海角大神

When Steubenville High School鈥檚 Big Red football team kicks off its season Thursday night in Ohio, wide receiver Ma鈥檒ik Richmond is expected to take to the field.

One of two football players convicted of raping a teenage girl in a case that made headlines around the globe, Mr. Richmond served a year in a juvenile detention facility and must register as a sex offender.

As he and his teammates suit up, questions loom: What鈥檚 the right balance between punishment and having the chance to get back on track in life? Given the images showing crass indifference toward the victim, and the failure by some adults to respond appropriately, has the culture changed in the years since the rape?

For some, Richmond鈥檚 reinstatement to the team earlier this month was a disturbing signal that the celebration of football victories still prevails.

鈥淭he message that it sends听is that Steubenville High School doesn't care about rape,鈥� Alexandria Goddard, a social media consultant who helped generate attention to the original case, writes in an e-mail to the Monitor. The district has failed to say specifically what steps it has taken toward 鈥渁ddressing the issue of rape culture,鈥� she says. 听

A Change.org petition demanding Richmond be removed from the team has garnered more than 76,000 signatures.

Whether there鈥檚 much outrage locally, however, is more difficult to determine.

At a recent meeting of the Steubenville City Council, a local citizen reportedly objected to Richmond being given the privilege of participating in football.

Council member Kenneth Davis defended the school鈥檚 decision.

鈥淲ho are we to condemn this young man, when he stood up publicly with tears in his eyes and apologized?鈥� Mr. Davis said in a phone interview with the Monitor. 鈥淚鈥檓 not taking what he did lightly, but he was 16鈥�. Football gives you structure in your life鈥�. If I didn鈥檛 have football in my life as a kid, I could be a street hoodlum myself.鈥�

The school district did not return the Monitor's call seeking comment.

Integrating juvenile offenders back into the community 鈥渁nd providing structured support鈥� that fosters their continued development is important, says Maia Christopher, executive director of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. But it鈥檚 also important for the needs of the victim and the community to be weighed, she says.

Whether the football team will provide Richmond with a positive structure, or whether a culture prevails that still doesn鈥檛 take rape seriously enough, is difficult to judge from the outside, Ms. Christopher says.

The Steubenville Schools have had staff training and curriculum for students addressing sexual assault prevention, provided by听the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence, based in Cleveland.

鈥淧eople within the community and the school care about these issues and are genuinely committed to this,鈥� says the alliance鈥檚 executive director, Katie Hanna.

But it鈥檚 important for people to remember that sexual violence happens in every community, and the concern should be much broader than whether someone is playing football, Ms. Hanna says.

With national attention also focused on sexual assaults on college campuses, 鈥渢his is a critical time for parents to be engaged in talking with school administrators and asking, 鈥榃hat prevention programs do we have in place?鈥� 鈥� she adds.

Football and other sports can generate headlines because of violence by athletes, but sports can also become great opportunities for teaching students about healthy relationships and preventing sexual assault, as the Coaching Boys into Men program has shown. In addition, on Thursday the National Football League announced a new policy that includes educational mandates related to domestic violence and sexual assault, and a ban from the league for a second offense.鈥�

The victim of the rapes by Richmond and Trent Mays (still serving a two-year sentence) is heading to college and doing well, her lawyer Robert Fitzsimmons told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

鈥淲e can never lose sight of what happened to this victim, that comes first,鈥� he told the paper, but he added that it wouldn鈥檛 help Richmond or the community for him to be ostracized.

That鈥檚 an important issue for communities to consider in deciding what amount of punishment is enough, says David Altschuler, a juvenile-offender researcher at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health in Baltimore.

Being on a sex offender registry well into adulthood is a significant punishment, so balancing that with a chance to develop a talent and 鈥済iving him a chance to straighten out鈥� might make sense in terms of preventing future antisocial behavior or crimes, Professor Altschuler says.

Richmond鈥檚 attorney, Walter Madison, told the Monitor he has no comment.

Michael McVey, the Steubenville superintendent who is on leave, is set to be tried Oct. 14 on charges of obstructing justice and tampering with evidence related to the rapes.

Volunteer coach Matthew Belardine was sentenced to 10 days in jail for serving alcohol to a minor and making false statements. Seth Fluharty, a teacher and coach, was charged with failing to report child abuse, a charge dismissed on condition that he do community service at a domestic violence shelter.