School Bullying Council

South Jackson’s Seattle Girls’ School has a new Head of School. That’s the good news. The bad news is Rafael del Castillo is inheriting a lawsuit against the private all-girls school filed in King County Superior Court last week alleging that administrators stood by while a young girl was repeatedly bullied. The case puts the non-profit in the position of having to prove it did enough to protect a 16-year-old girl from what her lawyer says were emotionally debilitating attacks that have left her client unable to enjoy her skills as a dancer and a piano player and left her suffering “anorexia, depression, anxiety, and back problems.”

The suit seeks monetary damages to be determined by the court. In a statement posted by KING 5, del Castillo said, “We take the issue of bullying, relational aggression and cyber bullying very seriously. We invest extensive time and effort in ongoing education to address any issues of bullying.”

A video interview from KING 5 and a copy of the complaint filed in the lawsuit are below. We have redacted the girl’s last name and removed an identifying detail from the document.

Complaint

http://www.centraldistrictnews.com/2011/06/01/inside-the-seattle-girls-school-lawsuit-family-seeks-damages-for-pervasive-bullying

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Link

http://www.kirotv.com/news/28041410/detail.html

SEATTLE – The family of a teenage girl who says she was
constantly bullied at her school are suing, claiming the school
did nothing to stop it.

Olivia, 16, says she was made to feel by Seattle Girls’ School
that the bullying was her problem. She claims that one of the
teachers even told her to “man up.”

“SGS was sort of like a battle zone. It was like prepping myself
for war,” she said.

Seattle Girls’ School is a $20,000 per year private middle
school, known for its commitment to empowering young women. But
Olivia says the experience was anything but uplifting as she
claims she was physically attacked, mocked and teased just about
every day.

“I had a marker thrown at my head. I was kicked in my back. I was
taunted and teased and called terrible names.”

Names like “fat pig” and “ugly.”

“This is not at all what I envisioned for her, and it’s certainly
not what the school promised for her,” said Carol Kotonias-Ray,
Olivia’s mother. She was most bothered by how she says the school
handled it.

“Olivia got a lot of messaging while she was at the school that
she was just going to have to deal with it or it was minimized
that we’re all great girls here. Let’s just get along,” said
Carol.

So, the family is seeking unspecified damages and a firm protocol
on how the Seattle Girls School handles bullying.

“Seattle Girls’ School needs to know that bullying is dangerous
and harmful and step up and own up,” said attorney Yvonne Ward.

The head of the school said, in a statement:

“We take the issue of bullying, relational aggression and cyber
bullying very seriously. We invest extensive time and effort in
ongoing education to address any issues of bullying.”

Olivia says she is much happier in her new school, but says she’s
still haunted by what happened.

“I just want justice from the school. I want them to own up to
letting this happen. They let this happen,” said Olivia.

An anti-bullying law took effect last year requiring public
schools to have a policy to deal with bullying.

(Editor’s note: We are not giving Olivia’s last name to protect
her identity. Her mother has a different last name.)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43188984

Story Published:
May 10, 2011 at 10:54 AM PDT

Story Updated:
May 10, 2011 at 5:29 PM PDT

SEATTLE — A 12-year-old girl who prosecutors say sought revenge by bullying a former friend with her own Facebook account pleaded not guilty on Monday.

The girl has been charged in juvenile court with first-degree computer trespass and cyberstalking.

The girl, along with an 11-year-old girl also charged in the case, were classmates at Issaquah Middle School with the 12-year-old victim.

The three were friends but had a falling out that prosecutors say spilled onto Facebook.

The two girls who have been charged allegedly logged into the victim’s Facebook account and edited pictures to depict a knife pointing at her head, drew devils horns and added word bubbles reading “I’m a slut.”

Using the victim’s account, the girls posted comments on other profiles saying “Have sex with me,” and soliciting men for oral sex.

“I was hurt and sad and very angry,” Leslie Cote said in an interview last month.

KOMO News normally does not identify crime victims, but Leslie and her family chose to discuss the incident that she says left her crying and unable to sleep for weeks.

“Some people looked at me differently, and then judged me differently now because of what happened,” she said.

Leslie said the former friends had access to her Facebook account because she had accidentally saved the password in the web browser on one of their computers.

When police confronted the two girls, both allegedly admitted they accessed Leslie’s Facebook account without permission because they were mad at her.

“This case reveals the dark side of social media sites used by young people,” King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said in a news release. “Many kids think that on a social media site that their actions will be anonymous and that they are free to use it as weapon to bully, harass, and intimidate another person.”

The 11-year-old girl who allegedly took part in the scheme has not been arraigned. A hearing has been scheduled for later this month for a judge to determine whether the girl understands that her actions were wrong.

According to the King County Prosecutor’s Office, state law presumes that children age 8 to 11 are not capable of committing crimes.

The judge also ordered the 12-year-old not to have contact with the victim, either in person or online.

If convicted as charged, the girls could serve up to 30 days in juvenile detention.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/121577664.html