Chapters (93)
- Cover
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- Eighty-Four
- Eighty-Five
- Author’s Note
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Books by Kelly Yang
- Back Ad
- About the Publisher
And it’s not just parachutes. The stories of Dani and Claire mirror the experiences of so many young women and men all over the nation. In 2017, the Associated Press uncovered seventeen thousand reports of sexual assault at schools across the United States. The AP found that “schools frequently were unwilling or ill-equipped to address the problem. Some administrators and educators even engaged in cover-ups to hide evidence of a possible crime and protect their schools’ image.”2
While most of these cases were perpetrated by other students, an alarming and increasing subset are being perpetrated by teachers. In 2014, almost eight hundred school employees were prosecuted for sexual assault.3 According to a study commissioned by the Department of Education, 10 percent of students surveyed said they have experienced sexual misconduct at the hands of school employees. Of the students who said they were abused, 38 percent were elementary students and 56 percent were in middle or high school.4 Many of these predatory teachers get dismissed and rehired, a system known as “passing the trash.” It’s a devastating problem that affects both public and private schools, including some of the most prestigious boarding schools in the nation.5
At the same time, Parachutes is also a very personal story for me.
Seventeen years ago, in my 1L year, I was sexually assaulted at Harvard Law School. My attacker was another fellow Harvard Law School student. I was only eighteen years old at the time. I had skipped several grades, overcome poverty, and beaten the impossible odds to get in. The last thing I expected would happen to me at Harvard Law was sexual assault.
I remember my attacker telling me afterward, “I should probably go to church for what I just did to you.” This followed by “And you should probably take a shower.” I did take a shower. I wanted to take a million showers.
The showers did little to assuage the fact that we went to the same school. That his apartment was across the street from my dorm. That he sat behind me in one of my classes. In the months and weeks that followed, I saw him nearly every day, walking around like nothing happened. I saw him at law school events and law firm interviews. Whenever I saw him, my stomach would twist into a knot so tight, I felt like I was going to hurl. And then I’d gulp for air, nearly choking.
Still, I did not formally file charges against my attacker because I was young, I was scared, and I had reason to believe that my attacker had a close and material relationship with the senior management of Harvard Law School. Instead, I went to the university nurse, got the rape tests done, told the dean of students what happened, switched dorms, and filed an anonymous report to the police.