Criminalizing childhood

by digby

Here’s yet another case of turning normal childhood behavior into a pathology:

A Boston elementary school is investigating a 7-year-old first-grader for sexual harassment after he struck another boy his age in the groin.

No, this little boy didn’t leer and grab the other kids’ junk. It was a fist fight. Between two boys. In the second grade.

Matthew Wilder, spokesman for the Boston public schools, declined to comment on the incident or why it has been classified as a possible case of sexual harassment. He said officials do not discuss confidential student information.

“Any kind of inappropriate touching would fall under that category,’’ Wilder said. “The school administration is conducting a full investigation that has not concluded yet. Certainly, once that investigation is through, we’ll then make a final conclusion as to who will be disciplined and how.’’

This is one of the reasons why people don’t take sexual harassment seriously.