Dad Protests for Son Suspended After Standing Up to Bully

yahoo ^ | October 15, 2012 | KEVIN DOLAK

[grundle]

A Texas dad who recently returned from a year in Afghanistan spent his time at home picketing his son's middle school after the teen was sent to another school for standing up to a bully he says had been harassing him for years.

Randy Duke, who trains police officers in Afghanistan, has found himself spending his days back in Victoria, Texas, wedged between two pieces of poster board with the phrase "BULLYING VICTIMS ARE PUNISHED HERE" emblazoned on each side. The 48-year-old dad spent hours each day wearing the signs and picketing outside of Cade Middle School.

"The school administration assessed the situation, and gave what I believe was a harsh punishment," Duke told ABC News. "They looked at this as a fight -- which it was not. Had it been, in-school suspension would be an appropriate punishment."

Duke's 13-year-old son Max said he hit his breaking point after another student stomped on one of the expert paper airplanes Max had made and given to a classmate with special needs.

"My son said, 'why would you do that?' and the kid shoved my son. Max shoved back, and an altercation continued," Duke said. "Max has been working hard to stay away from him, since he had been confronted by him and other kids before. They would use racial slurs – saying 'we don't like you because you're white.'"

Accodring to Duke, a teacher said both Max and the other teen were able to get blows in. After the fight was broken up, Max was subjected to the school's policy on fights within the school -- a two-day suspension, after which he was sent to Victoria's Mitchell Guidance Center – an alternate school where students are sent through metal detectors, given pat-downs before entering and even have their fingernails checked.

[TexasRepublic]

“I don’t think there’s even a term to cover the dangerous, heretical notion that there exists a boy who would prefer not to fight!”

Say what? Did you forget a sarcasm tag? I was not a brawler and preferred not to fight. My meekness seemed like an open invitation to the bullies. Then, fight I did. I knocked out teeth and generally drew blood. My parents taught me, never start a fight, but finish them. A few irate mothers called my mother to say I had knocked out their angels’ front teeth. Mom said, “then tell your boy to stay away from mine” and hung up. Thank God, lawyers were not resorted to back then. I have a hatred for bullies of any type.

[Secret Agent Man]

and so chimes in a woman who thinks she knows what it is to be a teenage boy harrassed by the same bully for years.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

*snicker*

I see you doubled up on your sarcasm supplements today. :)

[JimRed]

Max has been working hard to stay away from him, since he had been confronted by him and other kids before. They would use racial slurs – saying 'we don't like you because you're white.'"

I wonder how many local print and broadcast media reports had that little tidbit deleted?

[SoldierDad]

These so-called “anti-bully” campaigns aren't aimed at bullying behavior. They are aimed at any behavior which makes any student “feel” bad. Today mild teasing is considered bullying. While I agree that student misbehavior at all levels should be addressed, calling all such behavior bullying is ridicules. All this is doing is making schools institute zero tolerance actions (suspensions/expulsions) against students unnecessarily.

[SoldierDad]

When my youngest daughter was in first grade (she's now 27) a third grade boy for weeks bullied her and her younger brother. He would pull her hair, trip her and her brother, and push them to the ground. After trying to enlist help from school staff over those weeks, without success, my daughter took care of the boy herself. One day he attempted to bully them again. She grabbed the boy by his hair and dragged his back across the blacktop, scraping his back up nicely. She also took some hair as a souvenir. She received two days of school suspension. The boy never bothered them again.

[Politicalmom]

Wow. You are brave to forgo your sarcasm warning. LOL

[Tax-chick]

The sarcasm tag was in the Invisible font.

[dangerdoc]

I got expelled for tuning up a bully in high school.

The principal expelled me, the superintendent of schools changed it to a suspension because he knew the kid had it coming but was still pretty hacked I did it in the school during school hours.

Sometimes you just have to take your lumps.

[Tax-chick]

I’m liberating my inner John Semmens. Lots of people believe his satires are straight news ;-).