Bully Jams Lollipop In Classmates Ear - Parents Sue

[matcom]

<snip>

The family of a Darien 8th grader who said a classmate jammed a lollipop stick into his ear, causing hearing loss, is suing his school, the pupil and the pupil's mother claiming that they failed to prevent the bullying or properly discipline the child.

The 13-year-old boy and his parents are seeking more than $50,000 for medical bills, emotional distress and pain and suffering.

According to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday, the classmate received three days of in-school suspension as punishment for the October incident.

School officials contend that they investigated the situation and punished the pupil according to district policy, although they would not discuss details.

"The principal did talk to both children when it happened ... and the discipline was more than ," said Darien Elementary School District 61 Supt. Warren Johnson.

"What we felt was that there was no willful intent to hurt each other," he said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0501060376jan06,1,2117563.story

[kick-ass-bob]

1. I'm glad I'm not in school now!!

I definitely would've been sued!

[Lavender Brown]

2. That kid is probably going to grow up to President someday

I can see it.

[DS1]

3. If that was my ear, I'd settle for medical damages + 30 minutes locked

in a room with that fucker after I was all healed up.

I'd probably shatter my knuckles in the process of delivering due justice.

[redqueen]

6. Do you think that macho talk makes you seem sexier?

Because it does. :P

[DS1]

8. I think the real question is "Do I care?"

:puffpiece:

[redqueen]

10. Ahhhhhhh

Even better!

[DS1]

13. Yeah baby! Shall we shag now or shall we shag later?

[redqueen]

4. Huzzah!

I hope this marks the beginning of the end of tolerance for bullies!

[Coyote_Bandit]

5. Nothing Frivilous About that Lawsuit

The school has the duty to provide reasonable supervision to insure the safety of its students. Apparetly they failed to do so and a student who was known to be a bully injured another student. Unfortunately, there was no mention in the article of whether the
victim was also pursuing damages from the perpetrator and his parents. Obviously, they should also bear legal responsibility.

[Bunny]

7. They are going after the boy and his mother.

from the OP:

"The family of a Darien 8th grader who said a classmate jammed a lollipop stick into his ear, causing hearing loss, is suing his school, the pupil and the pupil's mother claiming that they failed to prevent the bullying or properly discipline the child."

[redqueen]

12. I think that's probably a good thing.

Parents of bullies need to realize it's not 'just a part of growing up'. If their child seriously injures another, and they've ignored a pattern of bullying by their child, should they not have to bear some burden for that?

[Bunny]

16. Yes - the parents share in the blame.

And if some little puke did that to my kid, I would absolutely sue all of their asses. Sometimes that is what it takes for people to get the message.

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. I agree

Especially if he was a known bully, the school deserves to be sued. And the kid deserves it for sure. He caused the other kid to lose some of his hearing! I hope they sue the shit out of this kid.

[brentspeak]

9. Allright! It's about time.

Kids would cease being bullied in record-time if the teachers would actually do their job and make sure that no student in class has to deal with bullies. It's a learning-environment issue, not to mention a criminal one.

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. Only so much we teachers can do

And I heartily support this lawsuit.

We are now encouraging parents to press criminal charges against bullies. And it is working. The bullies are getting the message.

[Coventina]

11. If the victim's eardrum was pierced, that is permanent

So I say sue the little fucker and his parent(s).

Bullies are a menace and need to be taken seriously.

[Wapsie B]

14. Yeah I'd love to

pound the shit outa a bully like that. Only question I have is what the hell is going on at home for a kid to do something like that?

[hickman1937]

15. I have a problem with this.

My experience has been that bullys are usually the popular kids with a sense of entitlement. I wonder if it was the bully that ended up with the lollipop in his ear when his victim finally snapped. Just wondering.

[Bunny]

17. Well, there is absolutely nothing in the article to indicate that.

In fact, it states exactly the opposite.

[Coyote_Bandit]

18. Either Way

the school, the perpetrator and his parents should bear responsibility for the injuries caused.

[Mr.Green93]

19. and the lollipop maker.

[Coyote_Bandit]

35. Not necessarily

The school has a duty to provide a safe environment for its students - and the necessary supervision to accomplish that.

The perpetrator bears responsibility for his own actions. And his parents bear vicarious responsibility due to the fact that the perpetrator is a minor child under their supervision.

There is a causation issue that should prohibit liability of the lollipop maker (assuming of course that he was not intentionally or grossly negligent in making his lollipop). The cause of the injury was not the design of the lollipop it was the actions of the bully.

Do guns kill or do people use and misuse guns to kill? Same difference.

Almost everything can be used in some manner to inflict harm. Manufacturers absolutely should be held responsible if their product injures someone when the product is being used in the manner in which it was intended to be used. That is not what occurred here.

Perhaps this illustrates part of what is wrong with our tort system. It is more about going after deep pockets (and every pocket) than it is with affixing responsibility.

[Mr.Green93]

36. Who has the deepest

pockets? You go where the money grows.

[Coyote_Bandit]

37. My point exactly

Go after the big bucks. Justice and responsibility are irrelevant. It is greed run amok. The same disease that has brought us corporate outsourcing (which really should be a national defense issue) and supply side voodoo economics. Maybe the problem isn't the tort system. Maybe it is all of the greedy participants in that system.

I'm don't really care for big business and many/most of their tactics. But the mere fact that someone has deep pockets does not in and of itself justify making them a target. Better to crucify them for their real offenses rather than our imagined (and manufactured) ones.

If this victim recovers damages from the lollipop maker it is yet further evidence that our system really is FUBAR.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

20. What a shame that it takes

permanent physical damage to get people off their asses and doing something about this.

I had no chance at fighting the system or the assailants of my son, because his injuries weren't serious enough. I only had to pay for a few x-rays to make sure his finger wasn't broken and he didn't have a concussion or cracked skull.

At least we learned a valuable lesson...Keep your kids out of public schools in this county (Prince Georges) at all costs.

[matcom]

21. MD?

went to school in Montgomery County and that was bad enough! i can't IMAGINE PG county schools (and this was back in the 80's!)

*sigh* I guess PG County hasn't gotten any better over the years

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. That's the one...

My older boy started out ok, and actually had a terrific team of teachers in a school with a good principal in 1st grade. It all went downhill from there. The principal was transferred to another school, and the replacement was clueless. I transferred him to a better school, where he was seriously behind because of his poor 2nd grade year, and his teacher did nothing to encourage him.

We home-schooled him through 9th grade, and he wanted to try the high school experience. I never should have let him go back. I tried to get him transferred after he was attacked, and was denied even on appeal, because the reasons I gave (fear for his life, and his physical and mental health) were "insufficient to warrant a transfer".

Where were you in Montgomery? I always thought they were better!

[matcom]

24. Graduated from Magruder High - Class of '87

Gaithersburg/Rockville area. Born and raised.

it wasn't any better believe me.

i guess the county had more $$ than PG but similar situations. High School is a nasty, nasty place.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

31. I grew up in PG

and went to Northwestern...class of '76. I found that Jr. High was much worse in terms of taunting and fear of being assaulted. I wonder if they've all just gotten worse.

[Coventina]

22. I'll second that. My mother worked in the public schools.

There was one girl who was so obnoxious that she couldn't be in school for the full day. After lunch it was my mother's job to walk her home. The whole way this girl would call my mother every name in the book. Hit her, slap her, spit on her, kick her, etc. This is what she did to her fellow students as well.

One day my mother just couldn't take it anymore and she spanked her.
My mom got fired. She deserved to get fired. I'm not arguing that. But that little monster should never had been going to school. She should have been expelled. The faculty, staff and students should not have to put up with that shit.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

29. Sounds like the kid was mentally ill

and needed treatment...not to mention an entirely different learning environment.

Sometimes a "hellion" can turn out ok, if someone just takes the time to figure out how their insides work. But in our mega-conformist society, nobody in the system has that kind of time.

[Coventina]

30. Apparently the whole family were bullies

At least, the mother and older brother were just as bad as her.
Treated everybody around them with verbal and physical abuse. So, yeah, the kid was just acting out what she'd been taught at home. But it's hard to have much sympathy when they're subjecting your mum to daily abuse. Frankly, if the kid had spat on me, I would have given her more than a spanking. But then, I have a short fuse. Much shorter than my mother's anyway.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. That doesn't make any sense

You CAN press charges. It doesn't matter how serious the injuries were. And you should have. That sends a powerful message to bullies and their parents.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

32. I tried to, several times...

but the bastards didn't put the paper work through. I complained to the police department (which is notorious for its racism and incompetency), and was told to talk with Officer So-and-So who never returned my calls.

I had a meeting with the principal, with the head of security present; and I told them both that I wanted to press charges against the one kid they managed to catch. Nothing happened.

It got to the point that I couldn't waste any more energy on it...... We just had to move on.

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. That's too bad

We are encouraging parents to press charges against bullies and it really works. I have seen several bullies calm themselves down pretty quick after being dragged into the juvenile justice system. It sends a really powerful message to their parents also.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

38. That was what I hoped....

I told the principal and the security guy that I didn't even care if the kid went to court. I just wanted a cop to show up at his house to let him know that this attack wasn't kid's stuff...it was criminal behavior he could go to jail for.

But I'm afraid they just couldn't deal with their school having a public record of yet another problem. The school system in this county is far more concerned with its image than it is with substance.

[HEyHEY]

26. Good for him - if he can't hear I'm glad he sued

[SmokingJacket]

33. Stop this little shit before he runs for president.

If my kid were partially defeaned by some kid in school, I'd sue everyone's asses off.

"No willful intent to hurt each other"?

You're not supposed to even put q-tips in ears! An 8th grader knows better.