WATCH: Teen Suspended for Defending Bullied Gay Classmate ****UPDATE****

[William769]

Last edited Mon Feb 10, 2014, 09:12 PM - Edit history (1)

A Florida high schooler was suspended for 10 days after a lunchroom fight in which he reportedly stepped in to defend a gay student from a bully.

Mark Betterson, a senior at East Lee County High School in Lehigh Acres, Fla., told WFTX TV that he got involved in the fray after James Griffin, 18, threw milk in a gay student's face, called him a gay slur, and began beating him.

The victim, 18-year-old Jonathan Colon, suffered bruises to the head, but Betterson believes his intervention prevented more serious injuries to Colon. According to the report, Griffin began attacking Betterson after he jumped in to defend Colon.

"It’s not fair for somebody to get beat up for something that he is," Betterson told WFTX. "I’m not going to sit there and watch someone get bullied if I used to get bullied too."

http://www.advocate.com/youth/2014/02/10/watch-teen-suspended-defending-bullied-gay-classmate

I live in this County and if I ever get the chance to run into Mark Betterson I would like to buy him lunch & ask him how I can help him with his education of higher learning after graduation.

To you Mark Betterson.

UPDATE: Suspension has been thrown out for Mark Betterson and the bully arrested.
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/24684359/defending-student-not-expelled-for-fight-at-east-lee-county-high#.Uvl3PmeYY5s

[cyberswede]

1. Good for him!

Stupid school.

[Lost_Count]

2. All violence is bad and it can never be justified...

Welcome to the new standard of behavior in our schools that creates an entire generation of victims...

It's better to take the beating it seems... or watch someone else take it...

[Humanist_Activist]

4. Even if you just take the beating, and don't defend yourself, you can still be punished...

for "instigating" the fight. Zero tolerance is just bullshit.

[William769]

6. ...

[Humanist_Activist]

15. Having been bullied by kids all throughout middle and high schools, I'm particularly...

sensitive about it, it really does destroy your self esteem.

It took me a long time to come to terms with it, and I would like schools to be able deal with this in a more reasonable and rational way.

[awoke_in_2003]

16. So we should sit on our hands...

and let people beat other people? I don't think so.

[Lost_Count]

22. Don't confuse current policy with my belief...

If my son came home and said "Dad, I saw this kid getting the stuffing knocked out of him. It wasn't for fun. It wasn't a fair fight and I thought he was really going to hurt him. I jumped in the fight to keep him from getting really hurt. I think they are going to suspend me"

Well, I'd buy that boy a puppy to spend his week at home with and that principal and that council meeting would get an earful. I don't think it would make a whit of difference but they'd get it and in front of my boy as well.

Young men need to know what right looks like and defending the weak is one of those things and my son will know that I have his back 100% when he makes the right and ethical choice.

[awoke_in_2003]

24. I read this...

and re-read our other post. I think I just misunderstood you. You are absolutely right. My grandson got in trouble because he defended an overweight kid who was receiving a rough time. I made sure he knew I was proud of him. Luckily he didn't have to do much- he is a big kid so the others backed off with just a good shove. Bullies usually back down to people who stand up to them.

[Lost_Count]

28. Discovering that is what we've taken from kids...

[rtassi]

50. +1

[Vinnie From Indy]

3. Good for him!

eom

[LittleBlue]

5. Good. I'd be proud if he was my kid

In fact, I'd reward him.

Fuck the schools who stand by and do little or nothing. They're as bad as the bullies.

[William769]

7. Agreed.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

8. Cool! My parents used to live in Lehigh Acres. Proud of that student.

Lee County is so conservative that it is even more of a credit to him that he was brave enough to step in.

[sheshe2]

9. Kick!

[Gothmog]

10. Good Person

This child did the right thing

[proudretiredvet]

11. A kid with honor.

Please know how proud I am of you. It is great to see someone do the right thing for someone else. This is my America.

[Bluenorthwest]

12. Wow, Betterson is a hero, they should have a school holiday in his honor.

How can we send DU hearts to him?

[ReRe]

13. Ship this straight to Ellen DeGeneres...

... like NOW.

[MysticHuman]

14. Cheers to you Mark Betterson!

Thank you for taking a stand. Shame on the school for not supporting your actions.

[awoke_in_2003]

17. K&R...

This straight, but not narrow, man approves.

[Orsino]

18. Violence begets violence.

I could admire a minimal application of violence that heads off something worse, but the details of just what was done to whom and when are lacking. A willingness to put oneself in danger to protect another is pretty cool.

[Rex]

19. Fuck the school...a hero stepped up and did the right thing.

SO fucking easy to stand in the crowd and watch some helpless person get beat down by assholes. So hard to step up and do the right thing!

HERO.

[lpbk2713]

20. Let no good deed go unpunished.

That's how it seems to work out all too often.

[treestar]

21. Hope Griffin got suspended too

Good for Betterson.

[groundloop]

53. According to the update the bully was arrested for battery.

[treestar]

56. Good news

Time for bullies to face charges rather than just be accepted as part of the landscape.

[sarisataka]

23. Zero thinking policy strikes again

Kudos to the boys who are standing for what is right

[Iggo]

25. He got in a fight at school. He got suspended. Them's the rules.

That said, totally worth it.

Enjoy your vacation, Mark.

[ScreamingMeemie]

30. Some would say he got suspended for attempting to break up a fight...

...and I am guessing this school has something blather about "zero-tolerance" and "no place for hate" on it's webpage.

From the news:

" According to the report, Griffin began attacking Betterson after he jumped in to defend Colon."

[Lost_Count]

32. He could have blocked with his face I suppose...

[ScreamingMeemie]

33. It looks like that is what happened. He tried to break up the attack (I won't even really call it a

fight because it appears one-sided) and the aggressor turned on him. To me, he was suspended for getting attacked.

[LeftyMom]

45. My sister got suspended for hitting the guy who was harassing her in the face, once.

Dad picked her up and took her out for ice cream.

An ambulance picked him up and took him to the ER and then to surgery.

She had a really great week off of school.

[RKP5637]

26. K&R! n/t

[Cha]

27. Good for Mark Betterson!

[TBF]

29. Proud of Mark Betterson -

my son is only six but he's a good kid and he's also big. He's got one kid in his class who is a trouble-maker and he actually asked me if he could punch him back if he started anything. This was in reference to a kid who acts out so much that at least 2 families I know of have gotten their daughters moved out of the class by threatening legal action against the school. I told my son he should never start anything but he can finish it if he has to. We are not putting up with that nonsense.

[Wolf Frankula]

31. Can Stand Your Ground Be Used Against Bullies

in states that have SYG laws?

Of course the law will say NO, minors aren't people.

Wolf

[William769]

34. Kicking for update.

[okaawhatever]

35. K & R for bully getting arrested. Hear that Chris Christie???? nt

[warrior1]

36. Awesome

[Warren DeMontague]

37. The aptly named

Mark Betterson.

[dembotoz]

38. in 5th grade my kid took on the school bully on the playground

he defended a classmate.
I heard about it from other parents on my kids hockey team

they were very proud of him

i still am

[Behind the Aegis]

39. Now that is an AWESOME update!!!

[countryjake]

40. Suspension thrown out for Mark Betterson and the bully has been arrested!

Fantastic news!

A principled young man, brave beyond his years.

[Sissyk]

41. K&R

I don't know how I missed this early but it was worth it to see the UPDATE. Fantastic news!

[awoke_in_2003]

42. Thanks for the update. nt

[LeftyMom]

43. Mark Betterson is a hero.

[Spirochete]

44. Good kid!

Way too good for that damn school.

[flvegan]

46. Congrats to the young Mr. Betterson, with thanks.

Cheers to you and your parents, sir.

So, Griffin is 18. Charged as an adult for HATE CRIMES, anyone?

If/when convicted, fuck you little shit.

[NYC_SKP]

47. Recommended. (nt)

[Pretzel_Warrior]

48. Good to hear that update

[sakabatou]

49. Huzzuh!

[SamKnause]

51. Zero Tolerance should be renamed;

Zero Common Sense.

Thank you Mark Betterson.

[NealK]

52. I love that update!

[crim son]

54. Battery charges for the bigot.

This one has a happy ending.

[myrna minx]

55. Warms my heart.

Good on you Mark Betterson.

[They_Live]

57. Way to go, Mark!

Standing up to bullies is how you make them disappear.

[ProgressiveJarhead]

58. Betterson

His name is fitting.

[nadinbrzezinski]

59. Here is the thing. Schools will continue to hide behind zero policies

what the kid needs to do... is not quite defend his friend. It is document, document, document. And both families should then sue the school system in the courts. This will not stop until this is taken out of the schools and fought back in the only place where administrators and school officials will get it, the court system.

Bullies will continue to hide behind stupid rules until they are exposed to the wider public, or sued over. That is the only fight back school districts understand.

And I am glad this had a happy ending, but that is so rare, it probably had to do with the court of public opinion.