This hurt my head....

Verfall · May 14, 2007, 02:13:47 AM

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/bullied-teen-awarded-income-for-life/2007/05/14/1178995042035.html

I'm sure plenty of people around here have been bullied, and can problem relate to this kid in some way, but come on.

The Hitman · May 14, 2007, 10:10:41 AM

You've gotta be kidding me.

Flying_Infant · May 14, 2007, 10:29:42 AM

I can relate to what the guy is going through medical wise, since I suffer from the same 3 things, but I wasn't bullied in school; at least not to the extent this kid was.

I'm going to guess the kid would have ended up messed up anyways, but him being bullied to the extent he was, and the schools not doing much to help, probably intensified the problem so much so.

Mr. Hamrick · May 14, 2007, 10:56:50 AM

On one hand, I can emphathize with the kid but the terms of the court case leave room for some very unfortunate things in the future not just for the school system but for him and his family. There is a line between a kid being bullied and a kid being assaulted by other students. It is unfortunate that some school systems do not acknowledge that line and the students wind up being the ones to suffer from it.
One of the school systems here local to me has a notorious history that include:

a kid taking his class hostage (who was being bullied by his classmates because he had epilepsy),
a kid murdering his entire family (this one WAS the bully and got lots of joy in assaulting students and other behavior that was not punished by the school but was done on school properly. I was one of his victims for what it's worth)
teachers who were prone to neglectful and abusive behavior and condoning parents neglecting and abusing their kids because it "made them better people."
and last but not least: until the late-80s, racists behavior was condoned in the county and reinforced. The situation was enough to attract the attention of Oprah Winfrey who organized a march along with Josea Williams. Those of us who did not hold the traditional views received a fair bit of flack for several months. Some worse than others.

Now you may ask "why didn't parents intervene". In a two of those cases, they did. The last one was not seen as a problem by the parents. At the worst of it, children were not believe if they told their parents they were being bullied severly at school. The parents would go in for the Parent/Teacher Conference and get fed a line and the problem went ignored.

Granted that some of the reported cases are made up. That's what brings us back to this situation. How do you tell the real ones from the made up ones from here on out?

Flying_Infant · May 14, 2007, 11:11:05 AM

Well, in this kids case it was extremely obvious, so I guess you could really say this poor kid wasn't bullied, he was assaulted.

Spam · May 14, 2007, 12:32:55 PM

Dude, I feel bad for the guy. But now that he's making tons of cash, every other mother who's child gets bullied will want to sue, too. Now that this court case has been an example, there will probably be many others in the future, at least in my opinion.

FORIAM*gets punched in the face*

*sues*

Reepicheep · May 14, 2007, 01:03:31 PM

I think I deserve life income, in that case.

And about 14 of my friends.

C'mon, where is it?

Revenant · May 14, 2007, 01:35:56 PM

Yeah.. I was bullied and harassed, even assaulted in high school and once in college. Never saw a dime. I don't know if it was because my peers perceived me as gay, but I know they thought of me as different. I did however have a lot of friends as well, some of whom were in the "popular" circle. So I know I didn't have it as hard as the guy in this case, of course... But the bullying did lead to me dreading going to school at times and some mild depression/anxiety, and in college, to my grades falling and my eventually dropping out.

Where's my money?

This does set a surprising precident. Would the bully be responsible for the damages? It seems so unreal.

Mr. Hamrick · May 14, 2007, 04:37:01 PM

I went back and re-read the article to confirm this and it's not the fact that he was bullied and assaulted but the fact that the school (the educational authority as the article cites) failed to act upon/refused to even investigate a charge that the young man was a victim of assault and attempted stranglation. The official dismissed it as "character building". Now, I'm sure that any parent would want the school to take action if their child was violently assaulted.

However, the way the story presents the case . . . I am leery. I do agree that a questionable precident has been set given the way the story was reported.

The Hitman · May 14, 2007, 10:08:21 PM

Y'know, my earlier post warrents a little explaining, I think. I was bullied in school, mostly Jr. High, and it did lead me to almost crippling shyness and anxiety during that time. I feel for the kid. I really do.

And the schools really should have stepped in, both in stopping the attacks, and diagnosing the boy's obvious medical needs before it was too late.

What bugs me, I think, is that, because of this ruling, parents can put a price on their child's problems. I really don't think suing the school will benifit the boy at this point.

Reepicheep · May 15, 2007, 12:03:51 AM

Quote from: The Hitman on May 14, 2007, 10:08:21 PM
What bugs me, I think, is that, because of this ruling, parents can put a price on their child's problems. I really don't think suing the school will benifit the boy at this point.

Thats exactly what I think. Thanks for putting it into words.

Carravaggio · May 15, 2007, 12:38:43 AM

Quote from: Spam on May 14, 2007, 12:32:55 PM
Dude, I feel bad for the guy. But now that he's making tons of cash, every other mother who's child gets bullied will want to sue, too. Now that this court case has been an example, there will probably be many others in the future, at least in my opinion.

FORIAM*gets punched in the face*

*sues*

:lol: oh man that last bit made laugh out loud!

Protomorph · May 17, 2007, 07:01:43 AM

I think I am owed a lot of money.

Glitch Girl · May 20, 2007, 08:02:34 PM

Quote from: Protomorph on May 17, 2007, 07:01:43 AM
I think I am owed a lot of money.

I think most of us are.

Actually, I do have sort of an open question to those in middle and high school...

When I was in school, quite a while ago, there was bullying and teasing and some pretty cruel stuff; however, stuff I'm reading about today makes what I experienced a day at the beach. Now, is the media exaggerating what's actually going on, or is teasing and bullying actually getting exponetially worse?