The Roosevelt Bus Incident, and the History of "Get Out of Town"

Before I launch this week’s rant, I’ve got a little personal business to address. For those that have never met me, or are not familiar with my past, I thought I should explain the history of “Get Out of Town”.
During the glory days of the Tempest, one of my favorite issues was a special edition that included a cover story entitled “Ten People Who Should Get Out of Town”. Besides the actual article, the meetings that decided which victims would be featured was always a drunken blowout. While there were at times some hurt feelings, such as the heated debate over whether the head of the Washington Pavilion should be included (I prevailed but lost a friendship), these gatherings generally were the highlights of the year.
The resulting issue was always the most popular of the year. Quite often, they were hard to find after the first couple of days. As for the “victims”…well, many had a pretty good humor about it while others made all sorts of legal (and not so legal) threats.
When the magazine was sold in the late 90’s, both the special issue and the camaraderie disappeared. I finally threw in the towel a couple of years later, and the magazine eventually folded. A couple of years ago, my good buddy Cade asked me to revive the topic for my weekly appearance on KRRO. Since then, I’ve included the text of these rants on the web, first on my website (scotthudson.20m.com) and now on this blog.
Why have I included this history lesson this morning? In recent weeks, I have received a number of comments on this blog and also personal emails that have consisted of nothing but personal attacks full of obscene language. It’s not that the language bothers me…I could give a shit. It’s the fact that nobody tries to prove me wrong. They just scream that I’m this or that simply because they don’t agree with my opinion. And that’s all it is – an opinion; one that I was asked to author.
I don’t claim to know everything. Hell, I don’t claim to know much about anything. But I am admittedly an extremely opinionated person...but not one who lives in a bubble. I write this material to provoke a dialogue – to make people think a little. I invite people to correct me if I’m wrong, or if you don’t agree with me. There’s nothing wrong with a healthy dialogue. Just a few weeks ago my opinion of a county commissioner changed because of a flurry of emails back and forth. But just screaming that I’m an f-ing this or that does nothing but reinforce my opinion.
Let’s move on to this week’s topic. I’m going to tread a little lightly here, as the last time I addressed a situation involving high school students I was dragged into the general manager’s office. I don’t have time for that sort of hassle.
By now you’ve probably all heard about the controversy involving students at Roosevelt High School. On a bus trip returning home after a game in Rapid City, there was an incident involving sexual contact between a male and female student. While nobody’s speaking on the record, the most often-mentioned rumor involves an adult-age male, a younger female, oral sex, and a camera phone. That’s all I’ll say here…and that’s more than the local media can say.
Not that this hasn’t stopped them from turning the same two sentence story into a nightly lead story. All three stations should be embarrassed by their behavior. They have filmed Roosevelt buses traveling to another game; they’ve asked school board members the same question over and over and over; they’ve interviewed students in silhouette that have had nothing to say other than they’re upset that their school is looking bad. Each of these stories have been prefaced with an intro by a concerned-looking anchor that the upcoming story is a “parent’s nightmare”.
Come on – this is not a story that deserves such coverage. I could understand the first story, and then one more after authorities had turned over the matter to the county (or counties) where the incident occurred. But that’s it. Anything more adds nothing to the story, and makes our reporters and anchors appear like Greta Van Sustern and her hard-on for the story involving the young woman who disappeared in Aruba.
It’s also not an indictment against young people (I should say teens, as KELO likes to use that term when young adults get into trouble). This was an isolated incident that happened on an extremely boring bus ride in the middle of the night. It was stupid, they were caught, and now the legal system will decide if a crime occurred.
On the other hand, let’s be real about this. Young people are having sex, and if there’s any lesson to come out of this incident, it’s the need for parents and children to have honest conversations about the topic. Just saying “don’t do it” and having your kids sign abstinence pledges isn’t enough. You need to have a running dialogue with your children, or you could very easily end up a grandparent a few years before you’re ready.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Maybe it's the fact that money may or may not have changed hands...or that a minor may or may not have been photographed in a compromising "position"...or that adult coaches were feet away from the "act"...all on a public school bus...or maybe I'm wrong.
Scott said…
I don't necessarily disagree with what you have to say. But until these "facts" come out through official sources there's nothing for the local news to report on a daily basis.
Anonymous said…
SH-

I couldn't agree with you more, especially on the local news channels constant spin on this. I am only mildly surprised that KELO didn't come up with some witty name for the story like "Late Summer Hummer" or "Kids getting their Kicks" or "Terror on a Greyhound".
Anonymous said…
i know a little bit about this story. a star football player bet some girl that 20 bucks that she wouldn't blow another member of the team. the blowjob recievee said "um... okay" when the girl asked to blow him. the girl then put the dude's unit in her mouth and the star football player snapped a photo of it. she got mad, the dude pulled his pants up, and the star football player lost the bet, so he gave her a twenty spot. the recievee was 18, the girl was not. he said he didn't even know her; much less her age. cheerleaders blow football players all the time - it's a fact of highschool life. now they are trying to turn this into prostitution and statutory rape, criminal sexual conduct with a minor and other ridiculous criminal charges. the worst part is: the kid never really got a blowjob, just a bad photo.

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