Posted on 10/12/2010 3:43:30 PM PDT by EBH
Now two families — including the Vidovics — are suing the school district, claiming their children were bullied to death and the school did nothing to stop it. The lawsuits come after a national spate of high-profile suicides by gay teens and others, and during a time of national soul-searching about what can be done to stop it.
If there has been soul-searching among the bullies in Mentor — a pleasant beachfront community that was voted one of the "100 Best Places to Live" by CNN and Money magazine this year — Sladjana's family saw too little of it at her wake in October 2008.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
I think the general impression most of the rest of us developed was that a bully was being a bully to “get attention”. They were neither the brightest, the most sociable nor the most athletic. Over time, shunning them and ignoring them isolated them and kept the situations where they could express their bullying to very few occurrences. As we all got older - into High School - they simply became loners or had their own little group of misfits they socialized with. A couple were sent to “reform” school and never returned.
A think a good start would be to re-institute reform schools. I think the sad truth is that not all kids can be taught to behave in "polite society" and the other kids deserve to NOT have their lives and educations disrupted by incorrigibles.
bullying has indeed been around for a good long time, and in the past has contributed to suicide as well.
One big thing that is different today is the around-the-clock access kids have to one another.
It used to be - you could be bullied at school, and then get a break.
Go home - find solace with your family - and friends.
But now? They get bullied through the phone on the bus ride home. If they put the phone down - it’s because they’re on a social networking site - getting bullied.
This is exaggeration for most - but not for some.
This isn’t just a school issue - the school’s authority ends at the school. Bullying that goes on at school continues at home.
Are school officials “to blame”? Are parents?
And the kids themselves?
Add in the factor that our culture becomes more vulgar - more “edgy” everyday.
Maybe if people quit with the lawsuits and start working the problem together - we’ll get somewhere.
But alot of people want to place blame in an effort to deflect it from themselves.
Alot of people don’t want to deal with the hassle of limiting their child’s access to gadgets.
Don’t forget copycats...our high school warns of this phenom.
Kids thrive on this drama.
the other day my son, who is a senior heard about a kid in his school who was getting tortured by bullies and had his entire school life. he found out who the kid was, grabbed a couple of his football defensive line buddies and let the bullies know they would not be picking on this kid anymore or they’d have a problem with the football team!
you are NOT kidding! They’d have to pull me off the bitches with handsfull of their hair. damned the consequences.
what could they do to you that is worse than burying your child?
exactly. my son was being bullies. he took it for awhile. I told him to defend himself and he wouldn’t get in trouble with us...but probably with the school.
finally, one day he had enough. bully poured a gatorade over my sons head and he cleaned the bullies clock!
hasn’t had a problem since. actually he’s become quit a bit more popular.
sorry folks. violence works.
yes they do - and we did have that sort of thing locally.
And then useful discussion gets lost in the blamegame.
Thank you for your insights.
Calling someone a bully is easy.
Why is it not just as possible the Homosexual Teens were acting like a thug Posse themselves shoving their “Lifestyle in everyone else’s face”. Then when other non-homosexual students got a bellyfull they gave back what they had been getting..
My sympathy is for the majority of students that have to put up with aberrant behavior and are told them must do so in order to be “tolerant”. When those preening and prancing make no effort to accommodate anyone else and demand their behaviors be redefined as right and proper.
W
You make some great points, Scotswife. Hm. Lots to think about as my children are becoming more tech-savvy ...
6 deaths in 2 years all at the same school...?
I can’t just blow that off. Something very bad is going on within this school.
The 2007 stats indicate for this age group appx. 7 suicides per 100,000.
This situation is way above average. I don’t believe a lawsuit is the answer here. There is something else going on and it is going to take a darn good investigator to crack it open.
I live in northern Ohio, not far from Mentor High. Most gay high school males around here are loners who are shunned and isolated by the other guys. And then bullied unmercifully if they don't defend themselves, which they often don't do. They are not generally in your face because they don't want to be found out. They are usually timid.
Might be a lot different in SF.
Yes, it does. My son was short and scrawny in elementary school. One kid became his bully. Our son didn't want to hit the kid because he figured the kid would destroy him.
The school was no help. They had parents as helpers in the schoolyard, but they stood on the sidelines talking and totally ignored what was going on. The bully took my son's hat. They told him to go take it back. He couldn't catch the kid and ended up with other kids laughing at him.
They got the kids together and asked my son what he might be doing that caused the other kid to pick on him! When I heard that, my wife and I went in and told the principal off! She said she would see what she could do.
Of course, the bully just kicked it up a notch. One day he was trying to stick twigs in my son's ears! My kid spun around in anger and accidentally caught the kid on the side of the head with his elbow. The kid hit the deck, nearly unconscious.
After that my son became the bully's hero. He always wanted to hang around with him and never ever bothered him again. I guess the bully just wanted someone to kick his ass.
Sad Bump
Sadly, looks like the feds are going to get involved.
“If school administrators fail to properly deal with harassment based on gender, race or other issues, they risk being cited for contributing to a pattern of civil rights violations that could, in extreme cases, lead to a cut in federal funding,”
From a CNN story about the subject
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