KY Supreme Court yo hear a case debating a school 's liability.

 

 

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/23/school-suicides/25215371/

This is a big deal. If they say yes, better get your kids a muzzle, anything they say can get them expelled asap, schools wont take the risk.

Schools should not be held responsible for a teen's suicide. Our teachers are already drowning from responsibilities left to them by bad/absent parents. It is a terrible tragedy.

This is a great topic and it hits very close to home for me. If the staff at the school did know the young man was being bullied then they absolutely to be taken to task and held accountable. In my youth I was bullied. I was the slow, short fat kid that enjoyed reading more then playing sports. I was a prime target. Unfortunately I was a child in the late 60s and early 70s. It wasn't called bullying then it was called childhood and growing up. I clearly remember in the fourth grade the teacher had a system in place where a student would be class monitor whenever she had to leave the room. That monitor would write on the board the names of anyone they felt had misbehaved and on her return the teacher would assign a punishment. The monitor for the week was selected every Monday by the person who had been monitor the week before. As a result there was a core group of students who were repeatedly chosen. As soon as the teacher would leave the room one of that core group would start in on me and as soon as I would respond in any way my name went on the board. They thought it was great fun as did most of the rest of the class. Because the core group that was always selected as monitor were also among the best and brightest in class (and unfortunately I wasn't) any attempts on my part to plead my case usually fell on deaf ears and because others outside the core group didn't want to become me I got very little back-up from class mates. I remember very vividly a comment my teacher wrote on a report card that I would be a much better student if I would stop wearing my heart on my sleeve. There was finally a meeting with my parents and the teacher among the topics that were to be addressed were my falling grades and the number of punishment assignments I was assigned. I'm not sure exactly what transpired in that meeting but the monitor system stopped after that and things got a little better for me. Another thing I had going for me was that as the only kid in my neighborhood that went to a Catholic school I got away from those neanderthals when I left school for the day. I can't imagine what it would be like with technology the way it is now. Kids can't get away from it.

 

If the teachers had ANY inkling that this kid was being bullied and did not try to stop it then absolutely they should be held liable.

Wow....interesting read ALL Tell. What a frustrating situation.

 

I started first grade in 1960 just to give a perspective. It was not unusual for the 2nd graders....one or two in particular, to pick out their victims for each day to give the victim the running punch in the gut routine. I do know that it was reported, and it only happened to me once. Throughout school, there was random and constant bullying of some sort going on. Luckily for me, I was one of the bigger kids in class, so I didn't get picked on so much. However, I look back, and there were probably times when other kids were getting bullied, and I could have stopped it, and I didn't because I didn't have a good perspective.

 

I believe a school has a certain level of responsibility to discuss, have policies and procedures regarding bullying and to follow these. Beyond that, the school, nor the teachers, can be held responsible for the actions of another whether it is an act of violence on others or on oneself.

I posted what I did to illustrate that teachers are capable of doing stupid things (and before I get piled on I used to hold a teaching certificate, I graduated with a degree in education but I digress). If any of the teachers or administrators at this young man's school had an knowledge of bullying and did nothing to correct it, or if by some action they exacerbated the issue (as I believe the teacher in my situation did) then they should absolutely be held accountable.

If you can prove they were the reason. How do we know what else was going on with him. Did his parents handle it properly? Were relatives involved some way in making fun of him, family friends? What happened at church? Yes, this is very, very unfortunate, but his kid did not spend the majority of his day or year in school.

 

I agree, school is a very impactful place on kids. It was on all of us, but we all had other influences and neighborhood, church stuff, ball teams, etc. that we were involved.

I'm going out on a limb making a broad generalization and saying schools are much more aware of this today. They don't put up with any the stuff that would have happened 10, 20, and 30 years ago because of lawsuits like these.

Most of you know that I am a teacher. I don't know if I agree that the school/staff should be held responsible for a suicide, but they certainly should be held responsible if they know that a student is being bullied and they don't take steps to stop it.

Most of you know that I am a teacher. I don't know if I agree that the school/staff should be held responsible for a suicide, but they certainly should be held responsible if they know that a student is being bullied and they don't take steps to stop it.

 

What if the school takes steps to stop it, and it doesnt, and then there is a suicided?