[EDITORIALS]Violations of another kind

Last weekend, a candlelight vigil was held on the streets of Gwanghwamun in Seoul to protest the mishandling of a case of high school students in Milyang who are accused of raping middle school girls. The protesters demanded censure for a police officer who shouted rude things at the alleged victims, and the reinvestigation of some of the high school students who were released.
This case is a stark example of how diseased our society has become. There is no denying that the disintegration of our home and school education has reached a dangerous level.
Adult entertainment industries that have invaded districts and the porn sites on the Internet are drawing our adolescents into sexual crimes. Such an environment is afflicting the moral conscience of our youths.
The schools, in their obsession with exams and grades, have stood by as this problem grew. The lack of a moral standard is what’s making the youth of our country commit sexual crimes without any sense of guilt.
Both the school and home have important roles. The school must pay more attention to problem students, and parents should also be interested in what their children are doing at school, in their rooms, after school and with their friends. Showing interest is the way to show love to your children.
However, the wrong kind of love can be even more harmful. It is not the responsibility of parents to defend children who have done wrong. Some parents of the accused high school boys called the alleged victims to threaten them. Such sick parents can’t help but raise sick children. Such blind love and overprotection of their children will only affect them negatively.
The police’s investigation was also full of problems. How could the police officer have used violent language against the alleged victims and told them that they were responsible for “ruining Milyang’s reputation”?
The police also ignored a girl’s request to speak to a female officer and even made the girl face her alleged attacker, who then shouted profanity at her. The new police procedures for handling rape cases stated that victims should first be questioned by female officers and that initial testimonies be done by video.
This is a case of the alleged victims being victimized again by the police. The National Police Agency should discipline the officers responsible for such preposterous behavior.