

62. 46,551 high school coaches

High School Coach Statistics and Facts in the US

There are over 46,551 high school coaches currently employed in the United States. 33.2% of all high school coaches are women, while only 63.5% are men. The average age of an employed high school coach is 34 years old.

https://www.zippia.com/high-school-coach-jobs/demographics/#:~:text=High%20School%20Coach%20Statistics%20and%20Facts%20in%20the%20US&text=There%20are%20over%2046%2C551%20high,coach%20is%2034%20years%20old.

[obamanut2012]

42. There is something between the two, and you know that

nothing wrong with intramural sports, which would not make a student athlete (almost always male) a god who is basically untouchable, and would also not take needed resources from academics.

[treestar]

59. I agree. Nothing stops them from playing

Organized sports in another setting.

[paleotn]

11. Not some ruby red backwater either. That's Charlotte.

Just south of the airport. I know the area.

[Aussie105]

12. Uppity girls!

Don't they understand how the world works?

Boys will be boys . . .and girls shouldn't complain.

Do I need this? Really?

[Grokenstein]

13. Even in high school, sports uber alles.

People actually bet on that shit, so...

[Moebym]

14. Brings back memories of high school

Our high school principal never greeted the achievements of the academics-oriented clubs with as much enthusiasm as she did the achievements of our athletics teams.

This was East Tennessee, though.

[twodogsbarking]

16. It's football. Don't ask questions.

[crickets]

17. Exactly.

“To get someone under investigation for a criminal offense to not be able to play, you have to protest, walk out, get media involved, all of this just to have one person not play,” said Simpson. “Yet, within hours, they made the decision to sit down six girls (on the volleyball team).”

One boy was allowed to play football. Six girls were benched from a volleyball game. Easy math.

[Ford_Prefect]

21. It's High School Football in North Carolina! That's a Sacred Cow if ever there was one.

They're only kids after all, how bad could it be?

[JanMichael]

52. NC is child's play compared to Texas and HS football. Friday Night Lights wasn't in Greensboro.

"If there ever was one" is saved for Texas, Florida, Alabama and Georgia. HS football is their Sacred Cow.

NC is basketball heavy though.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

18. I'm so fucking sick of the misogyny.

So fucking sick of it!

[sheshe2]

23. I hear you, Blanche.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

56. Hug!

[Celerity]

24. Teens like me just want to feel safe on our CMS campus

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article254858217.html


Olympic High students line both sides of Sandy Porter Road in protest outside the school on Oct. 1, 2021 in Charlotte. On Sept. 13, a 15-year-old student was charged with sexual assault of a female student. Another student, a football player, had been accused of assault and told to wear an ankle monitor. The athlete played in a recent football game wearing the monitor. JEFF SINER [e-mail]

BY SERENITI SIMPSON
OCTOBER 08, 2021

Moving, inspirational, monumental. These words were used to describe a protest Oct. 1 on the Olympic High School campus. It occurred in front of the high school and the dozens of students who participated were demanding a safer environment, not only for females on Olympic’s campus, but for any female on any Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools campus. It was planned as a peaceful protest. I should know, I helped plan it.

Sexual assault is something I have always been passionate about because it affects so many young females and males across the world daily. Sexual assault is always thrown on the back burner and the voices of victims are silenced. No more, no more letting people silence our voices, we will be heard. The protest at Olympic was not only to demand a safer environment on campus, but to let the women whose voices were ripped from them know that we hear them — and we stand with you and will no longer let anyone silence your voice. Every day females walk around in fear of what could happen to them in this crazy world. Why do we have to feel that same fear on our campus as well?

Last week, several Olympic volleyball players were benched due to participating in the Oct. 1 protest. I was one of them. Let me paint this picture for you: After being under criminal investigation for a sexual assault crime, an Olympic football player was able to play in a football game, but the young women who were just pleading to feel safe on campus got punished. No one is saying the player is guilty or innocent, but when something like getting your phone taken away in class can get you benched, why should someone under criminal investigation get to play? After it was announced that the volleyball players would be punished for protesting, I handed in my jersey because I refuse to play for a team or school that punishes its athletes for taking a stand. The fact that the school will punish those who speak out could make others who want to speak out afraid to do so.

Honestly, I think that is the goal — if you can keep these victims’ voices silenced you don’t have to deal with it and then once again sexual assault will be thrown on the back burner. Statements from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools were released essentially saying that the protest was an infringement of safety. I feel as though having people on campus who harm the female students is a bigger infringement of safety. The administration at Olympic also felt another problem with the protest was that it interrupted a school day. I’m sorry that one 7-hour school day was interrupted, but sexual assault victims’ lives are affected forever.

Yes, words like moving, inspirational and monumental were used to describe the amazing, peaceful protest at Olympic. To see so many people fighting for a cause that I hold deep to my heart was so touching. The fight is not over. We want sexual assault to be talked about more in schools. We want the administrations to listen. We need sexual assault taken more seriously and need precautions put in place to keep females safe on campus. We ask for the support of the community because we are not finished. Our voices will be heard. This is only the beginning to a new and safer future.

Sereniti Simpson is a 16-year-old junior enrolled in the CMS early college program. Her home school is Olympic High School.

[niyad]

27. Heartbreaking, and so very powerful. What an amazing and passionately articulate

young woman.


Would you consider cross-posting this in Women's Rights And Issues? Thanks in advance.

[Celerity]

28. done

https://www.democraticunderground.com/113812720

[niyad]

25. Thank you for posting and bringing this outrage to our attention, she. What the

F'n HELL is wrong with those in charge there???? F'n football is more important than the safety of half the student body??? Patriarchy on steroids it is.

Would you consider cross-posting this in Women's Rights And Issues?. Thanks in advance.

[sheshe2]

26. Someone posted above...

The board that made the decission was...predominately women. Go figure that one out.

[niyad]

29. I saw that. Will be expressing my feelings directly to those self-loathing monsters

shortly.

[Dawson Leery]

31. Take the sports out of schools.

This all too common episode is a strong reason in favor of school choice.

[gldstwmn]

32. Is that photo of his actual ankle monitor?

If not, that's a terrible message to send with this article.

[niyad]

34. Why terrible? He does wear an ankle monitor, per references in this thread.

[gldstwmn]

35. That photo implies that the accused rapist is a person

of color wearing an ankle monitor. Why not post a photo of a white leg with an ankle monitor on it?

[niyad]

37. I stand corrected. Did not notice anything but the monitor and the white shoes.

[sheshe2]

36. I wouldn't know as I have never worn one.

However if you look them up, looks pretty authentic to me.

Not sure why you think it is fake or what the terrible message is. He was charged with a felony.

A high school football player in NC charged with felony attempted second-degree rape, second-degree kidnapping & sexual battery was allowed to play. But the female student athletes who protested in the interest of their safety, were suspended

[gldstwmn]

38. Not really about the ankle monitor but the color of the leg it is attached to.

It's a stock photo meaning it is not the accused rapist. What do you think the rapist looks like by looking at that photo? Is that what your garden variety rapist looks like?

[sheshe2]

45. I hadn't noticed the color.

I agree with you. Thanks for pointing it out.

[radicalleft]

43. Can I throw this out there?

What if this is a situation where two teenage kids hooked up and a parent found out about it and ran to the police? Perhaps there is more to the story than we know. How many times has this scenario taken place. Perhaps this is an interracial situation as well...we all know how injustice has been perpetrated in these circumstances.

Now as far as the girls protesting? Yeah that was a bad look on the schools part.

[MineralMan]

44. The Girls Engaged in Civil Disobedience

That often comes with some sort of penalty, but, the penalty draws even more attention to the reason for the civil disobedience, and more clearly points out the discrepancy. So, the girls got suspended, which became part of the story and draws attention to the kid who is under investigation for sexual assault.

This is a less on how and why civil disobedience can be a powerful thing. The punishment is part of the action. If there are no consequences, it can be argued that the disobedience made no impact.

Bravi to all those girls!

[SYFROYH]

47. With actual charges, the accused male student ahould be suspended

Charges mean a certain level of legal burden has been met and more than a mere accusation.

For shame.

[treestar]

58. Looks like innocent until proven guilty

Only allies when we want it to. This thread is scary. You are the only one who even considered a legal standard. While not playing football is not jail, it still seems mere accusations should be enough.

The safety issue could not be a factor at a football game.

[Ilsa]

48. Step 2 of the disobedience: deflate their balls. :-)

Step 3: Ask the band and cheer squad not to attend. Ask the rivals to not attend.

Step 4: Ask the other players to stay home, to prevent fielding a team. (No game means no money from tickets and concessions.)

Step 4: The teen that does the invocation should sarcastically ask God to go easy on the accused rapist (name him) and not let the administration's support of him get in the way of a good time on a Friday night.

[Jimbo S]

50. Happened here not long ago

Basketball player was allowed to continue playing, citing "innocent until proven guilty". I think it was armed robbery. He was booed by the fans during the state tournament.


As for the females protesting, the punishment was an over reach. If this was due to some school conduct book, then it may be time to review the code of conduct.