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Nine Year Old Boy Abducted

There once was a boy about nine years old who lived in a rural community.  On a spring evening, as darkness was falling, he rode his bike to a nearby convenience store to buy some pop.  He never returned home, for as he left the store, a stranger abducted him at gunpoint and drove away.

The experience shocked the community.  Nothing like it had ever happened before.  

Less than a week after the abduction, at a gathering at city hall, several people began discussing the case.  At one point a woman said, “If you want to know my opinion, I’m tired of all this talk about the boy.  It’s his own fault for going out after dark; that’s just asking for trouble.”  Her statement startled the group.  Everyone was quiet for a bit.  Then someone asked her, “Emily, are you saying that the boy deserved to get abducted, maybe even killed?”  A third person, a member of the police force replied, “I tend to agree with Emily.  I feel sorry for the boy and his family, but if he hadn’t gone to the store that night, this never would have happened.  Personally, I think we should just quit all these search efforts.  We have more important things to do than rescue people from messes they make for themselves.”

Answer
1. If you lived in the town and were at the meeting, what would you say to Emily and the police officer? (write 50 words—put the number of words at the end of the paragraph)

2. Pretend you are the boy’s mom or dad.  What would you say or do to Emily or the police officer?  (35 words minimum--put the number of words at the end of the paragraph)

3. Give another example where the victim of a crime often gets blamed.

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The above story illustrates a way of thinking known as “blaming the victim.”  This is the view that people who suffer from an injustice either cause their own suffering or do not do enough to overcome it.  Blaming the victim blocks the attitude of respect and hinders actions for justice: it prevents the victims from receiving the kind of support they need, and it enables those who think this way to avoid their own responsibility to provide support