Via Education Watch, this story of out-of-control bullying at an Ohio high school:
A fifteen-year-old tenth-grade bully had an accomplice videotape his brutal assault upon a 14-year-old ninth-grade student at Midview High School, which is located in Eaton Township, (Lorain County) Ohio. Amazingly, this crime occurred while class was in session, just before winter vacation. <snip> The school's response to this criminal act was to suspend the delinquents, and refer the matter to the police. They have been charged with battery and stalking. And the students may face expulsion. After the incident, the student said that the bullies had been harassing him for the better part of the year. Why, might you wonder, didn't the student come forward earlier? <snip> There is an unwritten "code of silence" that every student knows, as does almost every public school teacher, as do most public school administrators. The code simply states, "If you go to the authorities, sooner or later we are gonna make you pay." In other words, the bullies do not fear (nor respect) school authorities. And the victims know that the school will not protect them.
I heard of one parent who had been dealing with the problem of his child being assaulted by bullies. The "zero tolerance" school's response was to threaten to suspend the victim if he fought back. The parents had their lawyer write the principal a letter informing him that he would be held personally responsible for the child's safety and well-being, and threatening legal action if any bullying occurred.
Until it becomes more risky for school officials to ignore the problem than to act, they'll ignore the problem.
1 comment:
umm, no. that's not how this happened. "15 year old bully" was not friends with the videotaper. the "victim" is actually an annoying little jerk and he was antagonizing the "bully." Also, the "bully" asked the teacher to be moved away from the "victim" but had to stay sitting where he was. oh, and he was expelled. fights happen all the time and you usually get a 2 day suspension but just because this was on the news he got expelled. it's not fair.
Post a Comment