I got you now you little turd.

[ditchdj]

The last day before winter break this little punk kid on the school bus decides to harass my 11-year old daughter by writing on her arm with a pen. It escalated into her slapping him for refusing to stop writing on her arm and him stabbing her with the pen, cutting her on her scalp and her forearm and punching her in the forehead, leaving a knot on it. When she got off the bus she was in a lot of pain so I called the cops and had a police report filed. The cop told me the law probably wouldn't do much since she wasn't seriously hurt so I told the cop that I just mainly wanted it documented legally in case this becomes ongoing because my next step would be to sue the little bastard's parent(s) in court for assault and harassment.

So, my wife tells the bus driver yesterday. The driver says they'll get the tape.

Then, yesterday, an officer calls me, saying he's on his way to the school and asks if I wanna press assault charges or just have the school handle it. I just tell him I'll just let the school handle it. Later at home my 11-year old tells me the principal talked to him and he lied about the whole thing and then the principal told the kid he knew he was lying and my daughter was telling the truth because he saw the tape. So, he hasn't been on the bus since and my daughter heard that he's got an in-school suspension.

So, if he tries anything else again I WILL press assault charges and I'll have a mountain of documented evidence to OWN his ass! An attack on my kids is the same thing as an attack on me. Go against me and I WILL take out all my weapons to shut you down! May the Lord have your soul because I WILL have your ass! :devil:



Oops you might wanna move it "Off Topic". I got a little too carried away thinking about the whole thing and posted it in "sightings".

[Anakah]

Had you not gone through the school and pressed charges instead would his punishment have been worse or just a slap on the wrist? He stabbed her with a pen... I think right there they should have done more than they did. Either way, the kid should have been expelled.

[HorrorFrogPrincess]

*scootches well out of the way*

Papa Bear's in full Rawr mode.

[Amina516]

How did it go from "we probably cant do anything" to "do you want to press charges"??

And hell yes I woulda pressed charges after getting (or a family member) STABBED with a pen!!!

Keep us updated on what happens.

I hope your daughter is ok. :)

[Greenday]

Had you not gone through the school and pressed charges instead would his punishment have been worse or just a slap on the wrist? He stabbed her with a pen... I think right there they should have done more than they did. Either way, the kid should have been expelled.

I'm with Anakah, that was a slap on the wrist. I managed to get four kids a week of out of school suspension for continually harassing me. Then they had three weeks straight of central detention. If someone stabbed me, I'd have taken their asses to court so fast they wouldn't have known what hit them.

[ditchdj]

I'm kinda hoping to scare the crap out of him and let him know that I've got him by the balls. Hopefully this will make an example out of him and let the rest of the student body know not to mess with my daughter. He knows he's a inch away from being cooked: I've got documented evidence on him, including a videotape, so he KNOWS he can't play the "I didnt do it" card. I essentially yanked that card of out of his hand, so he has no other cards to do an about-face with. And if he does it again he's done with.

[PepperElf]

i'd recommend making sure she stays well clear of him on the bus once he gets back

perhaps ask the driver to keep an eye on things

and part of me does want to ask
why didn't the driver stop them?

... hell back in my day the driver would hit us (tap on the head with his fist) if we got out of line. not that his actions were legal... but dang, it sounds like the driver ignored it completely

[tollbaby]

He might've been busy.... y'know, driving ;) (sorry, I couldn't help it!) I once got hit in the back of the head with a high-heeled shoe by another student, and the bus driver never saw a damn thing. And unfortunately, some of them are just there for the paycheque and don't care what the kids get up to.

[PepperElf]

well it is kinda hard to book an 11 year old but then the parents would be liable.


and for driving... maybe it's cos we had a country route... the driver wouldn't have any trouble stopping the bus on the side of the road to yell at us. i imagine city routes would be more difficult.

hmmm maybe that's an idea... does the school have any rules about cell phones? can't hurt to ahve a phone to call 911 with.


and it's slightly off topic but i remember a story about a school with a problem student who was sexually abusing other students. four parents approached the school after receiving complaints from their children and the school did nothing... they told the fourth parent "we can't do anything, do it yourself." So... he did, he called the police and filed charges and the sexual offender was handled by the law, and I believe the school was in some deep shit for ignoring the original complaints.

in my experience the schools don't often take real actions in cases like that. although parents expect them to keep the kids safe, many schools don't enforce laws unless they directly apply to them (like funding and stuff like that)... in cases of student-on-student abuse all they really can do is suspend or expel... and I don't know if they lose any funding for those actions, but ... it might be a factor, especially when dealing with the parents of the guilty student. and many schools will also do coverups if the incident may give them a black eye (such as teacher-on-student harassment, including sexual harassment/abuse).

in fact while i was at school, i only know of two cases where the school called the police in themselves. Once for a bomb scare and one for a student bringing in a gun to school. There was a third case where a student was cuffed and taken out of school for drug possession, but... the arresting officer was his own father, so that's a bit different. For regular fights... other than breaking them up, the school didn't give a rats behind about legal punishments, and that's only for the fights they broke up. If they didn't see it, they had no involvement whatsoever.

In my opinion if the situation is bad, it's best to deal with the police yourself instead of relying on the school to do it for you. The school has often have other interests at heart and may not handle it the way you want them to, or the way they should.

[taxguykarl]

Next time, you know to press charges since the school seems unwilling or unable to deal with situations like this properly. Definately. School discipline (especially concerning a protected class) borders on a contradiction in terms. Tollybaby may be right about the bus driver, they do have to watch the road to avoid accidents.
If the kid had stabbed a teacher with a pen, cutting them on the arm and scalp and then punched them in the forehead, what would the school do, I wonder? (I mean, the school would have to handle it, because the teacher wouldn't have "seriously been hurt", and therefore the law would be of no help in that case, right?)

My retired teacher mom related several incidents (understand she was also a union rep) where the school district pressured teachers to drop criminal charges agaist students who vandalize their (teacher's) houses and vehicles or even assault them.

[fma_fanatic]

Honestly, having been bullied all throughout my school years and been hurt a few times by my so called classmates, I would have LOVED to have pressed charges against them for what they did to me. But my school was stupid with the "kids will be kids" bullshit mentality. There's a fine line between kids being kids and assault. This is clearly a case of assault.

You should have pressed charges. Granted it is hard too book an 11 year old, but that is what juvi is for. The parents have to pay and believe me, after a stint in juvi, the kid will most likely never do anything like that again. Depending on the judge he got, he might have even been taken to the youth authority until he was of age (either 18 or 21 depending on the state).

My sister went through hell with her oldest son and he eventually was sent to the youth authority until he was 21. He's still something of a terror, but he's grown up some too.

I wonder if it's not too late to change your mind and press those charges....

[Evil Queen]

How did it go from "we probably cant do anything" to "do you want to press charges"??

They probably discovered that he's done a violent act like this before.

[Slytovhand]

Honestly, I think you've done the right thing. If little shit tries something again, nothing stopping you from pulling up that original incident in the future (statute of limitations thing will give a few years at least!). Especially if you have the evidence (more than just the video, I hope... like doctor's reports etc??).

Hopefully, what you've done will scare the crap out of him, and things will be a lot better. Cos, if they're not, things will be a lot worse for him :p

As for what the school does - what can they do outside of the actual school grounds?/ (real question there - not rhetorical).

[KiaKat]

I believe the school is also responsible for anything that happens on the buses, as they are responsible for the kids from the time they step on the bus in the morning until they step off in the afternoon.

[bainsidhe]

You know, this post is interesting. Where do you draw the line between where/how much a school can & should get involved? This happened on school property (bus), so my first reaction is to have the school crack down on this kid. But what can they really do? They are a school, a place to educate, not police. I hear so many stories of bullying where the school should have become involved, yet didn't and are now being sued. The school has a responsibility to protect their students, yet they are not parents and these are not their children. Some things can be done, yes, but you can't usually force students to play well with others.

Contacting the police here was definitely a good move. For one thing, police and parents can and do have the ability to discipline children beyond a mere school suspension and threatening words. Involving the police also changes the situation from "Susie's parents are whining about a little disagreement" to "Hey, you just assaulted my kid AND are old enough to face the consequences". I think the key bit of evidence here is the video tape. Without the tape, much of the assault could be brushed off or misdirected. I'm assuming that's why the officer felt charges couldn't be pressed. That and you're dealing with minors. Guess what, video evidence changes things. I love the idea of videos on school buses for this reason.

OP I wish you and your daughter luck. Hopefully this is enough to startle the kid straight. I'm just concerned about an eleven-year-old punching a girl in the face and stabbing her with a pen. No way was that "accidental".

[BookstoreEscapee]

As for what the school does - what can they do outside of the actual school grounds?/ (real question there - not rhetorical).


The bus is part of their "jurisdiction"...unless the kids take public transportation to school, the school has a responsibility to protect the students from the moment they take charge of them when they pick them up at the bus stop in the morning until they are dropped off in the afternoon.

[Gravekeeper]

Hmmm.....do schools not have liaison officers there?

We do up here. We nicknamed ours Lurch due to his immense height and hair style. He amused us. Though I doubt he would approve of us stabbing each other. -.-

[Boredom]

... wow, just wow.

[AdminAssistant]

Hmmm.....do schools not have liaison officers there?

I'm assuming that ditchdj is in the states...

Some schools here do have police officers on staff that act as security, in fact, quite a few back home do. Which is probably due to the Westside shooting, but I think it's a good idea, really. The problem is that many many MANY schools are in a budget crisis right now. Many times the the officers are cut to save money. Sad but true. Even then, I've not heard of them riding on buses, there's usually only one or two for each campus.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I never had any adult other than the driver on my school buses as a kid. I encountered my share of bullies on the bus (not aimed at me, though...I was that kid that they put the misbehaving kids next to as punishment :rolleyes:) but at least I never had to worry about getting stabbed. The worst thing ever happened on the bus in my experience was someone got their hat or books snatched and passed around. I think (around here, at least) the only buses that would routinely have any kind of extra attendant would be those transporting special needs kids who would need extra help or other attention.