My Grandson was a victim of two bullies when he started High School.  He had never been involved in a situation where he had to take care of himself and was small in stature.  We looked for a solution and settled on Martial Arts.  Not only did it tesch him how to take care of himself but he gained confidence . After putting both bullies on the ground at the bus stop where they had continued to pick on him he never had any more trouble.  You would be surprised how word gets around a school.

It's a shame that parents capitalize on their children's misfortune.  Instead of teaching the children how to avoid or put a stop to bullying, the issue became one of how much money can we get.  Of course that is how lawyers get rich, as well as gain notoriety.  Bullying is a complex problem.  All participants ( that includes the audience) play a role in the problem.  I see parents bullying their children, bosses bullying their employees, teachers bullying their students, police bullying public citizens, and it is now mainstream entertainment on television.  Our roads and highways are playgrounds for bullies.  Bullying is lack of respect for one's self and their fellow man.  Bullies can not survive alone.  They need a support system.  They need permission and acceptance by others to continue bullying.  The question is: Are you the bully, the supporter, or the victim?  Most victims like being the victim, as it excuses them of any responsibilty.   

I've seen the photo of that boy, taken by the students who lured him into that room. He is completely immobilized and helpless. He is afraid.

The fear in his eyes and the sheer helplessness of his situation refutes any suggestion that this young man liked being a victim, or that he is somehow at fault here.

There is video evidence of an assault and battery, confessions, et. al.  Why aren't they in jail?  Expulsion just means they are now winning debates at Liberty or Ridgeview or Centennial.  Imagine what would happen to South High kids if they were caught with physical evidence commiting that kind of crime. 

To the argument by one parent that being called a name is somehow equivalent:  What name is as frightening as being bound in plastic, falling to the ground and struggling to breathe for 45 minutes.

And for those who think it's all worth it (to keep quiet, to endure the suffering, to cover up the crime) if their kid can excel on the debate team, its only high school.   I was the Mock Trial high school champion at Chicago's first citywide competition.  Hasn't meant much for about 30 years.

 I am very glad to see the Californian taking this issue so seriously.  Bullying is a huge reason why many students do not succeed in school and often drop out.  Sometimes kids who are bullies resort to suicide!   It's time to stop saying "Kids will be kids, " or "Ya know, these things happen sometimes," and recognize that it is a widespread, pervasive problem that must be dealt with in the open by kids, parents, schools and districts. 

There are numerous anti-bullying resources schools can access, and many of them are very low-cost.  Considering the costs of lawsuits, prevention should look very attractive.  The problem is that many times an incident of bullying is seen as just that, "one incident." Schools are loathe to admit that bullies are everywhere, and they are striking other kids every day, either physically as in this case, or more often emotionally, with the spreading of vicious rumors & cyberbullying.   Schools must take the lead in preventing this in the first place, and the first step toward eliminating the largest part of the problem is educating the educators themselves. 

Christopherv: You are correct!  The crime is, among others, false imprisonment with violence (penal code section 236/237), a felony.  The statute of limitations on this felony is three years, so this crime is still prosecutable.    Perhaps the Californian can tell us if prosecution was ever sought with the San Joaquin County District Attorney.  Did the victim&family stipulate to forego criminal prosecution in return for ca$h payoffs?  These "students" suffered no consequences.  Their parents' homeowners insurance paid all expenses of the lawsuit.  These youngsters are still laughing at everyone.

Also--there is a payday for the victim...as long as you have proof AND the right attorney---BULLIES BEWARE

I agree with the others in that I am glad the Californian posted names and details of what happened.  What these kids did, whether by taking part in the crime (that's right, CRIME) or cowardly running away and letting it happen when they could have stopped it, is disgusting and they should be behind bars.  I try to teach my 6-year-old daughter that you don't tattle for every little thing, but when you see someone getting hurt, you need to tell someone.  This should not happen.  And the fact that the parents want to protect their little bullying criminals is sickening to even read.  They got off easy with a settlement.   The poor parents of the criminals, their homeowner's insurance went up a little.

I am very glad The Californian did this story, and printed as much detail as it did. Those kids tortured that poor boy. My pulse quickened, my eyes teared and I felt like throwing up while reading how they bound him and taunted him. Those families and the school district couldn't have paid enough in retribution for their actions/inactions. And, yes, why didn't the "bullies" get charged for their crimes and spend time in juvenile hall? What those kids did sickens me, and I hope that the victim has been able to heal emotionally from the incident. If it had happened to me, I'd still be having nightmares.

Midterm,

It wasn't clear to us from the court records whether a police report was filed. We're still trying to sort out what happened on that front and we'll report what we find.

— Government team leader Christine Bedell

Anyone who is claustrophobic or has a fear of smothering can appreciate what this boy went through. 

I'd be so ashamed, and worried,  if one of my children bullied another person.   Thankfully they wouldn't.

What a nightmare. I would be so ashamed and beyond worried if these were my children. Putting aside the financial worries~ these were honor students. On a debate team. Apparently with no brains that functioned.

This case illustrates what I have been trying to say: it is not enough to instruct the victim in self protection. Hopefully he will go on and heal from this tragedy.He has all of my sympathy and best wishes.

The perpetrators are ruined now and forever. As they should be. I can't help but wonder though~ could they have been helped earlier? Undoubtedly they bullied before this and that was the time to come down hard on them. Their parents are responsible.

What a tragic loss all the way around.

I find myself repeatedly reading this story, and simply cannot wrap my head around it in anyway to understand the mentality of those who participated.  It is horrendous and considering the brutality of the attack, it makes me wonder how many other times these same criminals got away with this behavior.  I applaud the Californian for running the article, and for not hiding the names of those involved.

As a former teacher, I also wonder how many times similar acts were reported to administration, and nothing was done.  Considering my past experiences, I am confident that some form of bullying on the part of the criminals was reported, and either because of their academic standing, family name, or apathy nothing was done. 

I hope that the police and district attorney in the county where this crime occurred are investigating the matter, and that these criminals have consequences to pay that are more substantial than having their parents' homeowners insurance write a check.

Something similar happened to a friends daughter(no way near as horrific) but that was how we got an acceptable resolution~ stressing how letting the perpetrator go would only harm him if they let the incident go.

Disgusting,but that was the only way to get to a resolution "Please help the bully"~ who was a star of the football team.

How can anyone inflict pain on another creature, human or animal?  What kind of "disconnect" do they go through to think this is OK?

If I were one of the parents, I wouldn't have fought the settlement a minute.  I would have gladly paid and then given the victim my upmost aplogies.    Next, I would haul my kid off to a  counselor.

Did any of the parents or kids apologize to the victim?

It's tragic what happened to the boy on his forensics field trip. I have a couple of questions and observations.

christopherv,

Why aren't they in jail?  Expulsion just means they are now winning debates at Liberty or Ridgeview or Centennial.  Imagine what would happen to South High kids if they were caught with physical evidence committing that kind of crime.

Did you know if the perpetrators were allowed to transfer to another school in the KHSD? It seems with that level of violence directed towards the victim they would have had to go to a community school before they could re-enroll in another KHSD school. I'm also surprised that there wasn't a police investigation.  My guess is that upper middle class parents can afford lawyers, so they don't have to rely on police investigations to address their concerns, which may or may not be investigated depending on the police's priorities.

I also agree with georgieboy that it's not the teacher's fault.  Most teachers are optimistic. They are in the profession because they want their students to succeed. Unless the teacher was completely jaded and joked or was serious about implementing corporal punishment or carrying fire arms in his classroom, I doubt that he could imagine his students torturing each other.    

Did any of the parents or kids apologize to the victim?

Good question, Audrey. I'd love to hear the answer to that one. I'm guessing "no."

If I were one of the parents, I wouldn't have fought the settlement a minute.  I would have gladly paid and then given the victim my upmost aplogies.    Next, I would haul my kid off to a  counselor.

Audrey,

I completely agree. I also hope the victim received professional help to prevent his anger from the incident to further escalate. It isn't surprising, but unfortunate that he responded by calling a bystander a terrorist.  

I'm not sure if this applies in this case, but most of the time when local police receive criminal allegations that occur within an educational setting, they send the case to the school police to investigate.

Outrage is needed here. 

Fostering life skills such as respect, empathy and kindness to strangers is a critical early intervention technique.

From the Beating the School Bullies article.

Teaching the victim to perpetrate more violence is not the answer~ the programs outlined in the article are the answer.

BRAVO to TBC for such excellent coverage.

Good luck collecting..it read more like a Hazing which used to be pretty common but due to injurys and deaths Im sure those have pretty much ceased..Funs fun but they carried it too far..

The case was settled out of court~ the parents agreed to pay the little their insurance companies will pay to save themselves from paying anymore money.

Read the article.

 Most victims like being the victim, as it excuses them of any responsibilty.   

Yikes, what a comment! Having been the bullied one all through grade school until the end of 9th grade, I can assure you that NO kid enjoys hiding until the school is empty before walking home, or dreading going to school because they know what will happen. I can assure you that I hated every second of "being the victim". I used to stay up nights thinking of scenarios where terrible things would happen to those who picked on me.

Bullied kids also know that NO ONE will do anything about it. Parents say "stick up for yourself"; school administrators tell parents that their kids are exaggerating. Being bullied is not a "normal part of growing up" and it permanently alters the kids' personalities, on both sides. Bullying should be treated like the crime it is, and until bullies are made aware that their behavior is NOT acceptable, it will not stop.

dfwilliamson, so I guess it's pretty safe to assume you were a bully growing up.

The amount of money the family got will never make up for what happened to that kid. To even suggest that any victim enjoys being tortured is so beyond ignorant, I can only hope that you misspoke.

Out of curiousity, where there any female students on the trip?

That looked terrifying. The worst part was reading it and having to imagine it in my head.

I couldn't stand being around so many city kids all the time when I was in high school. Just because I wasn't bullied, it doesn't mean they weren't talking about me behind my back. There were so many kids who were into drugs, awful music and terrible things. I sat next to a girl in English class who stored drugs in the leg of her teddy bear backpack when I was a freshman. When I was a junior I sat next to a cheerleader who was drinking some jelly stuff (forgot was it was called...) in an attempt to detoxify (can't remember if that's the word...) herself before her mother gave her a drug test after school.

So thankful that chapter of my life is over and that I ditched senior year.

Hi Robin

Are you going to have any down time this summer?

And so it starts. Again

No excuses~ you said it yourself.

I agree with you that there are many side issues to this incident.  But, as you yourself admit, being bullied does not give one the right to bully back. 

1.  Why were the pictures of the incident spread around school it it was merely a case of "teaching someone a lesson".

2.  John Doe,  according to you,  bullied people by himself.  He, however,  was bullied and terrorized by a large group of people.  That makes a huge difference in the amount of fear and helplessness one would feel.

3.  The incident went on for a LONG, LONG time.   When would it have stopped if John Doe had not started to bleed? 

4.  Deciding to do something like this may be an ISOLATED incident but it speaks volumes about the person willing to do it EVEN ONCE.

5.  John Doe's acts of bullying, assuming those acts  took place, never put anyone's life in jeopardy.  

It doesn't sound like anyone learned a darned thing from this incident, if what you say is true.  Neither John Doe or his tormentors.

This story and Mike Jenner's editor's note will be required reading for my high school-age sons over the weekend.

Then we will sit down and talk about what happened, and whether they have seen or heard of examples of bullying or hazing by students on or off campus.

The primary message I want to leave with them is this: If they ever witness the emotional or physical intimidation, bullying or the infliction of terror or pain on a student, help that student. If that is impossible, tell someone in authority immediately.

Then tell me.

I don't believe my boys have been the victims of any serious bullying. I've asked. They are gentle souls, and I don't think they would ever become perpetrators. The danger point for many kids is being present when someone else begins behaving badly.

To do the right thing in that circumstance takes courage and the confidence to oppose "the group" which may include friends.

That's the message I hope all students and parents take away from this excellent example of local journalism

This is a story that should be read to EVERY student and made to sign that they understand the seriousness of these actions and the actions of others--and a copy to take back home to the parents---so thats there is no misunderstanding....

It doesn't matter what John Doe may or may not have done. You do NOT take matters into your own hands and do something that very well could have killed him. That is not acceptable and perhaps the children involved should sit down and LEARN this.

 Anyone who would attempt to defend the miscreants that did this and attack the victim, “John Doe,” is also a bully. They should be ashamed of themselves. Every defendant, including the School District, their defense counsel, and the insurance companies settled because they knew that this case was not defensible. Liability and damages were both clearly present and established. What I would like to know is why has there not been a criminal prosecution? This conduct is clearly criminal. John Doe could easily have died from asphyxiation. Is that what it will take before our elected officials will do their job? What will the civil damages be in that case? My thanks to the Californian for publishing this article and for highlighting these issues. The lesson here is that adolescent boys must be supervised and disciplined when they act inappropriately. Otherwise, it is Lord of the Flies revisited.

older,

You must have been reading my mind about Lord of the Flies. Girls can also be very bad, but in my experience if their is a mixture of boys and girls they spend more time socializing. I guess it evens out the testosterone and estrogen levels.

I agree.  Where are the criminal actions that could and should be filed?  Why is the commission of these actions during a school activity or on a school campus give the offender a pass on criminal action?  The idea they have received a lesser punishment due to their parents' status I believe is right on the target.  My father warned me Bakersfield politics have always been like this.  In 100 years things have not changed. 

Take for instance the three boys at Bakersfield High School who were transferred to other high schools for six months for bringing drugs on campus, selling drugs on campus, and being under the influence of drugs on campus.  This incident happened around the same time of the debate team assault.  The boys were allowed to and did participate in extra curricular activities on their new temporary campuses.  They transferred back to BHS after their six month "punishment".  One of them was named to Bakersfield High School's National Honor Society his senior year -- 2009.  Students who had followed the rules for the entire four years were passed over so he could receive this honor. 

I have seen students with far lessor offenses than these two examples suspended from the Kern High School District, but then their parents aren't doctors, lawyers, and business people.  Welcome to Bakersfield, where life is only fair if your daddy and mommy have money. 

Sick, sick, sick.  . .

The post below is from Richard Beene, the CEO of the californian.   He states these are good kids...if that is good, i want my child to be bad.  Secondly, Richard, hey, you have your own paper, with a blog in THIS VERY SUBJECT.  Post here (I did it for you) and if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen.  Your reporters and editors are standing up here.  I hope you don't delete this post and remain hidden about your position on this.  the CEO's position on this subject in THIS BLOG, when he is willing to make it public on another, is just good journalism.

************************************************* ******

If you haven't yet read The Californian's exclusive story today on the Stockdale High bullying case, make sure you do so before the day is over. (link to the story here) It's a incredible piece of reporting that should be read by every parent in Bakersfield. First, it's the type of reporting only a newspaper does any more: detailed, time consuming and thoughtful, and it's precisely this kind of stuff that we need more of, not less. But that's besides the point. I happen to know a lot of the players in this sad episode, in which a freshman on the forensics team was tied up in Saran wrap by upper classmen. The picture of the youngster, run on the front page, is heart breaking. Some of the kids involved were friends of my daughter, who graduated from Stockdale last year and is off in college. These are good kids, high achievers, funny, witty, most of them bound for greatness. Many of them are now off to prestigious universities and eventually this case will fade, but not after it cost them dearly, both monetarily and emotionally. But it's a lesson that even good kids make absolutely stupid decisions, and in today's highly charged environment, what starts as a stunt, a joke or an off-hand remark can land you expelled from school, or worse. High school is a perilous time in which our kids - near grown ups but still capable of making incredibly stupid decisions - need to know the consequences.

I'd like to know if a police investigation was conducted.  If not, then the parents of "John Doe" had no choice but to pursue a civil suit to adequately punish the perpetrators.  I've read comments by Stockdale students that the monetary awards were not justified because the perps (who were apparently more popular than the victim) weren't doing anything "all that bad" (!!!???)   This baffles me.  How many of the bullies' supporters would want to be victimized in the same way?  

To the parent who spoke at a recent KHSD board meeting about the sexual harassment of his freshman daughter by an older student (who was not expelled, and whose friends continued to harass the daughter), I say keep complaining if  the school does not take care of the problem.  Perhaps the district now understands that it is expensive (and inappropriate) to look the other way.    

This stance will be pretty much at a polar opposite to all of you but who cares.  The truth behind this story is that victim himself is a bully.  None of you have gone to Stockdale, at least in the last four years, so you don't understand the circumstances.  These "bullies" were actually victims of [student's name removed per newsroom instruction] himself, evidenced by the suit filed by Yash Patel for the racist comments.  Interestingly, [student's name removed per newsroom instruction]'s abuse towards his classmates really halted after the incident, up until his faceoff with Yash.

The reason this case took so long to emerge after the date of the incident was because of [student's name removed per newsroom instruction]'s own attitude.  He wasn't traumatized by the incident.  He wasn't emotionally destroyed.  He really didn't care all that much.  Until he called Yash a terrorist, the incident was all but forgotten.  In the wake of his bigotry, he tried to buy himself a pass to be a victim and bring up the 6 month old incident that, apparently only then, had started to affect him so greatly.  Seems a little convenient, doesn't it? It only follows his character too well.

And for your information, whoever said "The perpetrators are ruined now and forever. As they should be." couldn't be more off the mark.  Each "perpetrator" is now going to a four year university and headed towards happy futures.  Yes, they stayed in the KHSD after being expelled.  Yes, they went back to Stockdale after finishing out one semester at their respective transfer schools. 

And to the Californian, thanks for being contradicting your real message here and being the real bully.  Posting the names of those boys with the picture is equivalent to shock factor and comes from the desire to sell papers, not the news.  You all just got duped.

I think we already handled this when the last student tried to log on and use the "but he was a bully too!" excuse. Refer to the above comments:

posted by sagefever on Jun 12, 2009 at 05:10 PM

posted by AudreyB on Jun 12, 2009 at 05:21 PM

posted by Shwaine on Jun 12, 2009 at 07:35 PM

Scroll back up and read those comments to see how far your excuse flies with responsible adults.

Well, it was resposible adults who felt that this matter wasn't serious enough to warrant a district change, or even a class change to remove these boys from [student's name removed per newsroom instruction] permanently.  Either it was a prank that has been blown way out of proportion by you moms in heat, or the administration just doesn't like [student's name removed per newsroom instruction] either.  So I guess that excuse flew pretty far huh.

We seem to be concnerned with school bullying but look at the model from Washington, Sacramento & the media.  What do we expect from our kids?