ACLU file suit claiming years of bullying at school (Aberdeen WA)

[FreeState]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013620698_bullyingsuit08m.html

For six years during junior high and high school in the Aberdeen School District, Russell Dickerson III said he was harassed by fellow students — fondled, stripped of his clothes in the hallway and spat on.

They leveled a litany of gay slurs and variations on the "N" word at him. They taped some of the words to his back, his backpack or his locker.

In 2007, when Dickerson was at Aberdeen High School, students created a website impersonating and mocking him and posted harassing and racist comments about him, including a threat by one commenter to lynch him.

In a federal lawsuit the ACLU of Washington filed Tuesday in Tacoma against the Aberdeen School District, the 19-year-old said he was harassed persistently because of his race and because students perceived him to be gay...

[RKP5637]

1. I'd like to see school administrators and teachers brought into court and

punished by termination of employment, stripped of credentials.

[mike_c]

3. I understand your anger and frustration....

The problem is that it really isn't the school administrator's or teacher's fault. Yes, they should do whatever they can to prevent this sort of bullying. But in the end, it's the kids themselves who do it, who are motivated to continue doing it, and who WILL find a way to prolong it no matter how teachers and administrators force it underground. The answer lies in teaching empathy and consideration from an early age, not in banning behaviors that simply cannot be stopped by rules.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. I can't tell you how many times

a student has come to me to complain he/she was being bullied and I had no idea. Bullies are sneaky. That's why it's important to snitch if you want the school to help stop the bullying.

[RKP5637]

7. I understand your reasoning and logic, but really couldn't the same be said of

crime in the street?

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. If they knew about it, yes

[RKP5637]

6. Yes, if known. Many have no one else to turn to for help. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. The no snitching culture is a huge concern

We hear from kindergarteners that they won't snitch. It starts so young.

[RKP5637]

13. Yep, and right on into the adult culture. We have so many

paradigms in this country that need a massive overhaul.

[reggie the dog]

19. well when you can get snitched on for weed

the whole legal systems seems pretty absurd doesnt it? millions of parents smoke and TEACH their kids not to snitch just because of grass being illegal. how much of what one can snitch on is just drug crime?

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Great point

Our legal system does indeed suck.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

2. K&R sad

[Warren DeMontague]

8. Harmless Hijinks.

Like waterboarding.

[reggie the dog]

9. Isnt that the same school at which curt cobain

was bullied and led him to hate jocks so much????

[RKP5637]

10. This country seems to give some a free pass on being bullies. n/t

[FreeState]

12. Yes - Kurt Cobain dropped out of the same school n/t

[reggie the dog]

18. seems the bullying problem has been going

on for some time and has had numerous victims.. perhaps even related to cobain's desire to escape through heroin for example

[Missy Vixen]

14. The young man in question was on our local news last night

along with several other students from that school. Of course, the RW'ers on Twitter from this area are insisting that he is "taking money from" the school because he dared to file suit.

When bullying is criminally punishable, schools will get a lot more serious about stopping it. Till then, hitting them in the wallet is a great thing to do, IMHO.

[KurtNYC]

15. Fondled in the hallways !? Stripped of clothing ?! Spat upon

Each of those is a specific felony crime.

WHEN WILL SCHOOLS AND THE MEDIA STOP GIVING A FREE PASS TO TEENAGE CRIMINALS AND THEIR ADULT ACCOMPLICES ? "Bullying" is such a nice word and excuses these crimes.

[Initech]

17. Mine stopped once I threatened a restraining order.

I mean it sucks that people have to resort to that because schools give a free pass to these low-life pieces of shit. That shouldn't be the case at all.

[Robyn66]

16. This needs to happen

Unfortunately it is going to take money to make this all stop. I have told my daughter's school (she has Aspergers) that the bullying she has been enduring is a violation of her civil rights and the Amercians with Dissabilities Act. Am I positive bullying fits in there? Not exactly, but it puts the fear of God in to them because they hear LAWYEr when you talk like that and then they act.

[lumberjack_jeff]

21. I've concluded that this is a cultural problem in this town.

The district needs their asses sued off to begin to deal with it.

I have a friend who is a parent and a former school board member who agrees.