Across the country hate crimes are increasing at a rapid rate, and not just among adults—children have also become both victims and perpetrators. In a recent incident, a Virginia middle schooler was charged with a hate crime on Oct. 7 after assaulting another student in a classroom, the Prince William County Police Department said.
While the police department’s report does not specify whether the victim was injured in the assault, the report indicated that the victim’s face mask was ripped. Neither student has been identified by the authorities as Virginia law protects the identity of minors. However, police noted that the suspect is a 13-year-old boy.
The boy has been charged with one count of assault and battery-hate bias in connection to the incident, which occurred on Sept. 22 at Rippon Middle School. The incident was declared a hate crime because the suspect allegedly called the victim a homophobic slur before trying to pull the mask from the victim's face.
According to the police department, another student broke up the argument and got a teacher involved. Whether a teacher witnessed the incident is unclear. While the suspect’s court date is pending he has been released to a parent.
Criminal charges for the boy were decided after investigations and consultations with the Commonwealth Attorney's Office. The case has been handed down to Juvenile court services.
While children can be charged with hate crimes, children do not face sentences as heavy as those of adults. According to the Department of Justice, hate crimes are defined as crimes that are “committed on the basis of the victim’s perceived or actual race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability.”
The intention or motive of the attack is what determines whether or not it is a hate crime. In many instances, crimes committed against minorities aren’t considered hate crimes because they were not committed with the intention of targeting said minority.
Unfortunately this isn’t the first time children have been involved in a hate crime. Several incidents have resulted in children facing such charges across the country, including one incident in which teens between the ages of 12 to 16 were charged with aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation, criminal conspiracy, simple assault, disorderly conduct, and recklessly endangering another person. In that incident, teens attempted to rob an Asian American woman after assaulting her.
While crimes such as robbery intentionally harm individuals and may have bias motives, hate crime charges do seem to be a bit harsh for children to face as they can impact their future significantly. Without rehabilitation efforts or chances for reform, these charges fail to help children understand why what they did is wrong.
Hate is often taught and while we do not know the intention of the child, a slur might be said in anger without an understanding of it as opposed to intending to hurt someone.
Personally, I find hate crime charges very drastic on middle schoolers, especially given the fact that several crimes that should be classified as hate crimes often are not. In New York alone, of 233 bias crimes against Asian Americans, only seven led to hate crime convictions. Of course, in some cases such charges are warranted, but in cases of name-calling, other punishments can be given to children.
While bullying and hate should be taken seriously and not tolerated, other actions can be taken against youth to ensure they learn from their mistakes without destroying their futures, starting with better education on diversity, inclusion, and acceptance.
We need to do better to ensure our youth do not continue to inflict violence or hate on others just because they are “different.”
Donald Trump and his allies showed how close they were at overturning the last election, and now Republicans have put more voter suppression in place. For this election, we need you to volunteer with Election Protection—a nonpartisan effort to help voters exercise their constitutional right.
Here's how we stop the GOP from criminalizing abortion and stealing elections: Donate $5 to to support Democratic candidates for attorney general in five key states.
While the police department’s report does not specify whether the victim was injured in the assault, the report indicated that the victim’s face mask was ripped. Neither student has been identified by the authorities as Virginia law protects the identity of minors. However, police noted that the suspect is a 13-year-old boy.
The boy has been charged with one count of assault and battery-hate bias in connection to the incident, which occurred on Sept. 22 at Rippon Middle School. The incident was declared a hate crime because the suspect allegedly called the victim a homophobic slur before trying to pull the mask from the victim's face.
According to the police department, another student broke up the argument and got a teacher involved. Whether a teacher witnessed the incident is unclear. While the suspect’s court date is pending he has been released to a parent.
Criminal charges for the boy were decided after investigations and consultations with the Commonwealth Attorney's Office. The case has been handed down to Juvenile court services.
While children can be charged with hate crimes, children do not face sentences as heavy as those of adults. According to the Department of Justice, hate crimes are defined as crimes that are “committed on the basis of the victim’s perceived or actual race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability.”
The intention or motive of the attack is what determines whether or not it is a hate crime. In many instances, crimes committed against minorities aren’t considered hate crimes because they were not committed with the intention of targeting said minority.
Unfortunately this isn’t the first time children have been involved in a hate crime. Several incidents have resulted in children facing such charges across the country, including one incident in which teens between the ages of 12 to 16 were charged with aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation, criminal conspiracy, simple assault, disorderly conduct, and recklessly endangering another person. In that incident, teens attempted to rob an Asian American woman after assaulting her.
While crimes such as robbery intentionally harm individuals and may have bias motives, hate crime charges do seem to be a bit harsh for children to face as they can impact their future significantly. Without rehabilitation efforts or chances for reform, these charges fail to help children understand why what they did is wrong.
Hate is often taught and while we do not know the intention of the child, a slur might be said in anger without an understanding of it as opposed to intending to hurt someone.
Personally, I find hate crime charges very drastic on middle schoolers, especially given the fact that several crimes that should be classified as hate crimes often are not. In New York alone, of 233 bias crimes against Asian Americans, only seven led to hate crime convictions. Of course, in some cases such charges are warranted, but in cases of name-calling, other punishments can be given to children.
While bullying and hate should be taken seriously and not tolerated, other actions can be taken against youth to ensure they learn from their mistakes without destroying their futures, starting with better education on diversity, inclusion, and acceptance.
We need to do better to ensure our youth do not continue to inflict violence or hate on others just because they are “different.”
Donald Trump and his allies showed how close they were at overturning the last election, and now Republicans have put more voter suppression in place. For this election, we need you to volunteer with Election Protection—a nonpartisan effort to help voters exercise their constitutional right.
Here's how we stop the GOP from criminalizing abortion and stealing elections: Donate $5 to to support Democratic candidates for attorney general in five key states.