What is the name of your state? Arkansas (Home of Monster Tornadoes)
On February 4, a boy at my son's school managed to verbally harass, threaten, slap, shove, kick, punch and beat with a stick four of his classmates in less than an hour. These are 6th graders all.
This boy verbally harassed three boys. Of those three, he physically assaulted two, plus one girl.
By verbal harassment, I mean calling boys who are gymnasts or dancers or who have musical talent names like "*****", "******", "mother****er" and "****sucker". And commands like "Run, fat ass, run" to one of the bigger, smarter boys. And, to the gymnast, "Your push-ups suck. They're gymnastics push ups. Gymnastics is a girlie sport." It turns out that this verbal harassment has been going on relentlessly for a couple of months.
By physical assault, I mean slapping the big smart boy in the face when he is unable to run faster (with a little more verbal thrown in for good measure, "How'd you like that slap, fat ass ******?"); shoving another boy into a mud puddle; whipping a girl in the face with a jacket when she tries to intervene; pushing the mud puddle boy down on the ground and, while this boy is on his hands and knees, kicking and punching him in the ribs, and beating him on the back with a fallen tree branch; causing him to spit up blood and hyperventilate.
When he first picked up the big stick, bully boy threatened to "bash" the "faces in" of all three of the boys I mentioned above, those he had been verbally harassing. If it hadn't been for mud puddle boy tackling him and biting him in the back, he would have brained big smart boy: he was aiming the stick at the head of big smart boy, according to big smart boy, mud hero boy, and gymnast boy. Big smart boy says that if it weren't for mud hero boy, he'd be dead.
This is a rural school, and the walk they take between the high school (around which they run laps) and the middle school goes up a long, steep, wooded hill that is completely adult-free. This is where the incident took place. P.E. is unsupervised lately, too. Coach is most generally not available to run to and tell. When big smart boy went for help, the front office of the middle school was uninhabited, and the teachers were behind a locked classroom door.
School officials deemed the incident a scuffle and gave bully boy and mud hero boy five days of in-school suspension. Big smart boy got three days of in-school suspension for trying to block the stick with his lunch tote and for not going for help soon enough. Bully boy admitted to using the stick - in self-defense, he claimed. He was even allowed to go out and retrieve it. For all I know, the stick - or should I say "a" stick - remains there on the vice principal's desk.
Anyway, gymnast boy was deemed innocent and got no punishment. And though he was not physically assaulted, he was called nasty names, threatened with the stick, and emotionally traumatized from seeing his 3 friends assaulted.
All of this spilled from gymnast boy's mouth when I picked him up from school. He was blown away by what had happened. Big smart boy's mom called me and said her husband, while picking up big smart boy from school, encountered and questioned the principal about the incident. The principal, who was just then getting off work and into his red corvette, said he wasn't going to talk about the incident right then and that the vice principal was gone for the day.
Big smart boy's mom and I decided to go to the town marshal and file a report that would consist of what our sons had told us happened. The Marshal categorically refused to do it. He insisted that proper procedure was for him to wait for the school to contact him. Until then, he assured us, he wasn't about to file any reports for anyone that had anything to do with the school. We left the town marshal with no police report.
The next morning, the superintendent assured us that unsupervised areas of the school would become supervised. The vice principal assured us she was in the process of filing a report to local law enforcement authorities, under Act 1520 - a report that WE would NOT be allowed to see, she assured us. The School Resource Officer assured us that she was in the front office (break room) when big smart boy came looking for help. The principal sat low in his chair with a red face and said not a word.
Last Tuesday (the 12th), I phoned the town marshall to see if a report had been filed. He replied that no, of course no report had been filed, the school's taken care of everything and it's over and done with. I replied that I still wanted to file a report. He became very hostile and defensive, and after doing his best to discourage me from filing a report - to no avail - he hollered, so loud that big smart boy's mom heard him from across the room, "WELL YOU JUST COME ON DOWN THEN AND WE'LL FILE A GOTDANG REPORT!"
Uh, yeah... I'll be right down.
{Sidebar: Bully boy is a football player and, as the reporter said on "48 Hours Mystery" last Saturday night, our little all-American town is "football friendly". But my anger is not at the kid, it is at the power structure of the town, that will cover up this incident for God knows what unfathomable reasons and, in effect, block this kid from getting the help he so desperately needs. All this bullying he's doing is essentially a cry for help. They ignore his cry at their peril, as well as that of his future victims. Is my opinion.}
Well, I didn't go right down to the marshal's office. Didn't feel like putting my hand on that stove again. I steamed... and I fumed... for two or three days. I made an appointment with a private attorney. I spoke with the prosecuting attorney's office and got affidavits to fill out. I left a message for the mayor. I left a message for the president of the school board. I left a message for the county sheriff. The mayor and the school board president still haven't returned my calls. But the Sheriff did, today.
Today, the Sheriff filed two reports, one from me and one from big smart boy's mom. He's initiating the investigation we feel is no necessary.
So, how come I suddenly feel so ambivalent about it all? I'm sick and exhausted. And, really, I'm scared to death.
Any thoughts on the legalities of it all? Should I keep my appointment with my attorney?
On February 4, a boy at my son's school managed to verbally harass, threaten, slap, shove, kick, punch and beat with a stick four of his classmates in less than an hour. These are 6th graders all.
This boy verbally harassed three boys. Of those three, he physically assaulted two, plus one girl.
By verbal harassment, I mean calling boys who are gymnasts or dancers or who have musical talent names like "*****", "******", "mother****er" and "****sucker". And commands like "Run, fat ass, run" to one of the bigger, smarter boys. And, to the gymnast, "Your push-ups suck. They're gymnastics push ups. Gymnastics is a girlie sport." It turns out that this verbal harassment has been going on relentlessly for a couple of months.
By physical assault, I mean slapping the big smart boy in the face when he is unable to run faster (with a little more verbal thrown in for good measure, "How'd you like that slap, fat ass ******?"); shoving another boy into a mud puddle; whipping a girl in the face with a jacket when she tries to intervene; pushing the mud puddle boy down on the ground and, while this boy is on his hands and knees, kicking and punching him in the ribs, and beating him on the back with a fallen tree branch; causing him to spit up blood and hyperventilate.
When he first picked up the big stick, bully boy threatened to "bash" the "faces in" of all three of the boys I mentioned above, those he had been verbally harassing. If it hadn't been for mud puddle boy tackling him and biting him in the back, he would have brained big smart boy: he was aiming the stick at the head of big smart boy, according to big smart boy, mud hero boy, and gymnast boy. Big smart boy says that if it weren't for mud hero boy, he'd be dead.
This is a rural school, and the walk they take between the high school (around which they run laps) and the middle school goes up a long, steep, wooded hill that is completely adult-free. This is where the incident took place. P.E. is unsupervised lately, too. Coach is most generally not available to run to and tell. When big smart boy went for help, the front office of the middle school was uninhabited, and the teachers were behind a locked classroom door.
School officials deemed the incident a scuffle and gave bully boy and mud hero boy five days of in-school suspension. Big smart boy got three days of in-school suspension for trying to block the stick with his lunch tote and for not going for help soon enough. Bully boy admitted to using the stick - in self-defense, he claimed. He was even allowed to go out and retrieve it. For all I know, the stick - or should I say "a" stick - remains there on the vice principal's desk.
Anyway, gymnast boy was deemed innocent and got no punishment. And though he was not physically assaulted, he was called nasty names, threatened with the stick, and emotionally traumatized from seeing his 3 friends assaulted.
All of this spilled from gymnast boy's mouth when I picked him up from school. He was blown away by what had happened. Big smart boy's mom called me and said her husband, while picking up big smart boy from school, encountered and questioned the principal about the incident. The principal, who was just then getting off work and into his red corvette, said he wasn't going to talk about the incident right then and that the vice principal was gone for the day.
Big smart boy's mom and I decided to go to the town marshal and file a report that would consist of what our sons had told us happened. The Marshal categorically refused to do it. He insisted that proper procedure was for him to wait for the school to contact him. Until then, he assured us, he wasn't about to file any reports for anyone that had anything to do with the school. We left the town marshal with no police report.
The next morning, the superintendent assured us that unsupervised areas of the school would become supervised. The vice principal assured us she was in the process of filing a report to local law enforcement authorities, under Act 1520 - a report that WE would NOT be allowed to see, she assured us. The School Resource Officer assured us that she was in the front office (break room) when big smart boy came looking for help. The principal sat low in his chair with a red face and said not a word.
Last Tuesday (the 12th), I phoned the town marshall to see if a report had been filed. He replied that no, of course no report had been filed, the school's taken care of everything and it's over and done with. I replied that I still wanted to file a report. He became very hostile and defensive, and after doing his best to discourage me from filing a report - to no avail - he hollered, so loud that big smart boy's mom heard him from across the room, "WELL YOU JUST COME ON DOWN THEN AND WE'LL FILE A GOTDANG REPORT!"
Uh, yeah... I'll be right down.
{Sidebar: Bully boy is a football player and, as the reporter said on "48 Hours Mystery" last Saturday night, our little all-American town is "football friendly". But my anger is not at the kid, it is at the power structure of the town, that will cover up this incident for God knows what unfathomable reasons and, in effect, block this kid from getting the help he so desperately needs. All this bullying he's doing is essentially a cry for help. They ignore his cry at their peril, as well as that of his future victims. Is my opinion.}
Well, I didn't go right down to the marshal's office. Didn't feel like putting my hand on that stove again. I steamed... and I fumed... for two or three days. I made an appointment with a private attorney. I spoke with the prosecuting attorney's office and got affidavits to fill out. I left a message for the mayor. I left a message for the president of the school board. I left a message for the county sheriff. The mayor and the school board president still haven't returned my calls. But the Sheriff did, today.
Today, the Sheriff filed two reports, one from me and one from big smart boy's mom. He's initiating the investigation we feel is no necessary.
So, how come I suddenly feel so ambivalent about it all? I'm sick and exhausted. And, really, I'm scared to death.
Any thoughts on the legalities of it all? Should I keep my appointment with my attorney?
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