South Fayette Mother wants case against bullied son dropped

The thing that bothers me the most is that there are NO consequences for the bullies - they might as well have given them a green light to escalate their behavior.

I understand the weird PA law regarding recording, but seriously, what was he supposed to do? What recourse did he have?
BFFT - I wholeheartedly agree with you!! You want to take bullying seriously - it can lead to horrible things happening if kids feel unheard and lash out in what they see as self-defense. Recording the bully was a responsible, healthy thing to do!! Even if they wanted to discourage/punish the recording, they needed to go after the bullies and protect this kid. EXTREME irresponsibility on the school's part. Shame on them.

I dealt with my youngest son being bullied. He is medically fragile with a congenital heart defect (three open-heart surgeries) and the bully, after repeated warnings, threatened to hit him in his scar as hard as he could (luckily he did not actually do it). Even with zero-tollerance and helpful teachers/staff, bullying still happens. We homeschool now and are both happier for it.

Anyway, I feel for both the boy and the mother - no one should go to school fearing emotional or physical abuse. This is a special needs kid!! The thought of my eldest son, with severe autism, being bullied makes my blood boil.

The kids who did this need to see some punishment - what are they, "Untouchable?"

- AB

Above, if you look at the history of all the people who are bullied, most cases nothing is done to the bullies unless something crazy happens..

I guess it all comes down to whether you want to be a good little nazi and obey the letter of the law and claim you were just doing what you were told or do you follow the spirit of the law and do what you believe is morally right?

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


Amen Brother!

It's better to teach your children to defend themselves and then we have to back em up as parents.

I teach this to both of my sons and it has prevented more violence then any other tactic I have seen. The kids at my local HS know that my son will throw down if needed to save his backside, but will never instigate anything. And he knows I'll be right behind him defending him till the end.

ETA: This isn't a bully problem..It's a parenting problem. Bullies have always been around.

reply to post by ThichHeaded


Yep. That's why I homeschool. I wasn't going to wait until we were in the ER regretting my decision to allow him to stay where he might be in danger.

I guess I just have a problem with the lack of justice in this. I know you do too. It SHOULD be the jerks and bullies paying the price, not their victims...

peace to you,
AB

reply to post by AboveBoard


I think I need to talk to you tomorrow.. Homeschooling...
Mind if I send you a message sometime tomorrow? I have to wait for my wife to be wit me..

This is an issue that is near to my heart.

I was, up until about age 12, a victim of bullies, too. ...and I have a Knight in shining armour complex that'll probably get me hurt one day...I despise bullies.

This kid did nothing, not one damned thing, wrong. ...and for the school board to say he did says much more about them, and it's nothing good, than it does about this kid.

Against the law? Maybe. But sometimes the law is, to paraphrase, an ass. What choice did this kid have? None, as I see it. He didn't bring a gun to school, he didn't walk up to the bullies, as I did, and kick 'em right square where they live, then punch the ever livin' crap out of them until he got pulled off...

When my parents were called? My mom gave me a hug, and my dad essentially told the principal that I'd do it again, if something wasn't done to stop those kids.

Kudos to this kid, and his mom. ...and nothing but contempt for the teachers, administrators, and other kids for not helping this boy.

ThichHeaded
reply to post by BlueSkyes

 

In pa it is illegal to record someone unless you specifically state you are recording him.. Since the kid didnt say ahh I am recording this It was illegal.

Interesting...in this day and age where recording devices are getting smaller, cheaper, and just about everyone has one (say even a cell phone with apps that are voice activated recorders) it amazes me how people get mad when they are busted doing something wrong.

Simple solution for this, activate the recording device, and announce that you are going to be using it because you are in fear for your life.

People definitely act differently when they know they are being recorded on video, or audio. And if they don't like it, too bad...I think there should be recording devices of all kinds EVERYWHERE in public places, especially schools! Don't like that idea? Think it's too Big Brother? Well, I can guarantee you that people's behavior indeed will change if they know they are being recorded, and if they don't change, well there will be irrefutable evidence to their actions.

Don't believe recording devices change people's behavior? Next time you are out at a bar, and someone is getting extremely rowdy pull out your cell phone and announce loudly that you are recording everything....see what happens. Or if you are at a store and you see someone yelling at a store worker pull out your phone and announce loudly that you are recording everything! Or even just tell all your family and friends that you will have a recording device on you 24/7 and see how they react...you will be in for a surprise!

People do NOT want to be recorded (unless they are trying to be famous: reality shows, ytube/vine vids etc...pfft...). Because they know that if they are, they can get away with NOTHING! And if they do something, well you have video/audio evidence that is irrefutable.

/rant/truth

reply to post by ThichHeaded


Sure! No problem! U2U me here.
Be well and I'll talk to you later, ThichHeaded.

peace,
AB

reply to post by sdcigarpig


Recording those bullying or threatening you in any way is NOT AGAINST ANY REAL LAW IN THE WORLD. Any law that is on the books that would make it so IS A CRIME AND CANNOT BE ENFORCED AND SHOULD NEVER BE OBEYED. Many legislations are not legal, they violate true common law and constitution and common sense and do not serve and protect. It is a crime to follow bad orders. The nazi's weren't protected and no government should be.

These people should lose their jobs. Including the judge who is but a minion and is not employed to enforce crimes in fact this makes the judge a criminal period.

reply to post by BlueSkyes


NSA has been illegally wiretapping phones for years and goes unscathed. When a bullied kid does it to gain evidence of the bullying, he gets slapped down hard.

Disgusting...

Thats just crazy how they want to villainize the victim.

Heres a good way to treat a bully

www.liveleak.com...

If your children are bullied and undersized/outpowered, consider:

A person who takes a bite out of another person, especially their face, will be seen as a very unlikely target.

tinner07
Thats just crazy how they want to villainize the victim.

Heres a good way to treat a bully

www.liveleak.com...

Holy hell, if I seen someone attacking one of my sons like this little b**ch did, I'd have her arrested for touching him. It's on video, proof she started it....poor kid, enough is enough, and he probably had it. Kudos to the boy for fighting back!!

triblive.com...

“Pennsylvania courts have recognized that (students) can have a privacy interest, although it might be limited based on the need of the school to secure a safe environment,” Hermes said.
One-on-one conversations in a school might have an expectation of privacy, experts said, but taunting someone in front of a teacher and other classmates would not.
“Once you're willing to say something in front of a room full of 20 people, by definition it's no longer private,” said Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Va.


Read more: triblive.com...
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook


So it seems that the legal issue is a moot point and we can move past that and on to the main issue of a school covering up bullying in school

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

As this happened in Pennsylvania, the state laws are very clear cut. Title 18, Chapter 57, is where the state statute can be found and read.

Recording someone, with audio, is against the law in the state of Pennsylvania. That means that if a person makes an audio recording, without the knowledge of another would be guilty of violating that law. However, if it was known that the class would be under surveillance, or even recorded, then the student would not have been charged with a crime. If the recording that the student made did not have any audio, then he would have been fine.

Now here is the real problem of the case, and it is one that can make a difference. Let’s say for argument sake, that the student was not punished for making this recording. The police and judicial authorities could not use it in a court of law, or do anything against the bullies, as the evidence provided was gotten by breaking the law in the first place, and invalid in a court of law.

I still believe that the school and that class should be under investigation and watched, even put in and let all know that the school is under both video and audio surveillance, due to the allegations and suspicion of bullying happening on campus. That way it would cover and protect the school and the students who are having to record to prove that they are being in that position.

reply to post by Unity_99

The laws are there to protect the rights of everyone. While we may disagree with that the student got punished, the reality is that if you give one person a free pass, it opens a legal door that can be used by all, including bad cops. So here is the problem, if you accept evidence in a court of law to convict a person of a crime, where the law to gather said evidence was gotten illegally, can and will lead to cases where innocent persons end up in jail for years. Where the DA or a corrupt detective gathers evidence illegally and then uses it against a person to get a conviction. You can not have it both ways.

Even if the student did not get in trouble, the recording would not have been admissible in a court of law, as those who were causing the problems in the first place, their attorney would show up, and claim that it was entrapment and thus violating their rights under the applicable laws, that a warrant was not gotten or a proper investigation done with their rights in mind.

What I am stating is that if anything that comes out of this, an investigation, done legally, with all rights in mind, should be done on the school and that class, that if they can prove, without the use of the recording, that bullying was going on, then take the correct actions with in the law. But to break the law to prove that another law was being broken, does not bode well or is legal.

reply to post by sdcigarpig


As a reasonable man, I find the law (when executed in this case) to be unjust. This is the essence of jury nullification.

I am sure you see my point.

I can't believe no one has commented on this gem of a quote -

Skrbin testified that the district had records of Love complaining about students bullying her son, including an incident in October in which a student hit her son with “spitwads,” even after her son told him to stop. “To be blunt, I would not classifying that as bullying,” Skrbin said.

Really? Sounds to me like this guy wouldn't mind some people showing up and shooting him with spitwads. Not only would I consider this bullying, I would consider it assault.

When this kid snaps and shoots his school up, wonder what will they say...