Marcel and Darial Williams
Posted on 08/31/2010 11:18:40 AM PDT by a fool in paradise
Marcel Williams is plopped down on a couch in his family's duplex apartment. The stillness is unusual for the 14-year-old, who a few years ago roamed football fields as a star running back for the national champion Flagler Junior Pee Wee Bulldogs.
Since then, Marcel said he had been earning A's and B's at Buddy Taylor Middle School, where he also expected to continue playing football this year.
Instead, school just started and Marcel finds himself slouched on the couch, expelled from the classroom and the football field until next year because of something called "tea-bagging" -- a crude taunt Marcel practiced while keeping his pants on.
Marcel said the boys were horsing around in the back of a school bus on their way home. Several other kids were suspended over the incident but Marcel said he was the only one expelled.
"We were just playing. I didn't know they would take it that far," Marcel said of the reaction of school officials.
The punishment does not fit the misdeed, said Marcel's father, Darial Williams, 43.
"I'm not condoning this, but why make this as severe as it is?" Williams said. He said he has not had disciplinary issues with his son before.
"I've never had any problems with Marcel, no bullying," Williams said. "He's not stubborn."
Neither Buddy Taylor Middle School Principal Winnie Oden nor the School District's director of student services, Katrina Townsend, would discuss Marcel's case, citing student confidentiality -- that of Marcel's and the other student.
But "tea-bagging," as students call it, can be a gesture subtle enough that teachers may not even know it happened, or it can be flagrant -- a student, still wearing clothes, rubbing his crotch in another's face, Townsend said.
It's generally handled as a "school discipline issue," with a detention or a call to parents or some other action, Townsend said.
But criminal charges propel it to another level, she said.
That's what happened in Marcel's case; the taunted boy's father pressed criminal charges, Marcel and his family said.
And what Marcel called "tea-bagging," law enforcement officials called lewd and lascivious exhibition -- a felony.
The taunted student's father later changed his mind and declined to press charges against Marcel. But it was too late to stop the School District's disciplinary process. The incident went to the Discipline Review Committee, which recommends consequences to the superintendent, who makes the final decision.
"Generally speaking, for all students that have felony charges or incidents where there is a student victim on their campus, it's considered very serious," Townsend said.
Nine students were expelled from Flagler County schools during the 2009-2010 school year; all involved felony charges.
A school bus security camera recorded the incident involving Marcel but district officials declined to release it, citing student confidentiality and protecting the victim's identity.
Marcel's father said school administrators stated they had never seen such a severe, long-lasting "tea-bagging" as in Marcel's case.
Darial Williams wonders if district officials had seen other cases of "tea-bagging," why didn't they address the problem earlier, making it clear to students and parents that such behavior was happening and unacceptable?
"If you are driving down (Interstate) 95, and you see a small brush fire, are you just going to pull over and watch that small brush fire become a big wildfire?" Darial Williams said. "Any sensible person would call 9-1-1."
Marcel's family provided a copy of a police report that described the incident as lasting for "quite some time" before Marcel was "pulled off" the boy by other students.
But Marcel said no one had to pull him off. The horseplay just ran its course and ended. He said several other students were doing it, too.
"Everybody was playing around and stuff and tea-bagging each other," Marcel said. "I was messing with him and stuff and then I tea-bagged him."
Marcel said the other boy was in on the joke. Marcel said the kid he taunted was laughing and covering his face and making mock sounds of disgust.
Marcel's family also showed a reporter a note from one of Marcel's friends who wrote that the boy was laughing as Marcel tea-bagged him.
Marcel thought the whole thing was over when he walked off the bus. Until he returned to school the next day and he and the other boys were summoned to the principal's office. They were suspended. Ten days later, when Marcel tried to return to Buddy Taylor, he said he was told he was trespassing.
Darial Williams said he has talked to the other boy's father, who has agreed to help Marcel get back in school. But the father declined to be interviewed.
On May 26, district officials expelled Marcel until Jan. 11. At that time, he will be allowed to attend the eighth grade at Pathways Academy, the district's alternative school. Once teachers at Pathways are satisfied with Marcel's behavior, he will be allowed to attend Indian Trails Middle School. Marcel will not be able to return to Buddy Taylor Middle School.
Meanwhile, he is attending "virtual school" via a computer at home.
Marcel is stunned. He said when he was at Buddy Taylor there was a "national butt-slapping day" and a day to "pop girls' bra straps," which were relayed via cell phones. So the suspension for tea-bagging knocked the wind out of the running back like a well-placed hit from a linebacker.
Townsend said school personnel review the code of conduct with students at the beginning of every year districtwide.
Marcel's father said he feels his son's future, academically and athletically, is being jeopardized due to an overreaction.
"If it goes the way it's going now, it may effect his admission into a college, hopefully not, but these things tend to follow you," Williams said.
I’m having a hard time imagining boys from back in the time I was growing up doing something like this. There was certainly bullying and teasing but they would never have wanted to publicly appear to have anything like sex with another boy. Times have certainly changed.
In prison men will rape other men to show they dominate and humilate them.
Or if his dad keeps teaching him not to take his lumps when he earns them.
Lots, only they're called "diversity students".
I doubt anyone here has forgotten what it’s like to be a kid. BTW you can’t make him pull weeds or anything else like that. They can expel him, they can send him to alternative school, in house suspension, maybe a few other things, but really, there are not a lot of options for them.
Would you be so happy to let him off with a slap on the wrist if it was your kid who was attacked?
Marcel and Darial Williams
While it may have seemed like it, middle school in my day was not prison.
Same Darial Willaims (the ‘father’)?
great IDEA without capital
good morning MR.Harvey and crew.my name is Darial D Williams i live in Palm coast Florida about 30 miles north of daytona bch.i am currently employed at a sunglass&reading glass distributor in ormond bch fl.I am writting to you because I have this coworker who works in our shipping department, he has come up with a great idea for an ultimate concert idea I think you could possibly help him with as far getting his idea in the right handsor lead him in the right direction,maybe even you could give him some where too start.LETS SEE,he would like to have a concert in orlando fl. called JUST 4 LADIES TOUR with the hottest R&B singers out,hosted by you know who {Y-O-U] he is very motivated just not finace ready,now tell isnt that something our women need and of course the GUYS have to gain from this also..WHAT DO U THINK?can you help this brother out?ph.#386-673-4966 work name is Anthony jackson [shipping dept. THANKS in advanced
Posted By: 2b4real, on Tuesday, February 23, 2010
See how well they’re being conditioned to participate in homosexual activity? Nothin’ to see here, everybody’s doing it ... Blech.
Lovely.
Doesn't this school have a student-parent handbook that they distribute prior to school starting? The schools around here all have these manuals, where behaviors such as these would be be outlined as inappropriate and most likely sexual harassment. These handbooks are supposed to be signed by both parent and student, indicating an acceptance and understanding of the expectations and rules. The disciplinary steps are also outlined. If there is a "zero tolerance" type of policy at this school for incidents of this nature, that would explain the "severe" punishment.
That being said, if this punk were to do this to one of our boys, I am quite certain I would have to hold my husband back from rubbing this kid's face in something else not altogether pleasant.
Jesus...kids did a lot of things when we were growing up but today...it’s vile. Plain vile. I wonder if the victim was smaller than the guilty party? I’m sure the guilty party wouldn’t have gotten away with that with a larger, bigger boy. Just having fun? Yes, at someone else’s expense and besides...where the hell is your own self respect to even do something like that??????????????
“That sounds like freaking sexual assault to me!”
Sounds like typical jock behavior. They do it because they can get away with it. I’m sure they all thought it was a real laugh-riot.
Too bad there wasn’t a lonely 40-ish female teacher to give him something else to use his energy on.
Given that the boy who was expelled is a 14-year-old 8th grader who plays football, he's probably bigger than just about everyone in the school.
Btw, "vile" is an excellent choice of words. I'm actually surprised anything was done. Just as in prison, schools allow the bullying and sexual assault to keep the population cowed and off balance.
You know the guy he was doing it to is smaller. That’s how bullying works. It’s amazing how men with “uncontrollable tempers” only seem to lose their temper when they they aren’t going to get pummelled by a bigger guy for it. Remarkeable how “jokes” aren’t pulled on men that outweigh the jokester by 40 pounds.
What kind of idiot does not know that such behavior is not acceptable anywhere?
Hey, wait a minute. Teabagging is position #8 in the sexual positions class at the school. /s
“”I’m not condoning this, but why make this as severe as it is?” Williams said. H”
I know, he just rubbed his crotch in someone’s face. /s
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