"Principal Larry Yarrel said the school had tried to look into the bullying reports, but Young was not always able to identify all of those who had harassed him. He said they had interviewed staff and students."

Kinda hard to punish people when you don't know who they are. Sounds like Young and the other kids didn't want to rat out the bullies, well that just means the school can't really take any action. The school can't start punishing kids at random because of accusation. I think a better weapon the kid should have brought would have been a friend with a camera or a audio recorder.

kama, the principal said he didn't know 'all' of the bullies. If they knew two or three then talk to them but later in the article he justifying the bullying by saying that he wears female clothing and that he shouldn't be bullied but we don't live in an ideal world.

Just come out and say he deserves to be bullied and be done with it.

He does not deserve to be bully, but he has put the target on himself.

It's differentis how you dress can't be controlled for numerous reasons.

I hated the idea of unitforms in school and never had to wear one, but more and more I am seeing the benefits to them and strict rules for what you can adn can't wear. (My main opinion to this is girls who look like they are wearing clothes 5 times too small for them).

You can't bring weapons to school. No one can. Period. Do you really want school administrators in the position of saying who can and cannot bring a weapon based on the stories they are told? I don't care what type of privileged PC group you think you are a part of, you cannot bring a weapon to school. And all weapons are equal under the law. This is no different than bringing a firearm or knife. With a little bit of intelligence, he would have realized that he can use the stun gun off campus for his defense, and not face sanctions. Just as effective, once that bully is on the ground twitching.

What is wrong with kids these days....It seems the worst of our society attend our public school campuses. Sadly, they intend to target those who truly wish to make something of their lives.

http://www.khou.com/news/cnn/Cell-phone-footage-of-bully-beating-girl-emerges-149772625.html?preview=true

I truly hope that this young man is not suspended but then he and his mother should have known there was a consequence for that particular action. They are fortunate no innocent bystander was injured.

Sometimes it is worth the risk to break a rule. Thoughts and prayers are with the young man and his family.

Ok, they knew he was wearing female cloths to school and the administration didn't feel a need to take issue, common sense would say that he would have been harassed by other students, just being honest and if he was being bullied to the point where he felt he needed to bring a weapon to school, then why not tell your parent, the administration, a counselor or someone to solve the issue. I don't feel its right that he was bullied by anyone, but there had to have been alternatives to bringing a weapon to school.

I'm trying to picture what firing a stun gun into the air looks like.

Is this the coil kind where the tazer just sprang into the air and fell back to the ground, or was this just electric action zapping from the tip?

Either way, I fail to see the usefulness of doing that. A better message would have been to shock those damn bullies.

bullying needs to be treated in the schools like drugs, zero tolerance and education. I am so sad reading the fatalities from bullys.

I call BS on the school. They know darn well who (at least some of) the bullies are. Thosse should have been expelled. Send a message to the other. The school needs to get a backbone and nip this in the bud.

I do not agree with bringing the stun gun to school. I would be all for hiring a body guard though...

Although he has been bullied, it is against the law to bring a weapon to school. I am gay myself and advocate anti-bullying at the school i attend now. Yet, under no circumstance should a weapon be allowed on school premises even if you are being bullied. I think it is the administrations' fault for not taking corrective action against these bullies. It shouldn't be him who pays, it should be THEM.

What a jacked up school. First, since they don't know who "all" the bullies were, they didn't punish the ones they knew. Then they blame the victim saying that he should "tone down" his accessories. He had reported the bullying 10 times to the administration and nothing was done. Since the school was not willing to protect him on school grounds he decided he needed to protect himself.

Personally I think shooting a stun gun into the air is ridiculous, what does that accomplish? He should have fired it into one of the bullys' crotch!

Many years ago, my son, who is gay, went through much the same thing in high school (in Mississippi). The jock crowd used to gang up on him on the school bus. He was harassed, shoved, kicked and punched every day on the way to, and from school. One day, the bullies went too far, and he pulled out a pocket knife. The same jerks who had been bullying him reported him, and he was expelled from school permanently. None of the bullies were ever punished.

Although I don't condone what my son did, I do think that he did what he thought was necessary to protect himself, and I do think that the bullies who threatened my kid every day, should also have been expelled.

Really a no win situation. They can't really set a precedence for accepting a weapon in school, especially discharging one, that way madness lies regardless of circumstances, but the school definitely failed this student. The hell are the school security guards doing that a student gets surrounded and threatened and has to resort to armed self defense?

My kids aren't gay, but I am... and my kids have been bullied at school for YEARS! I've called, gone to the school... nothing is ever done to fix the problem. Schools are NOT doing near enough to end this. I really think the reason is that they secretly agree with the bullies. Why else let this go on?? I agree, there needs to be a 'zero tolerance' for bullies. THEY need to be expelled!! The schools have a responsibility to protect students, and they fail to do it. This young man has the right to protect himself from being jumped by a gang of other students. Whatever it takes to protect himself... he has that right. The schools need to stop allowing this stuff to go on and take care of the problem!!

"If you wear female apparel, then kids are kids and they're going to say whatever it is that they want to say," Yarrell told the newspaper. "Because you want to be different and because you choose to wear female apparel, it may happen. In the idealistic society, it shouldn't matter. People should be able to wear what they want to wear."

....Or their parents could teach them tolerance...? Just an idea...

He should have just made it worth getting kicked out. Not that I promote violence, but getting stunned is better than getting your teeth punched out, which is what they all deserved.

If I was this kid I would just say to hell with the school. Getting expelled is the best that could happen for him in that situation. He can now pursue online schooling or home schooling where he is in an environment where he can actually learn.

You're right - sounds like he'd be better off in an alternative school - which speaks volumes about Arsenal Tech.

T-REX they threatened physical violence against this young man. They were about to strike him, considering how many young people have been killed this exact way where a group of people beat up the homosexual I would say the threat is very real.

I had to deal with bullying with my child. My spouse and I personally observed the bullying in her case. I probably reported it MORE than ten times. The school did attempt to deal with it, but the measures they used (lecturing the kids, etc.) only made things worse for my child since the bullies knew of course who the lecture was about. She finally begged me not to say anything else to the school! I even tried talking to parents, but they blew off the incidents as their kids just "talking off the tops of their heads." (It wasn't just talking, either.) I asked my child if she wanted to transfer to another school, but she feared that in another school the teachers might not support her at all; and I didn't have the heart to force her to transfer to an unknown situation that might be WORSE for all I knew. My child was not bullied for being gay-not that it matters because no one should ever be bullied for any reason. In fact, I honestly don't know why she was singled out-but does that really matter? The fact is that she was singled out, and her life was miserable for a number of years until she graduated from that school and went to a different high school.

(The way we did deal with it was that we always tried to get her to focus on her worth as a person in God's sight not dependent on what others thought of her. We focused on her strengths and good qualities and assured her that the bullying was not about her but about problems the bullies had. After she came through the experience she later told us she was grateful for it because it made her more empathetic to others and she knew that she would always be able to be her own person rather than feeling compelled to follow the crowd. I would never, ever say that bullying is good, however! It definitely left some scars. I just think my daughter took lemons and made lemonaide.)

My best friend in childhood was bullied for being disabled, and no teacher ever stood up for her that I remember. After a few years of being her friend I was also on the receiving end of some bullying but not as bad as she was. Her life was torment until she went to college and escaped her tormentors. My family actually bullied me more than my friends did-with such things as mocking me for being fat when I was actually thin (I've looked at pictures, and I'm shocked that I wasn't actually fat!), etc. Having pointed out these experiences, I believe I can say that given the violence in today's society (think Columbine, etc.) there is no way any kid can be allowed to bring a weapon to school for any reason. Our society is simply going to have to make up our minds to take a stand against bullying or it is not going to stop. A school cannot stop bullying unless everyone gets on board-parents, teachers, coaches, EVERYONE. I can hardly believe that people won't really put their foot down on bullying for all reasons considering that kids are killing themselves over it-in my time, people certainly THOUGHT about killing themselves-one friend actually carried a pill bottle around with her just in case-but I didn't know anyone who actually went through with it. Bullying, of course, makes a kid angry, which can cause them to lash out against themselves (suicide or self-harm) or others (violence). And who can blame them? Adults have to be the ones to protect the kids. Zero tolerance has to mean zero tolerance meaning that teachers are penalized if they allow it and that parents are called in if their kids are involved-I don't care how much money their parents give to the school! So far, society has not made up its mind that it REALLY wants to stop bullying-so bullying continues and will continue.

The reporter left out a very important part of this story

IPS Anti-Discrimination Statement

IPS does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, age, or sexual orientation in its programs and activities.

Messed up story from any angle - that he was bullied, that he felt the need to bring a stun gun to school, and that the school has to expel him for bringing a weapon to school b/c we can't be having that no matter what

Better a stun gun than a real gun. So often students being bullied at school either take their own life or the lives of the bullys. And sometimes the lives of innocent bystanders.

Having to bring any sort of weapon to school really says a lot about the school itself and society itself.

Next time a security guard at a bank or some other business pulls his gun to stop a robbery, why don't we arrest the security guard? After all, he was endangering those criminals (who we don't know the identities of). Also, arrest and expel cops for using force to apprehend criminals. Got to protect the bad guys, no matter what. Don't you know that being a victim of bullying or crime is your fault? If you didn't exist or don't have valuables, you wouldn't be a victim! Just ask the cops.

This kid should have put a chunk of lead in the forehead of everyone one of those bullys. Self-defense if he was having rocks and bottles thrown at him and was surrounded by a group of bullys.

I'm confused, tron. How is a stun gun "deadly?"

A stun gun is not exactly a deadly weapon. Especially not a consumer version. It's a step up from mace, really. The fact that he went with that vs an arsenal of assault rifles or even a knife kind of differentiates him from Columbine. They decided to hurt people who had never even done anything to them, he was protecting himself. Everything is not equivalent. H

However one would hope that part of the conversation regarding Columbine WOULD be about allowing kids to be constantly bullied and harassed and ignoring their complaints or pleases for help. Why are we only surprised when THEY do something about, because no one else is?

THIS KID HAS A RIGHT TO DEFEND HIMSELF WITH ANY WEAPON AT HIS DISPOSAL

NOT on school grounds. Look at it another way: If this kid is not punished, it sets precedent for others to bring weapons to school without consequences.

Yes he did have a right to DEFEND himself on school grounds dumb@ss because that's where he was being threatened by large groups of boys!!! It does not set a precedent unless these other kids are being bullied too; in that case they need to address bullying because that is the issue.

Suspension fine but not expulsion and if that happened I would sue the pants off that school and be a thorn in their a$$!

plus -he had the common sense to fire it in the AIR! Which many people would not have done!

You're forgetting that the GFSZA (Gun-Free School Zones Act) has created a victim disarmament zone. I would not be surprised if he is charged with a felony. I do not agree with it, but the law is the law. What needs to happen is to have the law changed or repealed entirely.

School grounds are sort of like hockey rinks and games. All kinds of 'stuff' goes on that the refs or administrators do not see; therefore, fights break out.

When I was a kid, we used to fight. Even if you lost, you still regained the respect of your opponent. I know that this form of 'settling' differences is past it's prime, but if the kid would have gone to the gym and learned how to use his body as a 'weapon' to defend himself, he would not be facing weapons charges. Plus, 'marks' an an opponent is a dead give-away!

In the past, it was just best not to let everyone know you were gay. That way you kept it to yourself and no one else was involved except those who shared your view point.

Wearing female clothing by a male to a high school is not exhibiting the 'sharpest tool in the shed;' i.e., it really was not a good decision or choice.

This kind of reminds me of the homosexual 8th grader that was shot in class in California because the homosexual male kid was harassing a heterosexul male kid. The homosexual was wearing femaile clothing to school. After the homosexual's death by gun shot, the parents sued the school for allowing their male child to wear female clothing to school. The courts ultimately dismissed the suit because the school could not prevent this male child from wearing femaile clothing to school.

Who ever said, "homosexuality" does not effect anyone other than the consenting adults is in serious denial!

Being Gay and/or wearing clothing than is different from the "norm" does not give anyone the right to bully someone else, period. Bullies will look for ANY rational to justify their attacks on others! And all to often the parents of the bullies try to justify their actions as well. The schools try to bury their heads in the sand over it, so it persists. If schools really did have a zero tolerance on bullying, it would stop.

To me the solution is simple: Males do not wear female clothing!

I might add that this incident or issue is a good reason NOT to choose to be homosexual.

If a male did not choose to wear female cloths to school, this would be a non-issue.

Come on NRA? Where's the defense? He sure has more right to do that than that cook Zimmerman. But then he's GAY so the GOP couldn't be interested!

I might add that this incident or issue is a good reason NOT to choose to be homosexual.

No one chooses to be homosexual, switchblade.

I might add that this would be a good time for you to do some research.

Sorry mom, I know you thought you were helping you child. But you should have never given him a weapon to take to school. No matter what. It would have been better to talk to your kid, convince him to swallow his pride a bit, and try to dress to avoid confrontation with the bigots. As they stated, in an ideal world, he shouldn't ever have to, but I'm sure we are all aware of how absolutely non-ideal this world can be. Some schools offer chaperons, usually older students who will walk someone to and from classes when the problems are bad enough. There were a number of options she should have taken before arming her child.

If the kid chose to be gay then he has got to accept that this can happen - plus a zero tolerance policy means everyone...but i don't doubt that since he is black AND gay he will be given special treatment...not to mention the fact that he was asked to not wear women's clothes to school - I can't beleive nobody kicked his a** before this! Now go ahead and collapse this post...thank you

How would YOU react if it happened to you? I was picked on for being a meek geek in Jr high school because I still went to church. Once the pack singles you out and if teachers don't back you up, you have 2 choices. Run or fight back. I secretly worked out at home (which was easy because I grew up on a farm) because I was pushed out of the gym during PE classes and often thrown into the girl's locker room.

One day I had enough and came up off the bench when the head bully slapped my ears right in front of the teacher, who laughed. It was like one of those cartoon punches. He came right out of his shoes and landed on the teacher. I was booted out of that school and went to another. Would I change what happened? How would YOU deal with it?

Kinda hard to punish people when you don't know who they are. Sounds like Young and the other kids didn't want to rat out the bullies, well that just means the school can't really take any action. The school can't start punishing kids at random because of accusation. I think a better weapon the kid should have brought would have been a friend with a camera or a audio recorder.

It's always interesting to read assumption.

I actually went to this high school, Arsenal Technical, in Indianapolis.

1) This is not a normal highschool (large single building type), there are over 20+ buildings at that school and it is more like a college, walking from class to class long distances.

2) That's how you run into people you don't even know. You've got 3500+ students, from all different programs, grades, etc. It has a vocational school in it, that has students bused in from other highschools in Indianapolis.

He obviously didn't know some, or even perhaps, *all* of the kids who had surrounded him previously, and were bullying him. It's common to see groups of kids hanging outside (especially prior to school opening in the morning, where students are not allowed in buildings until 7:30) that you don't know a single persons name. Even if you see that same group everyday.

3) Sounds more like adults not taking action. Interviewed Students? Having gone to this school, the teachers/staff can take action and figure out what is going on. It's almost surprising as long as this school has been like this that the adminsitration doesn't put two and two together and realize the amount of security/officers they employ is not enough and therefor they must take more responsibility. (I don't know, like having teachers patrol the areas between passing periods, since there are 100s of teachers at this school and all of them have free periods *plural*)

While a young student being bullied might not have the ability to look over everyone and identify the other students, the teachers very easily can because all students are required to have Student IDs at Arsenal Technical which teachers can ask for at any time. Not so easy to grab another students ID when you've been surrounded to jot down the name of the suspects.

If the kid chose to be gay then he has got to accept that this can happen - plus a zero tolerance policy means everyone...but i don't doubt that since he is black AND gay he will be given special treatment...not to mention the fact that he was asked to not wear women's clothes to school - I can't beleive nobody kicked his a** before this! Now go ahead and collapse this post...thank you

.....

Women's accessories. And there's no dress code preventing him from wearing women's accessories.

Black and gay...given special treatment? Hmmmmm. That's interesting. The Black Comment. That school is 60-70% black. So, you're trying to throw out the "affirmative action" argument here? Like the school would treat him special as a minority?

A kid has a right to feel secure in a place of education when he is behaving within the rules of the school. They have a right to expect adults within the school to come up with effective solutions to issues like this.

On April 16, as Young walked between class buildings during a passing period, six students surrounded him.

The school should identify these areas (as has been their responsibility for a long time) and have them patrolled during passing period.

The school has a large open area in the center, where things like this are very observable. The article doesn't say which building it was around, but there are also many passing areas not well traveled. Ask teachers to volunteer to patrol during their free periods for the brief passing period (5 or 6 minutes).

_________

I find it sad that the bullies told on him and action immediately happened.

Minutes later, school police officers came into his class, cuffed him and found the stun gun.

He was suspended and recommended for expulsion.

So, this kid is getting harrassed, threatened, and no one is helping and causing any action to take place. But the second he shoots a stun gun in the air, apparently everyone is telling on him and getting the school police officers involved.

Student cowards, Teacher cowards, Administration cowards all. Maybe they were afraid the bullies would bully them, so it's easier to get the kid wearing girls accessories.

NOT on school grounds. Look at it another way: If this kid is not punished, it sets precedent for others to bring weapons to school without consequences.

He was suspended. Already been consequences.

Expelling is too far. You're also tossing weapon around with the connotation of "lethal weapon"

Yes he did have a right to DEFEND himself on school grounds dumb@ss because that's where he was being threatened by large groups of boys!!! It does not set a precedent unless these other kids are being bullied too; in that case they need to address bullying because that is the issue.

I will rephrase that, and it would be appreciated if you would act like an adult. We are supposed to set good examples for our children.

Yes, he should defend himself, but not with a weapon. If he had blacked a few eyes and sent the bullies running with bloody noses, I would be the first in line to prevent his expulsion. BUT, he brought a weapon to school, which is illegal. If you lift a zero-tolerance policy, even slightly, the next time it happens the circumstances won't matter. All people will see is one got away with it but now another is to be punished for the same actions. Whether or not he used it won't be relevant, because there is no way to prove that eventually he would not have.

Seems like he should be suspended and that should be the end of it, as far as his reprimand for breaking policy. Bringing a stun gun to school is obviously not something that should be tolerated. However, I believe it is in his right to seek out what the options are for him to also file suit against the school if there are any grounds. Bullying is intolerable (as is weapon-wielding) so there should be some course of action for not just the bullies but the adults whose responsibilities it is to address the bullying. "Looking into" is only an acceptable course of action the first time it's brought to light. 10 times of reporting and a suggestion that he "tone down" his apparel seems like an indication that they were at least knowledgeable to keep any eye out for him. He did the right thing by reporting it. But the right thing doesn't seem to have been met in earnest with an appropriate or helpful response. He may have taken a less than savory response, but he's a kid. Does he know that bringing a weapon to school is wrong? Yes. Do bullies know that verbally and physically assaulting another person is wrong? I hope so. I'm starting to wonder in an age where what someone wears can be used as any kind of weapon against them how far we've really evolved as a nation and humans in general. He's a person. No matter what he wears or what his sexuality, NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO ASSAULT HIM. He has the right to defend himself and if the those entrusted to do so when he's outside of his parents' care, then he had to figure out a way to defend himself. He may have chosen the unacceptable/wrong way according to the school, but their failure contributed to the outcome resulted in his lack of option to remedy an all-too-common problem, not just in our schools, but in our society as a whole. They may not be able to identify all of the students, but I've never heard of schools shying away from making examples of people before - that's what the court system does, too. If you misbehave and get caught you are punished. If you misbehave and don't get caught, you live to misbehave another day but at least you know that your actions can and will be punished. It would at least serve as a deterrent. We can't address them all so we'll address none is like saying "We can't catch all the rapists, so we'll just let them all run free until we have more substantial evidence for all of them." Common sense. It'd be nice if these administrators had used some - for everyone involved.

Sorry Kama you are WRONG! If this story is factual then;

1. EVERY Person has the right to defend himself if he is in fear of his life.

2. By all accounts he went above and beyond reporting bullying to the school authorities.

3. No one knows the relative size, strength, or fighting abilities (which when writing this down sounds ridiculous in and of itself). Most bullies I have seen are very large neanderthals and unless the kid knows marshal arts he is left with few options - leave the school or take steps to protect himself.

4. He chose the latter, which I think is wrong, he should never have fired it in the air but right at the bullies ASS!

When authorities wake up and understand bullying is assault which is a criminal offense then such drastic action may not be necessary. But in no way should this kid be punished or expelled - the school authorities

are the ones that need "expelling" along with the bully (s).

I don't give a damn who you are if you condone bullying you are a part of the problem!

Similar thing happened to my son, he learned marshal arts, and after the SOB bully discovered he had a broken arm and nose guess what NO MORE PROBLEMS! Self defense is NEVER wrong.

Agreed. The 2nd Amendment gives you the right to defend yourself by any and all means available. Where I disagree is that if you go looking for trouble and it finds you, then you have partially brought that misery upon yourself.

While I agree bullying is ASSAULT and should not be condoned regardless of the circumstances, one can look to upbringing of the 'bully' to see perhaps a lack of discipline in the home. A lack of parenting if you will. I can tell you this. Anyone that bullies my kids will have a rude awakening. They are being taught self defense, being taught to strike with enough fury that others WILL NOT want a taste of that. There is NO CRIMINALITY in self defense, and that self defense is often the deterrent that some spineless school administrator, some DA, some teacher, some "kids will be kids" jackwagon fails with their "now johnny you shouldn't pick on little bobby there" garbage.

You would be surprised how much of a deterrent a busted beak and a few missing teeth has on the next wanna be badass standing on the sidelines watching the "weaker" kid just tattling on the big bad bully on the playground.

One, I agree. If he would've tasered the bullies, there'd be no doubt now who the little punks were. Kama, the article said a GROUP of students surrounded him. If he'd thrown a punch at one of the offenders, he would've gotten the crap kicked out of him by the rest of them.

You don't break the law to solve a problem. If he has reported the problems and the school did nothing to address the issue it still doesn't give him the right to bring a weapon onto school property. If this had been a handgun i doubt we would be defending his actions, which isn't that much different under the letter of the law. If his reports had fallen on deaf ears at the school, he could have gone to the police or the school board, addressed the issue thru a lawyer, changed schools, if we give credence to this action, then allow ones who are bullied become the bullies.

Because of strict district policy the school may have no choice but to (at least temporarily, for the remainder of the school year) expel this boy. But for crying out loud so should the kids who threw rocks and bottles at him!!

What happened to teaching our kids about consequences? Every choice we make has them. If you choose to dress like the opposite sex or do anything for that matter that goes against the majority in school you will be singled out. This is nothing new it goes back to the beginning of school. Once upon a time we let the two kids fight after school and the matter was over. We no longer let our kids fight it out and what has happened we have kids protecting themselves with weapons. We do not teach our kids to stand up for themselves so they are weak and commit suicide because we do not give them the skills to deal with the bullies. Bullied kids often have low self esteem and the alpha personalities feed on that. So start teaching your kids some self esteeem and the basic principal of cause and effect and you will go so much further then trying to elimanate something that has existed in society at all ages throughout life. There will always be bullies, and there will always be those that are bullied. If you support this kids right to wear girl clothes which in school is a total distraction anyhow and has no place in school then you need to let him know that there will be people that do not agree, and let them know a way that is LEGAL to address it. Sounds like he didnt even have enough backbone to stand up and tell the school who all the bullies were. I have no sympathy for those who paint a target on themselves and then cry about how they are not embraced in acceptance. This is the real world after all.

@incorrigible - "Sounds like he didnt even have enough backbone to stand up and tell the school who all the bullies were." - The reasons for this are pretty obvious. FEAR. We need to use some common sense here. Do you think bullies stop when someone tattles on them, or do you think the bullying gets worse and elevates? I can tell you, bullying don't stop with tattling. That target gets bigger. The bullied kid looks weaker.

Do you think it ends in the school? No, it sure doesn't. The bullies apparently followed him home. Do you think they wouldn't jump him off school grounds? Sure he can have charges filed AFTER they beat the hell out of him. And who is to say the bullying stops there. There is always, ALWAYS, a reprecussion for being a snitch. I am not advocating violence as a method to solve all the world's problems, BUT, the law isn't there when you are being victimized. The "inherent good" of people is NOT present, because the incident is occurring. When faced with that adversity, survival rests solely in YOUR hands.

I agree if you are going to act and dress gay, you do bring a degree of attention to yourself, and with that attention comes the Not So Nice. But it does not excuse the "picking on a weaker human being" and ultimately does not excuse you from the beat down that should befall the bully...

The problem we have in our society is the dual victimization of the victim. One by the perpetrator, and the other by the system. We are slowly being conditioned to be easy prey for the predators out there. This kid should have picked up the biggest stick he could find, the heaviest club and commenced to beating the holy living hell out of just ONE of them in the group. He didn't or doesn't need to take em all on, but just pick the one with the biggest mouth and tear into him relentlessly. The other bully sheep (the followers) aren't going to want to be next trust me. Win, loose, or draw that self defense sends the message, I am NOT your easy Mark. I am going to fight back.

There is no witness protection program in schools. A student who names bullies is more likely to be harmed than a student who does not. He named the bullies he feared less, and refused to name those he feared more. This ought to have led the school to create some method by which he could avoid the areas where the bullies would gather--there should have been some effort to make the school safe for him.

As his parent, I would have recommended that he wear comfortable clothes, not markedly female, so that this excuse would no longer be available to the administrators. It wouldn't have helped, but it would have pointed out that the child was doing what he could to de-escalate the issue.

The main point is that schools do not want to know who the bullies are because the bullies are the kids of the parents with the means and motive to sue in return (acorns rarely fall far from the tree). They turn a blind eye because they do not want to deal with the ramifications of expelling bullies.

Schools need to put up closed circuit cameras which record all activities by all students in areas where an adult would not be present. Then, students would not need to "rat out" anyone. They would simply report the issue--and, it is best to report via email, insist on a receipt notification, and CC just about everyone in the world. Then, the administrators would have to check the video and see what happened.

Notice that, despite the fact that this is very, very cheap--schools don't do this. If they cared about bullying, they would. It tells one a lot more about the school than their words do. This child should be placed in an alternative environment--perhaps online learning--in which he can jump ahead of his classmates, do well on AP exams, and get into college where there is less bullying of this nature (though not zero bullying--just less). I do wish him well and hope he successfully gets out of that horrid school soon.

Incorrigible, you wrote:

If you support this kids right to wear girl clothes which in school is a total distraction anyhow and has no place in school then you need to let him know that there will be people that do not agree, and let them know a way that is LEGAL to address it. Sounds like he didnt even have enough backbone to stand up and tell the school who all the bullies were. I have no sympathy for those who paint a target on themselves and then cry about how they are not embraced in acceptance. This is the real world after all.

I think you're mistaken. Your points seem to include the fact that he shouldn't wear "girl clothes" (do you mean feminine attire?), especially in a school situation. What about the kids who let their pants so far down on their hips you see far more than you want to? Or blouses too flimsy or low cut? If the school policy for clothing is not violated, wearing clothes of another gender shouldn't be a problem.

It's his fault that he is bullied because he called attention himself. There are lots of ways to call attention to yourself, including being in a wheelchair, being blonde, being the daughter or son of a minister, grocery clerk, street sweeper, doctor or . . . . Bullies often don't need a reason--they just pick on anyone!

He didn't have the "backbone" to tell the school who all the bullies are. I can think of lots of reason for this, such as death threats, fear of retaliation, threats against younger siblings--these do not sound like
issues of "backbone" to me. Evidently he told the school who some of the bullies were, but that wasn’t enough for the school to take action. Why not? Maybe he didn't even know the names of all the kids who were bullying him.

He painted a target on himself. Oh, please. Painted a target on himself? Is this the same excuse used by bullies 50 years ago against students who had skin of a different color, usually black? That they painted a target on themselves because they were black? I don't think so.

He cried when he wasn’t embraced in acceptance. Being beaten up is a FAR cry from being
accepted—much less embraced by it. I seriously doubt that he expected to be embraced in acceptance; he probably just wanted to allowed to live his life.

I agree that he shouldn’t have brought a stun gun to school; still, that was FAR better than some of the other options, such as handgun, rifle, knife, homemade bomb, or many other things. He wasn't getting any help from the school administration. I don't know what he should have done.

I won’t even get started on how I feel about the ineptness of the school administration, and the options they had.

You must live in a different “real world” than I do. Let’s QUIT blaming the victim, and try to get to those who are causing the problem—the bullies, and the school administrators.

You can't have a weapon at school for any reason.
End of story.

I thought it was strange that after columbine, the focus never really went to trying to keep students from feeling like outsiders.

We all know teachers that laugh along and enable bullying, when they should be adults and stop the activity.

Only a selfish person would kill others over the misery in his/her own life. Yeah it might be a reason but it's a pitiful excuse.

Zapping someone to defend yourself - perfectly reasonable.

I get the feeling that being black and gay may have had something to do with the lack of response from school authorities. Just how far does a person have to back down before they are allowed to defend themselves? Why should this student have to accept being attacked, beaten, harrased, and ignored? Why should he be expected to leave the school because others commit a crime against him? Personally, I feel that he was very conservative in his actions. No gun, no one hurt and he got his point across to the actual criminals. A rather adult response to a high stress, long term situation.

"Making fun" isn't the issue here. There's a huge difference between teasing and harassment. This went way beyond name-calling and elementary school behavior.

The problem is, once you say 'don't put a target on yourself', what gets defined as a 'target'? Why should a person have to get approval for their clothes from bullies? What about the girl that doesn't flaunt her skin everywhere and gets called a dyke for it? Was she 'putting a target on herself' by not dressing like the popular girls?

It's the exact same justification people use when they say, "Well, she was dressed like a slut, so it's her fault she got raped."

As long as someone follows lawful standards of decency (ie, not committing indecent exposure), they should not be bothered by anyone.

There is never an excuse for bullying, no matter how much of an oddball/outcast someone is.

Alas - thats not what was said - you can do whatever you want - dress how you want -be be prepared to deal with the consequences. The only person you can control - is you. You cant control others - and we are talking about high school students. Its right to think that people should be able to be themselves and be left alone, but its just a thought - not a reality - nor will it ever be. THAT is what people need to realize. All the campaigning against bullying - isnt going to end it. And if you put yourself out there like that - you will be bullied - either deal with it - or if you cant - then stop the behavior that is drawing the hate. Its one or the other - and its that persons choice- what is more important?

I would never say due to how you are dress you deserved to be raped!!!!

I said you can't wear a low revealing top and then complain people are staring at them. The same as you can't wear those parents that have glittery words on your butt and complain people are looking at your butt.

Sadly the teen brought attention to himself and we will never know what would have happen if he didn't.

Of course, you can't be who you are when other people are going to threaten you physically. People are idiots, and the school administration didn't do anywhere NEAR their job in trying to stop the harassment, which is against school rules just as much as bringing a stun gun to school is against the rules. No, he wasn't right in bringing a gun, but he should NOT be blamed for the way idiots act.

You can complain if someone grabs your ass tho.

That's the difference here, between someone making fun for him about his clothes, and being threatened by a group of students with physical violence.

No one should ever be threatened into conforming to whatever the majority decides is appropriate. The problem is kids thinking it's ok to make fun or assault someone who is different, not people BEING different. You damn well have the right to complain about unending torment because of who you are, the way you look, etc.

Clown,

So you say bullying is acceptable? Just deal with it? It's the fault of the person who is being targeted?

I guess you certainly live up to your screen name.

Richard - wow man -thats so orignal, havent heard that one before. Keep the hits coming there Dick, real knee slapper.

If you read what i said - which clearly you didnt - I didnt say bullying is acceptable, i said its a part of life. I feel for the kid - but if you expect high school kids to get in a big circle and sing songs - you need to pass whatever your smoking to the left.

Kids are kids- is it the kids fault that he wears a dress and gets harrassed? No - but thats the truth of the situation. Everyone wants to live is some fairy land where magically everyone will get along. Life doesnt work that way, kids will mock kids for wearing glasses for christ's sake, but you expect them to be cool with a guy in a dress? Seriously? No, i mean that - you Seriously expect that?

Again, is it right - no. Is it reality - Yes. And at the end of the day - which one wins? Reality. So at the end of that day - if you wear a dress, and get beat up - its YOUR choice wether you wear that dress again knowing what the consequences will most likely be. When the adults of the world stop bullying each other THEN maybe the kids will follow suit - godspeed with that. Let me know how that works out for you - i wont be holding my breathe, but please Dick, you do hold your breathe - cant exhale the good stuff till it gets you good and high.

Maybe he should have identified the bullies.

HE DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

agreed, except he should've protected himself by going to the police - NOT by bringing a stun gun to school and using it.

Of course he should be expelled. He brought a dangerous weapon to school and used it.

He can, and should, sue the school and pursue all available actions against the school for their failures to take appropriate action with the previous bullying complaints. But bringing a stun gun to school is an automatic way to get expelled, rightfully.

Principal Larry Yarrell said the school had tried to look into the bullying reports, but Young was not always able to identify all of those who had harassed him. He said they had interviewed staff and students

No he didn't, whether he did not know them or did not want to report them (out of fear).

I think parents should demand access to school cameras (most schools have them).

Tom, why should the school spend extra time fixing a problem that is brought on by a kid who dresses in women's clothes? maybe the school should make everyone wear uniforms, besides its the kids own fault.

winter.... and women who dress in sexy clothing are inviting rape huh?? SSSHHEEEEESSHHH!! What a Neaderthal!

Tom - if every time the woman dressed in sexy clothing she got raped, I would start to question her motives when she put her sexy clothes on for the 11th time.

This kid had 10 complaints in already. He knew what would provoke the other kids and chose to keep doing it.

couldn't agree more.

What about girls who dress in boy's clothing? Should they be bullied too?

tron,

That is the dumbest comment I've heard in a long time. How in the hell do you equate gay with doing what he wants?

I would completely agree IF the school authorities had done their job! They did not! The kid has a right to defend himself by any means possible period!

The kid didn't follow the recommendation of the school. He should have at least attempted to follow their suggestion not to wear dresses to school. Since he didn't give that a chance, he can't complain about the schools response.

Why would anyone follow the recommendations of a principal who is obviously not on your side?

Young was not always able to identify all

Was he able to identify any of them sometimes? And what happened to them? How did the principle punish those he was able to identify to send a message out to those he couldn't? He probably didn't - at all - or it would be in the article. So it's the principle's fault - not the school's, not the kid's.

remy1b,

"He should be expelled. If he isn't the school is sending a message to all others..."

Just what the heck kind of message is the school sending to kids when the administration does nothing about bullying? If he is to be held accountable then the school administration should suffer the same consequence except that instead of being expelled they should be fired.

Why would anyone follow the recommendations of a principal who is obviously not on your side?

The school is not about taking sides. They want to stop the disruptive behavior, on both sides, and get back to teaching the curriculum.

Maybe if the school sent a message that bullying someone like that was unacceptable and wouldn't be tolerated, this wouldn't have happened in the first place.

Did your Crystal ball tell you that?

The mother should have gone above the prinicpals head and if that did not work, the press. Giving her son a weapon was not the answer.

What if it was a gun and a stray bullet hit an innocent person?

Have you ever been physically attacked by two or more people at once?

Perhaps if the mother was one of the 1%er's she could have bought a good lawyer and filed criminal assault charges and malpractice suits against the bully and school. The bully would have gotten a slap on the wrist after all "Boys will be Boys" (BS) and the taxpayers would have been paying for the school officials wrong doing.

When I was in elementary school yes, but I learned to fight...not the answer always but I wasborn and raised in the city and things were a tad different as well sadly.

You do not need to be the 1% to fight a battle. Bullying is not seen as boys will be boys anymore.

I guess if he shot up the school most of the people here would think that is ok....

If he did not have the stun gun, what would have happened?

Maybe he would have learned to fight.

What would have happened if he could not defend himself from two or more attackers?

Larry - most likely nothing would have happened. Nothing really happened those other 10 times either. If he didn't like the attention he was getting he could have changed his behavior. He was told by the school to not wear dresses, but he kept doing it. He knew the response he would get, but he kept doing it.

The school administration acted on one report.

Two punks paralyzed a good friend of mine for life - with their fists and feet. And he was a damn good fighter, too. It doesn't matter if you're a good fighter - bullies and punks never fight fair if you're willing to give them the chance, it's not in their nature.

I don't think it's physically possible for a stray bullet to come out of a stun gun...

Dear Gailerina,

What if it was a gun and a stray bullet hit an innocent person?

What if a stray rock or bottle hit an innocent person?

I would have gladly welcomed that fight and fought them with my last breath which is surely more dangerous than a stun gun. I have a zero tolerance for bullies ever since I was in this same situation ( minus wearing the women clothing) and was actually jumped. Did I bring a weapon to school no, I learned how to fight because I was scared. After getting jumped I fought the tougher ones one on one and won. The rest of the crew who was bullying was scared and I gain their respect because I refused to be a victim but this took years from K-6th grade. And also after that I was labeled "crazy" I guess because I stood up for myself but I didn't care as long as I wasn't being attacked.

Good idea but it all depends on the IQ of the bully - most have the IQ of lint!

But not the right to arm himself. Were his hands broken?

Were George Zimmerman's hands broken Leroy? Because I seem to remember you saying he was justified in gunning down Trayvon Martin,a lone unarmed teenager.

But this young man is not allowed to basically fire a warning shot (however effective that is with a stun gun...) when faced with being pummeled by a group.

Interesting.

So which is it that makes it not OK with you for this individual to "stand his ground"?

His being black or his being gay? Or both?

Once again Leroy,your ignorance is showing.

If your child was at that high school and you knew that somebody was shooting off a stun gun, would your opinion be different? There are other ways to handle bullies without putting other people in danger.

Can't he make a fist? Don't arm suicidal teens.

A fist against a group is just asking for a trip to the hospital.

Or morgue.

They are not blaming the victim. All they are doing is saying look this is something that we can't stop from happening to you ever again but here is something you can do that can reduce the odds of it happening. Take this for example, lets say I'm walking down a street minding my own business where all the bars are and I get attacked by an intoxicated person. Am I at fault for that? No. Is there something I could have done to reduce the odds of that happening? Yes, instead of walking through that area I could have walked around it.

Aren't stun guns single shot? Some body could have legally cleaned his clock .

He got lucky they were typical bullies - ran when they started sh!$ they couldn't handle.

This was not a single shot taser gun that shoots a projectile. If you read the Indianapolis Star article, it explains that this is just a "stun gun" that has an electrical charge at the end of it. It makes a crackling sound and you can see a blue electrical charge at the two prongs. This is not considered a "deadly weapon" by the state but is still prohibited by the school. It is also illegal to give this type of weapon to a minor.

It's hard to address those issues when so many people are trying to redefine what is normal for a person. The "I think or feel this so it must be right" attitude is the problem.

One of the schools I attended implemented uniforms the year after I left. The district and all the parents thought that was the answer to the behavioral problems they were experiencing and enrolled dozens of additional students with behavioral problems. As a result, there were more suspensions/expulsions there in the first month than the entire previous year.

Kids are going to make fun of each other for anything that is outside of the norm. The kid may have brought the words upon himself, but he needs to be protected from the rocks and bottles thrown at him on school grounds as well as on the way home. That's where school administration failed, and that's where they should have involved the police.

School uniforms don't even begin to address the problem, which is not something the schools themselves can solve IMO. It's the idea, no doubt learned at home, that you have the right to denigrate people for being different. That they're asking for it, and deserve it. That's what's got to go.

Uniforms wouldn't prevent anything with this generation, unfortunately. What these kids needs is parents that put the fear of God (or whatever) into them. My @ss would have been grass if I treated this kid like these bullies have.

Uniforms will work to a point but you have to give it time. No it isn't going to solve all problems. And nothing is instant.. If you enroll lots of additional kids with problems, common sense should tell you to immediately expect problems.

If it were about growing up, the principle wouldn't have made the ignorant comments that he did. I think it's a mental defect that's not too uncommon, and those who think this kid "had it coming" for dressing the way he did aren't going to "grow" out of it - ever.