Page Title
Editor's corner/ Over a cup of tea
Heidi M. Pascual*
Publisher & Editor
* 2006 Journalist of the Year
for the State of Wisconsin
(U.S.-SBA)
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Star-complex
"The football players were never encouraged to see the victim as someone who might be humiliated or traumatized by
their actions. Instead, they saw her as one of the rewards that comes from being a football star," said Special Judge
Thomas Lipps during the sentencing of the two Steubenville teens accused of raping a 16-year old classmate.

Can we forget Tiger Woods’ indiscretion that broke up his family? In a statement, he wrote, "I have let my family down
and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family
deserves.” How about Mike Tyson? Long before he bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear, he was convicted of raping an 18-year
old in a hotel and was imprisoned for it. The jury found Tyson “rude” and “arrogant.” Kobe Bryant’s career also went
down for awhile in 2003 when he was accused of raping a 19-year-old while staying at a lodge in Colorado.
Consensual or not, he got away with it through an out-of-court settlement.

There are many more sex-related cases listed on the Internet that I wished I could list here, but I don’t have space.
Suffice it to say that this kind of behavior among star athletes is simply wrong.

I hope our young athletes be taught that aside from winning, the name of the game is how to behave well in the real
world. And the rewards for being a star athlete do not include acceptance of their rude behavior such as disrespect for
others.

Alcohol and/or Drugs
I know how alcohol influences a person’s actuations, because long ago, I had lived with someone addicted to it and
witnessed how that person changed personalities: warm and loving when sober, a monster when under the influence. I
guess anything too much is bad; either you hurt yourself or hurt others; and worse if you hurt both and you can’t do
anything to repair the damage done..

In the Steubenville case, the accused and the victim were in parties that provided alcohol freely. The rape victim didn’t
even know that she was violated until the social media showed to the world what she looked like when she got drunk
and thereafter raped. She also thought she was drugged although she couldn’t really tell. Friends of the accused even
taped or photographed the crime; they were lost in a frenzy that when they woke up the next day, they realized something
wrong happened, and they were active participants in it.

Young as they are, those involved in the Steubenville case were intoxicated to the point that they considered the victim a
willing participant to a game called teen sex is fun. The accused and their friends got it all wrong. The sad thing is, they
never thought they were doing something wrong.

Lack of moral values and/or proper conduct
What are moral values, by the way? I tend to agree with the definition that “moral values are the standards of good and
evil, which govern an individual’s behavior and choices.” The definition goes further by stating that “Individual’s morals
may derive from society and government, religion, or self.” (www.allaboutphilosophy.org) Thus, a person’s moral
standards are a reflection of from where he/she derived them. If one’s moral values were derived from a society and
government whose laws have changed to parallel the morals of its people, who can say that a person is wrong? We
see an erosion of moral standards that are considered out of tune today. Do we see these changes happening fast in
our own communities?

When we look at crimes in our society, investigators first look at the persons closest to the accused, and the persons
closest to the victim/s. I guess a person’s history is very important to unravel the factors that might have influenced the
shaping of one’s being. Adult role models are very important, yet our society has encouraged the absence of adults at
home, because of the perpetual focus on economic productivity or simply working a job or two to put food on the table.
Whether or not you agree with me, parental guidance still carries the most weight in my book. Then, our schools, with
peers, teachers and athletic coaches who put education inside our kids’ brains and/or develop their confidence as far
as sports competitions are concerned, also are strong influences. But building one’s confidence should never ever be
founded on a culture of arrogance and disrespect for others so unlike them.

Sometimes I hate the loss of courses that teach good manners and right conduct … good values that should start from
infancy onward to adulthood. And learning or knowing what is right, and doing it, to me, make one a better person.

Role of Mass Media, Technological gadgets, Social Media
I’ve been a media practitioner for many years, and even before my career, I knew how important mass media is, in
informing and educating people about issues and happenings in their communities, their nation, and the world. In my
youth, however, because we were poor, my family did not own any television set, which in many ways, allowed me to
focus on my studies and music. We had a transistor radio for news and current events, and that’s about it. Progress,
however, brought new and exciting gadgets to our home, including computers, video players, and cell phones. My
children became tech-dependent, as I started to learn and enjoy using them, as well. Who wouldn’t love connecting to
people for free via Skype while you are thousands of miles away? Who wouldn’t love spending nothing for postage via
email? Oh, and hearing from your high school classmates via Facebook? I was also able to promote my magazine
videos via YouTube! My oh my, this age is truly amazing, as we can do anything to announce to the world what we’re
doing or what we’ve done, in living color, just by a few clicks, while in the comforts of our home!

But I also noticed some disadvantages. Children could download just about anything from the Internet. Even with
parental control, we cannot truly control what our children do when we’re out of sight. Video games have become so
violent that severing one’s head seems normal to kids playing them. Movies and TV shows full of sexual scenes, foul
language and violence are cheaply available via your favorite stores and online. There’s only one thing that’s truly
happening here—our children learn what they see and hear, whether or not it’s fiction.

Role of Adults
As parents, teachers, mentors, or guardians, we have the responsibility to provide our youth the necessary foundation
enabling them to learn and understand the difference between right and wrong. You may argue that every man’s
The difference between right and wrong
By Heidi M. Pascual

I’ve been watching news reports on the Steubenville rape case, followed by a similar
case in Torrington, Connecticut; and most recently, two cases of suicides by young girls
who were sexually assaulted while intoxicated in parties and humiliated via the social
media when the crimes against them were posted by “friends” and/or classmates who
witnessed such crimes. I can’t help but feel sad that these cases seemed to reflect a
culture permeating the youth in our country. Some blame the star-complex of our
athletes; alcohol and/or drugs; lack of moral values and/or proper conduct; lack of
guidance by parents of the accused and the accuser; the role of mass media in shaping
behaviors; failure of adult men’s leadership; how girls and women view themselves, etc.,
etc. There could be some truth to any or all of these that we choose to point our finger to,
but I think the main issue is simply, do we, as human beings, really know the difference
between right and wrong? Do our children understand the meaning of what is right and
what is wrong?
definition of right and wrong is relative,
depending on societal factors which are
sometimes beyond one’s control. However,
I agree with Albert Einstein when he said
that relativity belongs to physics, not ethics.
Therefore, doing right has something to do
with our inner self, our attitudes, our
behavior toward others, and the values we
hold dear. Regardless of extraneous
factors, I believe that we adults know when
we’re doing something right or wrong,
unless we’re mentally incapacitated to fully
grasp the distinction. The youth mirror our
characteristics, words and actions; hence,
the saying “the apple doesn’t fall far from
the tree.” While this may not always ring
true, the influence adults have on our youth
is very powerful, and therefore, must be
utilized for developing good character.
Let me close by quoting Martin Luther King,
Jr;:
“Never, never be afraid to do what's right,
especially if the well-being of a person … is
at stake. Society's punishments are small
compared to the wounds we inflict on our
soul when we look the other way.”