School Bullying Council

A 16-year-old girl has sued a small, private  girls’ school in Seattle, where she said administrators failed to protect her from two years of assaults, Facebook taunts and near-daily name-calling.

The girl, who wanted to be identified by her first name Olivia, said she was initially excited to enroll at the Seattle Girls’ School in 2006, a Central District middle school known for its intimate setting and math and science curriculums.

But soon after she started sixth grade, another girl slapped her at a dance for no apparent reason, the girl said. She told her teacher, but nothing reportedly happened.

Instead, the bullying escalated to frequent name-calling, profane insults on Facebook and  ostracism. She said other girls called her “ugly” and “fat pig.” They arranged “secret meetings” in the bathroom to talk about her, while she overheard them in a stall and cried. 

“Eacy day was like a war zone,” said the girl’s complaint, filed Thursday in King County Superior Court. “She was subjected to things being thrown at her head and face.”

She began to dread going to her locker, where another girl with the locker above hers regularly abused her.

‘I felt like I was suffocating’

“She would stand above me and shove my head down,” said the girl, a slight, soft-spoken teen with braces. “I felt like I was suffocating.”

But when she reported the incidents to her teachers and an advisor, she said little happened. She said they assured her that they would deal with the bullies – a group of about 10 girls – but the taunts never really stopped. She said none of the girls were suspended or expelled.

Instead, the advisor reportedly told the girl to talk to her bullies and said every grade seemed to single out a victim for bullying each year.

“Sadly, that was me,” the girl said. “She said I was going to have to man up and deal with it. It was sort of like an unavoidable thing I was going to be bullied.”

On Thursday, the 120-student school – which launched in 2000 with a Bill Melinda Gates Foundation grant – responded with a statement about its anti-bullying efforts.

But it made no mention of the complaint or the girl, now in high school.

“We take the issue of bullying, relational aggression and cyber bullying very seriously,” the statement said.

“The commitment to our students who are entrusted to us is to equip them with the necessary tools and self confidence to combat issues of bullying.”

The girl said the school’s response included a circle group for her and her abusers, in which each girl was supposed to say if they had ever gossiped about anyone.

“They had these vague, kumbaya meetings with the girls,” said the girl’s attorney, Yvonne Kinoshita Ward. “That kumbaya stuff isn’t going to work when it’s vicious bullying and assault. You need swift, clear, consistent actions.”

The abuse culminated in eighth grade in 2009, in which the girl said the locker bully kicked her hard in the back and whispered, “That hurt, didn’t it.” The victim’s mother then pulled her daughter out of school.

The mother surmised that the school – which she said charged about $15,000 in tuition when her daughter was there – tolerated the mean girls, because it didn’t want to jeopardize funding  from their parents.

“They’re dependent on the tuition and their reputation in the community, so rich donors (are) giving them money,” said the mother, who didn’t want her name used, in order to protect her daughter’s identity.

“Most, if not all, the girls involved – the parents were wealthy parents.” 

She said the pain still lingered. Her daughter,  once friendly and active in ballet, is now withdrawn and distrustful. She’s been diagnosed with depression, anxiety and anoxeria. Her back still hurts.

“I used to be lot more outgoing,” she said. “I’m not that person any more.”

Visit seattlepi.com’s home page for more Seattle news. Contact Vanessa Ho at 206-448-8003 or vanessaho@seattlepi.com, and follow her on Twitter as @vanessaho.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Teen-girl-sues-Seattle-school-alleges-relentless-1398032.php

A group of teens outside Philadelphia took video last week as they terrorized a middle school student. Now, those kids are under arrest and the video is key evidence in the case.

Upper Darby police chief Michael Chitwood said the January 11 this attack was entirely random, and a 13-year-old boy was on his way home from school in broad daylight.

Police called the group a “wolfpack” and said that despite the attach happening in public during the day, no one came to his aid.

The terrifying scenes were caught on tape of the student, who was punched, kicked, dragged through the snow, then hung in a tree and dangled from a fence.

Fox 29 has decided to only show several seconds of the tape, enough to establish that it does exist, when it does air TV coverage of this case. The victim’s image has been blurred.

For 20 minutes, seven students from Upper Darby High School terrorized the teenager in a courtyard of a nearby apartment complex. No one came to his rescue despite his terrifying screams for help.

Police have charged the teenage suspects with kidnapping, false imprisonment, reckless endangerment and other crimes.

They said the teens could have killed the teen when they viciously tried to hang him by his coat on a six-foot fence.

“They’re lucky they didn’t kill him,” said Chitwood.

Chitwood said the victim is traumatized and receiving counseling. The teenage suspects were arrest Monday morning in school and carted off in handcuffs in front of classmates.

The teens are not being charged as adults for as variety of reasons, Chitwood said.

Chitwood said the 13 year old has been a victim of bullying before. He said several of the teenage suspects have juvenile records for assault and burglary

Chitwood also praised school police for aiding in the investigation and helping with the arrests even though the attack took place off school grounds.
 

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/13111-teens-arrested-in-shocking-bullying-case