On Thursday, Sept. 27, Christine Blasey Ford got up in front of Congress and once again publicly accused Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court nominee, of sexually assaulting her at a party in Montgomery County when they were in high school.

Since Ford first spoke out in mid-September, she has received both support and condemnation. Much of the backlash against Ford’s testimony is focused on the fact that this instance allegedly happened when Ford and Kavanaugh were teenagers. Critics claim that the events happened too long ago for them to be relevant, or that actions that Kavanaugh took at such a young age shouldn’t be held again him.

We, as high school students, should be screaming about this. When I read through Ford’s prepared testimony, what struck me the most was the proximity to our community. These events took place across locations that we all know: Holton Arms. Georgetown Prep. A country club that I drive past every day on my way to school. And the setting, also eerily familiar: a casual summer high school party, at a house in Montgomery County.

And here are people, all across the country, saying that it doesn’t matter because of when it allegedly happened. They aren’t denying that it happened – they are just saying that sexual assault that occurred between high-schoolers, at a party, right here, in this town, is excusable.

As a high-schooler living in Montgomery County, I am absolutely appalled, and frankly quite frightened, by the way much of the world has responded to this assault. If God forbid something like this were to happen to me, or any of my friends, I would expect it to be treated just as seriously as any act of sexual assault. But what Kavanaugh’s defenders are saying is that if it happened to any of us, right here in Montgomery County, it wouldn’t really count, because we’re young, or we don’t know any better.

It isn’t just Kavanaugh’s nomination that is at stake here; it’s the very issue of the legitimacy of sexual assault in high school. Whether you agree or disagree with Kavanaugh’s politics, you should be alarmed at the fact that he may be about to get confirmed because there are people that believe that when a Montgomery County high-schooler sexually assaults another Montgomery County high-schooler, it’s forgivable.

Brett Kavanaugh was a 17-year-old living in Montgomery County when he allegedly committed a horrendous act of sexual violence. And as another 17-year-old living in Montgomery County, I am horrified at the implications that would come along if he were to be confirmed despite Ford’s testimony. These confirmation hearings are no longer just another bureaucratic proceeding or even a partisan debate. The hearings are putting our rights, our legitimacy as high-schoolers on trial, and we need to be paying attention.