Former Student Sues District Over Right To Defend Yourself

[bcochran]

Agree with Marshall

Agree with Marshall. Probably not getting the full story.

We now have 300,000,000 people in this country. Just think. The bad 5% element is only 15,000,000 people!

 

[ziadel]

He wouldn't have gotten kicked out if he fought back against 4 other people.

Heres a true story. Students are given box cutters in art class to cut out whatever. One student takes said box cutter and slashes another student multiple times. As the assailant (student A) is being led out in handcuffs, his victim (student B) is being carried out on a stretcher. Student B spots student A, jumps off of stretcher, and proceeds to beat the crap out of student A, who is in handcuffs.


I've never seen anything like it. Student B wasn't suspended.

 

[Chrontius]

Those of you who are saying this "smells funny" are looking at this situation through much more experienced eyes than the eyes of some 17 year old who, I'll bet, has never been in serious trouble before in his life.

There's a very simple answer here -- he was more afraid of the dean/principal/kampus kops/whatever than he was of the four people beating the ???? out of him. It's not that hard, especially if as was the case at my school the dean has a reputaton for being able to handle two brawling football players and being a general badass. It may not be rational, but with fight-or-flight responses going full swing, I don't expect him to be rational.

On the other hand it might be rational after all -- he's less afraid of the beating than having to say "Would you like fries with that?" for a living for the rest of his life. I can understand that point of view, and it's depressing to think that people are actually being forced to think like that.

 

[c_yeager]

6' 3" at 215 lb and he won't defend himself against an illegal attack?This kid should not be allowed to breed.

It sounds callous and is probably over-simplified, but i agree.

Seriously, i dont for a minute buy that someone is thinking "gee im gonna get expelled" while they are getting pummeled, and then chooses to do nothing. And even if that actually DID happen, it still doesnt change the fact that he doesnt seem capable of rational thought. If an authority figure told this kid to jump off the roof of the school would he do that too?

Remember that this kid is 17, that isnt young enough to be excused from independant thought.

 

[SMMAssociates]

C Yeager:

Seriously, i dont for a minute buy that someone is thinking "gee im gonna get expelled" while they are getting pummeled, and then chooses to do nothing. And even if that actually DID happen, it still doesnt change the fact that he doesnt seem capable of rational thought. If an authority figure told this kid to jump off the roof of the school would he do that too?

Sort of a "you had to be there" in more than one sense. What would concern me would be the disciplinary history of this student and the school. If somebody got expelled last week for the same situation, the kid might just think about it.... Or, if his own disciplinary history was iffy and he didn't want to blow it....

Yeah - I think I'd have fought back, but who knows.... Could the other kids have been armed? After all, those "no guns" signs really work well....

I remember being 17.... My daughter doesn't quite believe it, and my wife barely remembers breakfast, but it's true. People, in general, aren't always rational, and I think it's the law if you're 17....

Actually, I think a 17-year-old is quite rational, but playing by a different set of rules, or a different world-view. This can apply to adults, too, of course, like the "I want it, you've got it, so I'll take it" rules that criminals work with.

I vote to share the blame here - a youngster who chooses not to defend himself for whatever reasons that made sense to him at the time, and, the perception (or reality) that his actions would result in the system doing significant harm to him.

Just IMHO....

 

[No_Brakes23]

I hope this kid wins.

Fortunately my kids won't be in a position where they have to choose between college or defending themselves, (I hope.)

However my son already ran into problems with bullys as early as kindergarten. I still can't believe that at 5 years of age, I had to teach my son how to beat up another kid. In a school that only had military kids/parents no less.

After repeated unsucessful attempts to stop the problem by "telling a teacher", he finally had enough and gave one of the kids a good throttling, (Or at least as good as a clumsy 5 year old can give.) He got scolded by some of the school admin, but his teacher confided in me that she was glad. (My son wasn't the only one getting picked on.) My boy was deathly afraid he would be in trouble, but after getting the whole story, I took him out for ice cream.

Since transitioning out of the military, I have moved to a nicer area, and he now goes to a school free of that ghetto element. Surprise, no bully.

 

[wmenorr67]

I have told both of my children that as long as they don't start it and are defending themselves I or their mother will take care of the situation with the teachers or principal.

 

[LoneStranger]

BTDT, only couple of weeks until graduation and I would be free from the idiocy and foolishness of High School. Underclass, smartass punk, later worked with his brother and his brother didn't like him, starts jacking around trying to start trouble. Let him live because, in toto, he was not worth my having to deal with consequences.

Note that by virtue of the beating he took this kid should be able to get large sympathy vote when it comes to awarding damages. Tough way to earn it though.