Wave Maker: Smart Kids Having Group Sex

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Sunday, February 20, 2005

Smart Kids Having Group Sex

"A Milton Academy official said yesterday the school's decision to expel five male students for receiving oral sex from a 15-year-old sophmore girl was 'excruciating' but necessary to send a strong message to students, as students and parents expressed mixed reactions to the discipline.

Three sophmores and two juniors, all members of the boys hockey team, were expelled from the picturesque private campus Friday, after a three-day school investigation found they requested and received oral sex from a classmate in a school locker room last month...

Two uninvolved students...said the sex acts were reportedly performed by the girl as a birthday present for one of the boys...

Yesterday, the mother of one ousted student said the school acted rashly.....

On the sprawling campus of neat brick buildings and well-tended athletic fields, where former President Bill Clinton delivered the commencement address two years ago as a favor to a friend whose son was graduating...many students declined to comment, saying teachers had told them not to talk to reporters....

On campus yesterday, one college-minded junior had sympathy for the students who were expelled. 'It's a really bad thing to have on your college application,' she said. 'Expelled from Milton Academy.'"

A birthday present? Mixed reactions? Acted rashly?

This is a private secondary school that is among the most prestigious in the United States. It is excruciatingly selective in its student admissions. Its graduates go on to attend the best universities in the world and some even become President of the United States. Only the "best of the best," and all of that. But it is plain to see from this stark and sordid instance that smartness (as opposed to intelligence, which is a difficult word to ascribe to any teenager), and maybe even breeding or priviledge, do not automatically impart judgment. It is also, perhaps, a striking example of how badly we've failed to teach children the importance of respect for self and others.

I am the father of a 16 year old girl that is boarding at a rival private school and has a boyfriend who is a senior. I certainly admit to fretting whether or not her mother and I have sufficiently done our job as it relates to her relationship with the opposite sex. But I cannot conceive of any parent questioning the Academy's decison.

Then again, it's all about getting into college, isn't it?

Posted by: Wave Maker / 2:42 PM/ |