Current Events & Hot Topics
Randy Duke of Victoria, TX is picketing his son Max's school with a sandwich sign. It reads, "Bullying victims are punished here." Max was bullied by kids until he'd had enough. He'd been picked on for three years, and finally fought back.
Administrators say there's no changing their decision to send Max to an alternative school for 30 days. Now Mr. Duke stands vigil outside Cade Middle School on his precious time home from Afghanistan.
Max had made a paper airplane for a special needs child, and the bullies, who he said follow him everywhere, stepped on it. According to the news story, they went at it, and guess who got punished? Now Max can't attend marching band, the only thing that was helping bring him out of his shell, his father said.
Let's send a strong message to Cade Middle School Principal Lisa Blundell. Tell her the rules need to change. Bullies should be punished. Not their victims. Send email to Lisa.Blundell@visd.net.
Sorry I'm not able to copy a link to the story. It's just not working for some reason!
Replies
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You know,more & more kids are forced to take action on their own because NOTHING is done to prevent/stop the bully and like this story,it's the victim who gets punished,this is OBSURD!!! My dd,who's in high school,has been dealing w/the same girl for months,my dd brought the actions of this girl to the school,nothing was done,my dd has been trying very hard not to knock the hell out of this girl,after all,it appears defending yourself against people who WON'T leave you alone is frowned upon and YEE SHAL PAY!!! So who's to blame for kids getting depressed,going on killing sprees,dropping out of school etc...this whole topic just pisses me off -
Wouldn't Mr. Cade be doing things for his family anyway, on his "precious" time home from Afghanistan? I just do not see the relevance in mentioning that.
Why did it take three years for something to finally be done? Was this child quiet about what was going on? Did anyone contact the school about it?
There's very little to go on.
Bullies should be punished period. However, I am curious how the child fought back?
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WOW but I see where the school is its one word against the other so both are punished. Its sad but true
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Quoting FromAtoZ:
I would need to know more about this prior to forming a real opinion.
Also, dad using his precious time while home from Afghanistan really has nothing to do with this other than for effect.
You can Google the story.
I think it says a lot about the dad. All kids need parents who are willing to go to bat for them. That was how it was reported and I'm personally fine with it. It's supposed to be a human interest story. I'm only the messenger.
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This is why many victims of bullying do not come forward... because nothing happens to the little bastards that torment them and the victims get in trouble
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Quoting MentorMom1:
Quoting FromAtoZ:
I would need to know more about this prior to forming a real opinion.
Also, dad using his precious time while home from Afghanistan really has nothing to do with this other than for effect.
You can Google the story.
I think it says a lot about the dad. All kids need parents who are willing to go to bat for them. That was how it was reported and I'm personally fine with it. It's supposed to be a human interest story. I'm only the messenger.
I realize you only posted the story.
I did google and did read a bit more about it.
I'm not saying what Dad is doing is wrong, or any thing like that. I just don't see what his job in Afghanistan has to do with any thing. I suppose some could say the child may have some issues at school because dad isn't around.....but that isn't fair.
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Quoting Lizardannie1966:
Wouldn't Mr. Cade be doing things for his family anyway, on his "precious" time home from Afghanistan? I just do not see the relevance in mentioning that.
Why did it take three years for something to finally be done? Was this child quiet about what was going on? Did anyone contact the school about it?
There's very little to go on.
Bullies should be punished period. However, I am curious how the child fought back?
Nothing would have come to light if the boy had not fought the bully. It appears no adult at the school did anything before they took action to punish him. I think is quite common for kids to "take it" from bullies. Many kids wouldn't want their parents showing up and complaining, probably fearing they'd be bullied even worse.
The school has a policy, the story said, which was known to the students. The policies at my kids schools was always that both parties would be punished. It did not matter who started it. My kids would beg me not to get involved.
In addition, children who are traumatized by violence are affected physiologically. The body releases stress hormones that often cause victims to be compliant in the face of abuse, and can even cause them to shut down. When it became too much, this boy seems to have gone into fight or flight. Fight is more common in boys.
It was a natural reaction.
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Agree
Quoting Due9:
I agree with the above reply, where the hell is the common sense in schools these days? Good for the dad for standing up for his son
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Quoting MentorMom1:
Quoting Lizardannie1966:
Wouldn't Mr. Cade be doing things for his family anyway, on his "precious" time home from Afghanistan? I just do not see the relevance in mentioning that.
Why did it take three years for something to finally be done? Was this child quiet about what was going on? Did anyone contact the school about it?
There's very little to go on.
Bullies should be punished period. However, I am curious how the child fought back?
Nothing would have come to light if the boy had not fought the bully. It appears no adult at the school did anything before they took action to punish him. I think is quite common for kids to "take it" from bullies. Many kids wouldn't want their parents showing up and complaining, probably fearing they'd be bullied even worse.
The school has a policy, the story said, which was known to the students. The policies at my kids schools was always that both parties would be punished. It did not matter who started it. My kids would beg me not to get involved.
In addition, children who are traumatized by violence are affected physiologically. The body releases stress hormones that often cause victims to be compliant in the face of abuse, and can even cause them to shut down. When it became too much, this boy seems to have gone into fight or flight. Fight is more common in boys.
It was a natural reaction.
Did it state, in another story, that the boy had not told any one what was going on over a 3 year period of time?
If there is another story out there that outlines how the school either did not know, did nothing if they where aware, what his parents did, etc., I would be interested in reading it.
I'm not saying I don't understand the boy being fed up and reacting.
I do feel both boys should have been reprimanded but more so the boy who brought about the actions of the other. I couldn't find any thing that gave any real information other than the one kid pushed the other, the one who said he was bullied was suspended and sent off to an alternative school.
Something just isn't adding up for me. Not sure what it is.
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Quoting meriana:
Part of the bullying problem lies in the fact that generally the victim is also punished. Most of the time bullies don't care all that much about being punished and they know their victim, should he/she strike back, will be punished as well. I've seen it happen any number of times. The no tolerance policy gives no room for defending ones self.
So we are indoctrinating our kids not to express themselves when someone is hurting them. As though they have no voice. When adults show no empathy, and a child has no caring "witness" who believes their story, we are teaching the child that they don't really matter. Their safety really isn't worth protecting, so what are they worth? No wonder we have so many kids to grow up to be abusers themselves.