bullying in the schools (Taylor: day care, attorney, home)

[shadow91]

Does anyone know about what can be done legally when a child is being bullied beyond the point that it is now harrassment? I know a woman whose 16 year old son has been bullied since entering high school. He has been beat up several times. This woman has been to the school principal, superintendent, resource officer, has called police and no one will do anything. A teacher called her and told her what her worst fears were. She told me she felt a sense of relief as someone finally was seeing what was happening to her child. But the social worker and school psychologist seem to think that her child needs counseling to deal with what has been happening to him. Even with documented proof of threats left on his myspace the school still refuses to do anything to this group of bullies. She has looked all over for an attorney specialzing in this but can't find one. They jump him in the school bathrooms, pull their pants down in class and stick their butts in his face and tell him to kiss this you fing *****. I feel so bad for the both of them and wonder if anyone has been through this and how they dealt with it.

[Huckleberry3911948]

schools are a failure. not safe for teachers many assaults and rapes (unreported) much less for kids. voucher the sooner the better.

[shadow91]

but what does one do about it? Surely there is something this woman can do to stop this kind of violence against him. This will scar him for life one would think.

[barryhussein]

Get the names of the kids. Look up the property records; see what their parent(s) own. Send them a certified letter of notice with a cc to the District Attorney's Office. You also may consider going straight to the Superintendent's Office, possibly with your lawyer.

[KarmaPhx]

Why isn't your son capable of handling himself? I suggest switching schools.

[Greatday]

Originally Posted by shadow91

Does anyone know about what can be done legally when a child is being bullied beyond the point that it is now harrassment?

Can you give me an idea of the school district please?

[Greatday]

Originally Posted by NAU_Josh

Why isn't your son capable of handling himself? I suggest switching schools.

Not every child is, for what ever reason, capable of "handling" themselves.

Switching schools is often not a viable option either

[Taylorrae9]

Bullying is something that the schools seem unable or unwilling to stop. My child was in was well rated but in three years a third of the class had left due to bullying but those seats were filled. The teachers admitted it was the worse class they had ever had however little was ever done. I later found out that parents were not notified when the children bullied. There were 90 children and it took some time to catch on. I was in that school for three years and it was the biggest mistake of my life not moving the kids like some of the parents did. When we were looking a middle school some parents were terrified to let some others know their plans in fear they would be with those children. The children left sixth grade and were sent to more than 8 different middle schools. It was a nightmare. Some thought these boys would grow up and hurt other children

You can fight, sue and ask for help but you will not get it. Move your child and listen because by the time they tell you it has been going on for a while and the pattern is already set in. Going to the teacher and principle made it worse. The children were in an excellent school, good scores and very active parents. However, the school did not create an atmosphere where it was safe. The schools in my area are becoming charter schools because they no longer have to keep children who bully so finally there is a loop in which a child can be kicked out of school without a long process and it does not affect the schools ratings.

[rich67]

Originally Posted by Taylorrae9

Bullying is something that the schools seem unable or unwilling to stop.
You can fight, sue and ask for help but you will not get it.

Bullying has been going on in schools since time began. It has only been recently that this has been at the forefront of news mainly due to school shootings and other things that they claim is the result of bullying.
If your kid is being bullied, do you really thing suing the school is going to help? Come on. You need to teach your kids how to deal with bullying- and running away from the problem and having mommy and daddy coddle you only makes things worse. If bullying is in the form of physical violence, teach your kid how to fight and defend his/herself. If it's in the form of verbal abuse, show your kid how to have thicker skin. The term "bullying" covers many different actions. SCHOOLS CANNOT STOP IT. Sure, they can address it if they witness it, hand out suspensions or maybe even expulsions, but like I said before, THIS IS NOT A NEW PHENOMENON. A school's primary responsibility is the education of students. It is not a day care, but it does share some parental responsibility when the kids are in class. This means that they have the right to punish offenders when its warranted and/or observed.
Bullying is rarely observed unless it turns physical.
Do you know how hard it is to have a student expelled for simple fighting? You can't deny someone an education these days...unless they bring a weapon on school property you are pretty much SOL.
As a parent, this lady needs to do this: take her kid to karate or teach him boxing or wrestling or jiu jitsu. That way he gains confidence and can defend himself if the need be. GET HIM OFF MYSPACE or better monitor his activity. THe only way people can threaten him on myspace is if they're added as his friends, or through private messages that can simply be deleted. Myspace is a cesspool of trash talk, and is nothing but problems these days.
When I was in 8th grade, I was bullied. I was beat up, got stitches in my face for fighting (I lost pretty much all of them), so my mom and dad put me in karate. By the time I was in high school, I was well-adjusted, handed out a couple defensive beatings of my own, and people left me alone. It's a rite of passage. And I can truly admit I was a dork in middle school- hence the reason people thought I was an easy target. I was also a dork in high school, but after a couple guys tried screwing with me and they went home with some black eyes, that pretty much ended it. So I guess you can say I am qualified to talk about this issue. NOT ONCE did my mom and dad come to school, threaten to sue, want people arrested, blah blah blah. I got beat up and my teeth knocked in and never in a million years would I want someone to go to jail for it. That's where it makes things worse. I admitted it may have been because I opened my mouth and called the kid a part of the female anatomy...which was true. Fighting his own battles will make him stronger mentally and give him confidence to deal with issues later in life. Having mom and dad fight them for him or move him out of the school makes it worse. Do you really think he won't be bullied in another school?? Please. He's obviously a kid that lacks confidence and self esteem- he may even be mouthy or be socially inept- but that's the parent's job to help boost...not the school's. Put him in activities that give him confidence! Spend time with him and teach him how to act in social situations! (Of course, this should have been done well before he was 16). My opinion is if he is being bullied, he is either: A) Weak B) talking trash and not able to back it up, or C) just socially misadjusted. "Bullies" pick up on these weakenesses and exploit them. And there's bullies in EVERY school that will pick up on that.

[AzDreamer]

I have to agree with the posters that recommend teaching the kid to defend himself.

I was the youngest in my class so not physically as mature as the other kids. For some reason I liked boxing and judo so every week I went to the YMCA for lessons. In middle school I only had to stand up to the a-holes once or twice before they decided to leave me alone.

My sons were also taught to stand up to bullies. After a couple fights they too were able to enjoy school without being harassed.

Every school has bullies so changing doesn't solve anything.

Getting adults involved prevents kids from learning how to sort things out for themselves.