it's called black humour. Men can be and are raped too, and it's not like women can't make those types of jokes because they do. Maybe your point of view would have been different if it were women making those kinds of jokes.

I don't think they meant to hurt anyone either, but they were making an immature, unacceptable joke, and you called them out on it (civilly too, I might add).
I find nothing wrong with that. And they were pleasant enough afterwards, meaning it was just the one joke they maybe didn't know was wrong. I doubt anyone had said anything to them before.
But either way, I think you handled that situation well.

There has been a big discussion on (I think one of the Feministing's) about rape jokes. Some people can find it funny. Some people can disassociate themselves from an act of violence/power and see this type of joke as funny.

Just because one *can* make a joke doesn't mean that one should, and that everybody needs to find it funny. It's a joke that bothered you, you approached them in what seems to be a civil way, and you told them that it's not necessarily a funny joke.

My rule on jokes "just because hurt and humor start with the same two letters doesn't mean that they go together."

"Not meaning to hurt anyone" is a very privileged excuse and position. It's a good thing that they learned that some jokes aren't accepted widely, particularly those involving sexual violence/power toward others (yes, both women and men).

So in short: "You were fine." ;)

I always just say, point blank, "Rape jokes are never funny. Please stop making them."

If these kids are in high school, it's probable that they've never met anyone who was raped (or who told them zie was, at least.) They also most likely haven't read anything about how it affects people, and therefore their knowledge of the crime is probably only gained from TV shows, some of which (Family Guy, I'm looking at you), treat it as if it were a joke. Also, our culture tends to trivialize the subject, period; the media and law enforcement often assumes that women are lying before knowing any of the facts. Besides, more women are raped than men are. It makes some sense, then, that two high school boys would find rape to be an acceptable topic for jokes; however, they need to be educated otherwise.

They're operating from the viewpoint that it won't happen to them, that people lie about it anyway, that other people joke about it on TV shows that millions of viewers watch (therefore, rape jokes are 'cool.') They're operating from a privileged viewpoint, one which does not bother to recognize the non-privileged side.

They need to be taught the actual statistics: the high percentage of unreported rapes as opposed to the less than 1% of false accusations; the fact that peoples' lives can be dramatically altered and destroyed by rape; that it does happen to (1 in 33) men and boys, and is usually perpetrated by other men.

I'm not saying this is your job, but I do like the idea of telling your supervisor. However, in order for the 'rape is funny' idea to get thrown out of our culture, there needs to be a broader cultural change. Children need to know from an early age that this crime occurs frequently and that it is wrong. (That they don't know this is more than likely the result of anti-sex beliefs: if you can't explain intercourse at all, how can you explain nonconsensual intercourse? Kids need to know what both actions consist of.) Obviously, though, you can't change an entire culture by snapping your fingers, but you can change, or try to change, what you witness, therefore, good job letting those boys know what you thought, and definitely tell the supervisor.