So now Debra Lafave is blaming her circumstances on bi-polar disorder,
a variation on clinical depression that is sure
to be seen as a poor
excuse for
behavior that should be perceived as pedophilia. Though many
are sure to be angered and outraged by this latest stance from the
latest of a string of teachers who have taken advantage of adolescent
boys, this excuse is a bit more pathetic, even disturbing and, like
bi-polar disorder itself, depressing actually.
Not to diminish
the seriousness of the disorder, or to suggest that the bi-polar
individual runs amok, taking advantage of the situation from the
vantage point that society simply has to deal with their situation,
those who suffer from the disorder, that have been diagnosed with it,
are
trying to be productive members of society and live relatively
normal lives just like the rest of us. So why digress and demonize the
rest of your peers that are trying to come of age by suggesting that
this disorder alone is the cause for the wreckless behavior?
Anyone
following the case remembers the allegations of her spending a lot of
time with students one on one, the schools concerns about that and
their installation of a window to her classroom, among other things. It
almost brings up a lot of questions about the school system as well.
How was it that they didn't know that she was bi-polar, I mean they
must have, how would anyone be allowed to teach under those conditions?
Now we're talking about the sensationalism of the case, and how that is
what is affecting the boy, not what happened to him. At the end of the
day, we shouldn't hold an attractive young blonde in contempt and
punish those around her that she has come into personal contact with
for the lewd and irresponsible behavior because after all, she is
suffering from a horrible mental illness.
How many people that
you know, that live amongst us, are suffering from clinical depression
and/or bi-polar disorder that are making it one day at a time that were
never involved in anything like this? How many others have you thought
perhaps were bi-polar or clinically depressed, that you know will most
likely never be diagnosed as they don't believe or endorse psychiatry,
yet still, aren't running around with a license to be ill? If we walk
away from this one as well, we're all about as sick as the one who is
faced with the charges, and it serves as a testament, not just to the
double standards, but to the levels that our consciousness has
digressed towards ...