(I was sent this module via\u00a0Wende Benner of Homeschoolers Anonymous. You can read her story here<\/a>. She filled out this module herself while attending Gothard\u2019s EXCEL training program for girls.)<\/p>\n The module is titled \u201cRoad Safety:\u00a0Survival Road Skills And Wise Responses to Danger.\u201d Since the responses to danger bit falls under the road safety heading, we can assume it\u2019s about things like changing a tire safely, or knowing how to drive around a car that isn\u2019t signaling or staying in its lane, yes?<\/p>\n I actually would have found this page very helpful when I was a teen. If I\u2019d read the bit about warning lights and overheating, I might not have totaled my mom\u2019s car as a teen by melting her engine. (Seriously, this is one memory I\u2019d really like to forget!) On the other hand, filling out a sheet like this does exactly squat to tell you where to put the brake fluid, or where the best jack points are, etc. So there\u2019s that.<\/p>\n Hang on, are these meant to be the warning lights? Because if so, my experience suggests that different cars have different warning lights. In fact, we recently got a new (to us) car, and I\u2019ve found that the manual is my friend because when the warning\u00a0lights come on I have absolutely no idea what they mean, because they look totally different from my other car.<\/p>\n That last chart bit would be more helpful on a small notepad in the glove compartment, because I\u2019m pretty sure most people aren\u2019t going to be stuffing this entire module\u00a0in there. But maybe it\u2019s just meant to give the student experience with how these numbers should\u00a0be written down?<\/p>\n This is actually fairly comprehensive. Most people probably don\u2019t pray before a trip, but mine always did, so it doesn\u2019t seem weird to me. And the list of things to bring (and do before leaving) is quite thorough.<\/p>\n While not getting to close to the car in front of you is important, one car length per 10 miles per hour isn\u2019t going to serve you well when driving in congested cities. People will keep pulling into your lane in front of you, and then you\u2019ll have to slow down to increase the distance. Also, the \u201cwhat to do if there\u2019s an accident\u201d section says not to leave until\u00a0an officer dismisses you, but it doesn\u2019t say to call the police in the first place, which makes it feel slightly disjointed.<\/p>\n Of course, I\u2019m just nit-picking here. We\u2019re six pages into the module, and it\u2019s mostly pretty standard stuff. Remember that these modules\u00a0are designed for homeschooled students, many of whom (myself included) will never take driver\u2019s ed, so it\u2019s good that they\u2019ll get any information at all, although obviously this module would be best accompanied with some hands-on training.<\/p>\n But let\u2019s look at what comes next.<\/p>\n Yes, we\u2019re still in the same \u201cRoad Safety\u201d module! All we did was turn a page, and hey, would you look at that? Suddenly it\u2019s all about responding to attackers . . . because it\u2019s totes common for women to be assaulted while driving.<\/p>\n What \u201cprovokes\u201d an attack, according to Gothard?\u00a0How you dress and the sort of friends you chose. Lovely. Just lovely. Hello, slut shaming and victim blaming!\u00a0And what should you do if you are attacked? Well, resist, of course, but also present the gospel and pray for your attacker. Because converting a man who is trying to rape you while fending him off to protect your virginity is pretty much the epitome of godliness.<\/p>\n This goes on for six full pages. Yes, you read that right\u2014a full half of Gothard\u2019s \u201cRoad Safety\u201d module deals with what to do if you are attacked or assaulted while driving somewhere, because if you are a woman, leaving your father\u2019s house is dangerous dangerous dangerous!<\/em><\/p>\n Yes, you read those\u00a0first sentences correctly: \u201cGod has established some very strict guidelines of responsibility for a woman who is attacked. She is to cry out for help. The victim who fails to do this is equally guilty with the attacker<\/em>.\u201d Yes, really. A victim of sexual assault who does not cry out\u2014who remains silent for whatever reason\u2014is equally guilty<\/em> with her attacker.<\/p>\n Think for a moment\u00a0about the Duggar girls. They did not cry out for help when they were sexually assaulted by their older brother. How might\u00a0studying from a module like this (and remember that the family centered their curriculum and Bible study on Gothard materials) affect one of them, or anyone else<\/em> who has ever been sexually assaulted but kept silent? Remember that it is very common for a victim of child sexual abuse not to cry out, because they are first groomed<\/em> to ensure that they won\u2019t.<\/p>\n Okay, first of all, let\u2019s be clear that \u201cmorally attack\u201d means sexual assault. And second, let\u2019s be clear that in the story presented on this page, the \u201cI hope I got here in time\u201d and \u201cSir, you did, you just barely did\u201d exchange means the girl\u2019s\u00a0virginity was still intact, which is of course what really matters to Gothard. But the thing is, she was still sexually assaulted<\/em>. She is still going to have to work through the trauma of that. And I actually get the feeling that Gothard isn\u2019t aware of that. It\u2019s like the fact that her hymen is still intact means no harm was done. Except that that\u2019s not how it works.<\/p>\n But you know what I really<\/em> want to know? How the blazes Gothard thinks this\u00a0one example is evidence that it\u2019s always safer for a woman to cry out when being assaulted than it is for her to remain silent. Look, this is going to vary! In some situations, screaming may alert someone that you need help or scare away the attacker. In other cases, screaming may\u00a0just make the attacker become more violent. In some situations, a woman may be so shocked\u00a0by what is happening (especially when the perpetrator is a friend or significant other) that she is stunned into silence. There is no one correct way to respond to being sexually assaulted, and saying there is will only lead victims to blame themselves more than they already do.<\/p>\n Of course, what really matters to Gothard is that if a victim of sexual assault does not scream for help, she violates scripture. It\u2019s not really about what\u2019s most affective, it\u2019s about what the Bible says. But of course, now that he has said the Bible mandates it, he is going to explain that it is in fact effective by offering five more anecdotes (none of which involve rape or sexual assault, I might add).<\/p>\n Here are two anecdotes\u00a0in which\u00a0crying out to Jesus caused attackers to reconsider! Clearly this means it always works! If you try it and it doesn\u2019t work, you must not have enough faith! \/sarcasm<\/p>\n Actually, wait a minute. That second example might not even have been an attack. Perhaps the \u201cstrange man\u201d who approached the woman was just going to ask for directions, and when she began shouting to God to save her from him, he backed up with raised eyebrows like anyone else would do in that situation.<\/p>\n![\"ATI](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/166\/2015\/08\/ATI-Road-Safety-01.jpg\")
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