Bullied student gets $260,000 from families of bullies and school district
According to the Bakersfield Californian, a Stockdale High School student, who was physically assaulted by five older students, has settled his suit against the Kern High School District, the students who committed the assault and two other students for $260,000. The case illustrates the degree to which students and their parents can be held financially accountable in bullying cases. It also shows that students can be held financially responsible even if they are witnesses or simply know about such incidents, but don't tell authorities. The case stemmed from an October 2006 incident in which Stockdale's forensics debate team traveled to Stockton to compete in a three-day tournament at University of the Pacific. The suit was filed in Kern County Superior Court in October 2007 by Tim Denari, the boy's father.
“Obviously, at a minimum, these kids used poor judgment,” said Rick Phillips, director of Community Matters, which developed the Safe School Ambassadors anti-bullying program taught in four district high schools (but not Stockdale). "It doesn't look like a prank to roll someone up in duct tape in today's world," he said. But it's the bystanders that are of greater concern for Phillips. "Where are the kids who knew and didn't do anything? That's my bigger concern than about the guys who made the poor judgment and are paying the penalty now." With most data showing an increase in bullying, Phillips said, the greater degree of meanness displayed by students, and the lessening of holding peers accountable, is the larger question to which adults should pay attention. Especially now, he said, because cell phones and social networks allow bullying evidence—like the pictures of the mummified John Doe—to spread rapidly, and may even motivate some kids to bully for the thrill of spreading it around to a large audience. "Kids are confused between fun and reality," Phillips said. "Is there an opportunity for adults to learn some lessons and realize there is an ethical dilemma here for students about being responsible to speak up when they know there's something unjust going on?"
Source: Bakersfield Californian, 6/11/09, By Jeff Nachtigal & Gretchen Wenner