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On Sunday while playing in the neighborhood park my eleven year old son hit one of his schoolmates in the eye with a dart. On Monday the school councellor suspended my son from going out in the school yard for recess til the end of the school year (nine more weeks) for this Sunday incident which did not happen on school premises or school time... is this right?
Now the boy and his Arab family are thretening to gang up and beat my son up. What should I do to protect y son and his rights?
Thanks.
Concerned & sleepless mom.
Your post doesn't mention what happened when you went to the family's house and made your son apologize and told them how sorry you were that your son was somewhere playing with darts around other kids and how relieved you were that the poor kid hadn't been blinded. You left out the part where you behaved like a concerned, responsible parent who met the situation head-on and made amends...
Please let me preface this by stating that I am perhaps the least racist/racially biased/biggoted person on the planet. I am white, and I happen to have a niece and nephew who are half-"Arab" (of middle eastern descent). I have no problem with these people, nor those of any race that I didn't happen to be blessed with.
That said, I don't care WHAT race the family is, middle eastern, black, hispanic, backwoods hillbilly, OR where they're from, NYC, Mexico City, Paris, Compton, Baghdad, even good old small town USA... If you make an entire family angry, intentionally or not, it can be a very scary thing. If that family happens to be of a different shade of melanin than your own, YES, it can be even scarier. That doesn't make you a racist, it makes you a good mom.
Unfortunately, just because I'm not a racist doesn't mean I can't be a victim of racism. While this does not sound like a racially motivated act, there is always the possiblity that the other boy's family did use their geographical origin to influence the school district (perhaps along with their attorney). From the limited information available, I'd gather that perhaps the punishment for an incident outside of school may have been 1) Demanded by the other family, and 2) To prevent a discrimination lawsuit if they said that they were not going to get involved. It sounds like they may have indirectly intimidated the school district to get a desired result, and they are doing the same with you. That is nothing to do with race... If I had to guess based on that, I'd guess Italian Mafia! JK...
Just my opinion, fwiw. Hang in there!
~D
Last edited by jtjmom; 05-13-2008 at 10:56 AM..
Reason: Spelling and format
I asume there is a LOT more to this story then its told here !
The school would not get involved unless the Son had previous Problems/ fighting. And they feel that he could *lash*out. Or as stated above the other family got a Laywer involved.
Did you go over to the Family's House and talk with them? You say what happend but you dit not tell what happend AFTER you son did this.....how did YOU handle the Situation?
May I redact my comment? I read the post incorrectly!
I thought YOUR son was hurt and the other child was suspended.
Have you called the other childs parent and tried to discuss this? Does your son have a history of doing things like this? Is there a grievance process in the school system for disputes?
Being suspended for actions off campus is odd, unless your child is in a private school. I was reading the code of conduct for my sons school(private) and there was a clause about being removed from the school if any actions out side of school were in poor taste or brought dishonor to the school. Something to look into.
To the OP. There is no way your son would/should be suspended for something so unrelated to the school. That is crazy. Either there's something going on at school that hasn't been told or your school's administration needs a shakedown from your lawyer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sskkc
....There is a serious discrimination problem in this country that is being ignored.
sskkc, I completely agree. You left NM and went to CO. I'm in the process of leaving FTW, TX for KS. I think we're both going to be happier where we are. I won't say anything else.
Lemme get this straight. Your son nailed another kid in the eye in a public park, and you didn't immediately apologize to the family and make your son apologize to the kid he injured?
Quote:
"What should I do"
Gee, I wonder.
Maybe show a little common sense and decency to the other family and their injured child? Or is that too much to ask, seeing as how they are arabs and all?
Is the OP ever going to clarify what happened after her kid nailed the other kid with a dart? I have a feeling the answer is negative, which leaves me to believe that there is much more to this story and that proper amends were never made. I hope that poor kid recovers, as a dart to the eye sure sounds painful.
I don't think just because something like this happened that it is automatically a racial issue, that is just an easy excuse to throw out there and call something a "foul". There is obviously something missing from the story. If someone hit one of my kids in the eye with a dart, intentionally or unintentionally, I do believe an apology is in order and it falls on the parent to make sure that an apology does take place. Seeing if the child hit is ok, and making that apology take place, perhaps could have prevented this. Any parent, regardless of their racial background, has at least one thing in common where their child (ren) are concerned and that is to protect them and take every step necessary to do so. Considering this happened on a Sunday during non school hours, I honestly don't see why the school is getting involved, unless the parents fear for their childs safety during school hours. Personally, I think it's ignorant, in a way to just assume that all of this is happening because the boy injured here is a minority. I don't care what your ethnic background is, what your religion is or isn't, or if you have an accent or not, it's probably just a case of one parent trying to protect their child. I could be wrong, as I don't know all the details, but that certainly doesn't mean the whole thing was done due to racial pressure to automatically protect the "minority". Who cares what color your skin is, people are people, stop dividing everyone up into what they look like, a person isn't their race.
I can't really give the OP any advice until she gives up more info...Why did her son hit another boy in the eye with a dart??? Was it an accident or on purpose? Either way, she should have immediately apologized to the family and have her son do the same to the boy. Anyway, all these points have been brought up...its time for the OP to fill in some of the holes in her story so she can get better advice.
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mom.
JK...
