It is a total reflection of our society, when the adults involved think that the kids just need to learn to fend for themselves or deal with being bullied because it's a part of life. Ridiculous. My heart goes out to this family, what a tragic and senseless loss. Officials need to do more to protect our kids when we send them to school - despite the attention that bullying has gotten recently, there is still a 'law of the schoolyard' mentality among teachers and administrators that is sickening - as well as among the parents of bullies who simply see it as 'kids being kids.'

I hope that the children responsible for this are charged and punished and (I'm sorry) made an example of. I'm not saying they should rot in a cell for the rest of their natural lives, but a child lost his life as a direct result of their behavior (were the seizures a result of the beating, come on) and they should be punished - and other kids should be aware that this kind of behavior will result in punishment beyond two days worth of suspension.

Again, my heart goes out to this family - it breaks my heart. I have a 9 year old son, and I can't imagine being in their shoes...

I was the victim of terrible bullying as a child. As a result of that, I never let my kids just fend for themselves. They always knew I would be there for them thru thick and thin, no matter what. I hate saying it, but a lot of parents are too lazy to be bothered or even listen to their kids. It's a real shame. Kids are mean and were just as mean in the 50s when I was growing up as they are now.

WTF, the kids who did this only got a 2 day suspension? Where is the justice? They should be tried as adults and put into a reality based nightmare of their own.

I'm surprised they are waiting off to "see if the injuries from the fight caused the seizures".

It seems pretty straight-forward to me: they gave him a concussion.

Did he have seizures before? Doesn't sound like it.

Even if the answer was yes, it would not explain why those he suffered now cost him his life.

Condolences to the family and friends of young Bailey. These tragedies are difficult to understand.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

These kids only got 2 days suspension for such a severe beating that put a child in the hospital????? WTH??? First there should have been arrests made and these kids taken to juvenile hall!!!!! Doesn't sound like the boy had life threatening problems before the attack. This towns DA needs to be prosecuting these kids and soon. They need to be in their states juvenile systems until such age they can no longer be monitored by the juvenile system. There has to be some type of reparations for the horriffic thing they did!!!!!! I absolutely do not blame this family for taking the other child out of that school system. Don't think I'd trust that school with a stray dog much less precious children. Alot of work needs to be done about bullying nationwide.

While the students who jumped Bailey were suspended for two days, police have not yet revealed whether they will be criminally charged.

This tell you how society becomes more and more insensitive with human kind ,WHY in the name of GOD are they still in school ....?. Waiting to bring a gun and do an apocalyptic scene and than blame the politicians or guns . What is wrong with that particular school ,they should be all fired ...where was the person in charge of recess/ observant .Condolences to the family in suffering the loss.For those monsters parents you belong locked up first and than in hell with your brats .

RIP little angel God has taken you away from this evil world ,he will take care of you ......

And yet again we see the people guilty of this being protected more than the victim. The ones responsible being coddled and cooed that it'll be okay, they just made a boo boo and if they don't do it again they'll get to go to Chuck E Cheese.

It disgusts me that people constantly want to protect the ones doing wrong, but leave the victim and their families sometimes literally hanging.

There is no reason why the bullies should NOT be arrested, unless of course they are police, teacher or politicians kids, they do get special treatment in our society you know?

Judd - really?? A 12 year old boy has died and all you worry about is misspelled words. You sir are what's wrong with this world.

I don't know why these types of stories upset anyone any more. "Society" is somewhat the group - but it all boils down how kids see adults behave - not only at home, but also in public.

Racism. Sexism. Even politics. Even religion. All these little 'separation by difference because I or We are better' mindsets.....and it all trickles right back to the kids.

So while you are wondering "how did this happen?" - - - take a good look in the mirror to see if you are part of the problem - or part of the solution.

My experience as a child. I was a dork, geek, wear glasses, brace face, cow lick, generic no name clothes. I just wanted to be left alone, but i was bullied all the time. I never fought back, im not sure why. Most of the time i ran, and blathered my way out of the situation. I would be teased , made fun of.. even one of my teachers said i looked like a frog looking through ice hahaha. I have to laugh about it, because my child hood in school is probably too much for some to handle. Yet i dont hold grudges against any of those who chased after me, or took sucker punches at me. I forgive them all with out them even asking me for forgiveness. It has made me stronger in some ways, because I hit the gym hard and bulked up from 130 lbs from middle school to 160 lbs by my junior year, which i wrestled my freshman, sophomore and junior. I was picked on by fellow team mates, which i finally quit during my junior year of wrestling. I beefed up to 185 and went into the marines when i got out of school.

Now when i look back to a lot of those kids who bullied me, they went no where in life. Jail, drugs, some dead, wellfare, laborer making minimum money and busting their rumps. Here I am with a really good paying job, benefits, huge house, and a good christian family. I couldnt ask for anything more. Funny how life is. I guess one day I will talk to a psychologist about my life. Maybe all those things I buried deep inside are still in there, or maybe their not. Ill let him figure that out.

I do think back to when i got chased, or sucker punched, what would had happened if I did fight back.. but I know violence brings violence. Ya maybe i could have got a good punch or two in, or perhaps even defended myself by punching back, kicking ect ect . But maybe that guy will bring more buddies next time, or perhaps fighting back would had made him even more made and next time maybe he would bring a knife, or gun, bat or something and brutally beat me.. Guess thats why i ran :D He who fights and runs away, lives to run away another day haha.. Famous quote from Mel Gibson in Maverick :D

Classic example of where the school system in this country has gone haywire. Two days for jumping a kid and sending him to the hospital with injuries severe enough to require a medically-induced coma? When I was in school. it was fifteen days followed by a school board hearing. Next step up from that point was law enforcement and state mental health officials' involvement if the offender was in a special ed program. Pretty obvious to me what we have here is a school system more concerned with the civil rights of bullies, and their right to inflict mayhem on people, than the safety of the student body.

My core belief with bullies is this: the only thing a bully understands is force; the more force you can deliver to the bully, the more understanding the bully becomes. School policy must allow students to physically defend themselves from bullies, without the fear of retribution from all these politically correct c*cksuckers running the school system. That right to defend one's self includes the right of pre-emptive strike. Remember this: the assault BEGINS WHEN THE THREAT IS CONVEYED, NOT WHEN IT HAS ALREADY MANIFESTED ITSELF ON TOP OF YOU. Too many people are caught up in this "legally right" bullsh!t where you wait for the bully to make the first strike. This is a potentially fatal mistake for three reasons: the bully may have friends lying in wait, the bully may have a weapon he's looking for the right time to use or the bully may have training. The only "legally right" thing to do is whatever it takes to take out the bully before he takes you out; if that means taking him out pre-emptively, then that's his own tough sh!tting.

One thing I'm a firm believer in for bully deterence is martial arts training. I believe it should be a mandatory requirement for the physical education program. Wrestling, Muay Thai kickboxing, and karate should be mandatory for boys and girls starting at age 7; Israeli hand-to-hand combatives should be added to the martial arts/phys ed program starting at 8th grade. You build kids who are physically and mentally tough. You give kids the physical skills to deal with bullies. Most important, you give them the mental skills necessary to recognize a bad situation before it manifests itself on top of them. There's no doubt in my mind that if the boy in this story had martial arts training, he'd be alive today and at least one of the two bullies would have learned the hard way that "bully" was a lousy career choice. Anytime you have bullies in packs, you have bullies who are capable of bringing the fight to you and bullies who are nothing but followers. If you have martial arts training, you will be able to recognize who the real danger is coming from. There are two things you can do at that point. One is work your way to the "back door" to escape the pack. The other is destroy the weak member or members of the pack as you are escaping through the "back door".

Contrary to what you may think, mandatory martial arts training will not build bullies but break them. It's very simple: if you want to be a bully, you're going to have to go live against everyone in the program who is at a higher skill level than you are, one right after the other, no rest in between. It's called kumite.

I can remember a bully story not too long ago in Texas, where the teacher made the bully stand in front of the class and had the class line up to take shots at him. The word for the day was kumite and the bully found out real fast he didn't want to be a bully and doesn't want to go back to school. I'd call it "problem solved".

My condolences to the family. Losing a child never heals.

Not enough information to make judgement, though everyone else has.

Here's what will get you a 2 day suspension from school.

1. Eating a pop tart until it looks sort of like a gun.
2. Beating a kid until he dies of his injuries after being hospitalized.

Yeah, sounds about right for our politically correct world.

My opinion is 'sorta kinda' like Echoe's. I also think these boys should have to 'give talks about what bullying does'. Our opinions vary in that I think our two speakers should be practicing their oratorical skills addressing newly arriving brats at the very same juvenile prison that the 'murderers with a message' will be calling home for the next six years.

JerseyKat, I feel your pain. When I was in the 12-14 year old range, I had to walk to and from a blue-collar public school, and had to walk two miles each way. I was relentlessly bullied, being smaller, more shy, and a girl who was more interested in science than makeup and dresses. There were some real prize bullies along my route who would try to find me on a regular basis. I would either try to be the first one out the door, then I would run like the wind for about a mile to put the crowd of kids behind me, or I would try to be the last out the door. This was the worse strategy, as many of the bullies lingered here and there through the city. When they caught up with me, I would get kicked and beaten with closed fists, mercilessly, and called every name in the book. My only defense was to curl up into a tight little ball to try to protect my head and stomach. Where were my parents? Well, dad was at work, and mom was too busy watching tv. My mom is a good woman, but was negligent in so many ways. She only picked me up on rare occassions, and frequently, I would duck into a small bar and play a video game for hours until I could be SURE the bullies had long ago reached home. My mother didn't seem to take much notice if I got home at 3, 5, or 6! I lived in an average working-class suburban home, and there was no alcoholism, or any kind of overt abuse - just this pathetic negligence. The only time she would rise heroically to the occassion, is when I would come home bruised and tattered, when the beating was so bad and so obvious, it required police intervention. Then I would get a ride for a few days, and then it would be back to the 2 mile trek through the urban jungle. It was a horrible, lonely, frightening time in my life. It is something I quietly resent my mother for, to this day. She was awfully negligent. On several occassions that I came home quite late, I could have been abducted by some sicko. I had more than one occassion when a car with a leering man drove slowly by, and even pulled up onto the curb.. Adults need to take this bullying business more seriously. Bullies grow up to be two kinds of people - felons, or workplace bullies. Romney was a bully (cut hair of classmate, as a "joke" - haha.) , I LOATHED even having to see his face because of it, and just wanted to launch myself through the tv screen to unleash all the pent-up rage over how badly I was bullied on his nasty salesman smiling face. The last thing we need sitting in the White House is a vicious bully. They rarely reform themselves. Of course the bullies are responsible for Bailey's death. Even if he did have a preexisting condition, they triggered it to the point that it caused his death. Too many people in power are bullies themselves, and I think this is part of the problem with failure to respond quickly and promptly. These bullies should all be in Juvenile detention centers and kept FAR away from the general school population. They certainly need to be charged with assault just as any adult would. Imagine as an adult, if two other adults started calling you names and "jumped" you in the grocery store parking lot, and pummeled the carp out of you. They wouldn't be given "detention" or a warning! They would be hunted down by the police and charged with assault. When this same thing happens to children by thier peers, why do we too often ignore it with "kids will be kids"? NO! This is NOT acceptable! And it amounts to child neglect on a societal level.

"Children learn primarily from watching and interacting with others..." Seriously? Is that what you truly think. Children learn primarily at home. Children who bully bully siblings and likely have parents who are also bullies and, therefore, do little to correct their wayward behavior.

What a terrible shame. RIP Bailey...

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelansays investigators are trying to determine if the injuries Bailey received in the fight caused his seizures.

They say he "started" suffering seizures the day "after" the attack. If he never had seizures before, then I would think that the attacked triggered them.

This sure is a fine line here. I mean you have 12 yr olds that I'm sure, did not mean for this child to die however, he did. Now they have to see if there are going to be criminal charges.

These kids should be the poster childrenof Bullieness. This should be an example to the rest of the bullies that bullying is more serious than they thought and it could be deadly....

No Avenger, 'society' is not responsible for this tragedy. The two who assaulted this kid (and possibly their parents for not teaching them better) are responsible for this.

Quit making excuses for them.

@Marmaduke:

kudos to you. the best revenge is to live well!

It's really sad that this is the way Bailey is finally at peace. No kid should be afraid to go to school and no school should tolerate any form of bullying.

My prayers go out to the family and hope they will get through this.

If the two junior thugs that murdered this child are not severly punished it will send a message to other bully's that it's alright to beat someone to death because they won't be punished. Murder is murder no matter who's doing the killing. For the people saying "their only kids" I say, what if it was your child that had been murdered by these two miscreants.

There are a few comments saying that the actual assault by the bullies may or may not be the direct cause of this kid's death. You know, that's the chance you take when you pick a victim. If you're hitting him, he falls and hits his head on concrete, or whatever.... it's still THEY'RE responsibility for putting those events into motion.

Hang the little @!$%#s from a flagpole.

We spend all this time hand wringing about kids shooting up schools... blame it on gun owners who had nothing to do with it..... but when actual kids commit actual violence on other people in their school--- 2-day suspension and a write-off.

If it is found that these horrid excuses for human beings who bullied him ARE responsible for his death, they should be tried as adults and hopefully found guilty. Once in prison, they'll know the true meaning of bullying.

@Marmaduke,

Your story is much like mine except I began martial arts at 12. I was still small, but went out of my way to make them pay. The result is they found God and asked me to forgive them.

Brandon Schmitz

All you pathetic dumbasses who think you can just make an example of a couple kids and make bullying just disseapear are just weak minded fools. First thing, I concussed myself many times thru my childhood and NEVER had any siezures.

!#1.27 - Mon Mar 4, 2013 7:22 AM EST

Brandon...

Pathetic, Dumbass Weak minded fool here...

You must be one tough ass dude for not having a seizure after having your brain bucket bashed so many times. Maybe this is a sign that your brain is so small, there was plenty of room for it to move around while your head was being pummelled.

This story is about bullies and you come here calling everyone pathetic, dumbass, weak minded fools.

Ironic?! I would say so.

If anything they should be taken away from their parents and put into a thoroughly checked out extremely nice family.

Oh yeah. That's perfect. There are thousands of "Extremely nice Families" out there just waiting to take in a kid that's responsible for the death of a 12 yr old classmate. Really..... They just can't wait to make him part of "their" family...

There's a word circulating out there for guys like you..... "Karma"....

Have a nice day...

'CD'

I'm glad this tragic story is being published. Maybe it will make schools less tolerant of this behaviour and help keep other children from being tormented. Teachers and bus drivers can see this happening if they will just watch. There should be zero tolerance of verbal and physical abuse by school children.

This is so sad when children can't even go to school. It is a very good time for the D A to move forward and investigate the parents to seee why these kids are bullies.

Brandon:

everything else after "pathetic dumbasses" was just blah blah blah blah. you become the equivalent of the adult voice in the Peanuts cartoons--background noise. you give up any credibility you may have had when you start a comment with some sort of insult.

This breaks my heart and I can't believe people are raising A$$holes! Even if young Bailey, hadn't died, those two ba$tard$ should have been charged with ASSAULT! when the bullying gets physical - its assault. Plain and simple. Now that he's died its at best a negligent homicide. There's no way that you can depend on the school to stop bullying. I hate to be this way but if someone's kid touches mine - I'm not talking to the teacher or the principal - I will file a criminal complaint. Forget 2 day vacation - cause that's what it is... Mom and dad are going to go to court to deal with it.

It never ceases to amaze me. We keep harping on bullying and how it affects the kids that are getting bullied and we need to do something about it. Then we have a bullying issue that results in a death. What do we do? We want the people who killed the kid to get counsoling and try and save something out of the tragedy. You know, blame the victim for dying and the family of the kid for not doing more. Blame the victims again. Blame society. It's their fault. Not the criminals. Kinda of like Sandy Hook. Lets blame the children and society. Let's crack down on the honest people who didn't do anything but will have to pay with new regulations and laws. What about holding the criminals responsible for thier actions. I am sorry these are kids. Give these kids life in prison and then tell all bullies from now on that they can look forward to the same fate if they keep bullying. To quote our stupid President, If it saves one life, it will be worth it. Put the hammer down and don't look back. The Bleeding Hearts will say that it is not right. The victims can't say anything. We cry for justice and a way to deter this from happening again. But society does not have the stomach to do it.

dang...two days suspension...kind of hard on murders...in the city of brotherly love...

if an adult jumped another person and beat them until they died as a result of their injuries- they would go to jail for homicide. Why aren't these kids being tried for murder?

I would like to point out to parents that if you child is being struck by another child - it really doesn't matter what the school does or does not do. You call the police. File charges. Call the prosecutor.

If the school has not done anything, call a civil rights attorney, have them call the school superintendent and watch things suddenly change. Then file a suit against the child's parents. Money, or the threat of losing it, is a great motivator.

It is pitiful that it requires the law to intervene but when parents never believe their darlings can act this way and some schools see this as normal behavior, you must take the next logical steps. This is not the same bullying that was happening 30 years ago.

Why are the police not called when there are acts of violence in schools? If a few bullies were taken away in handcuffs I guarantee you'd see bullying drop off VERY quickly. Parents would actually teach their kids not to do it. Bullying is not inevitable. It happens because adults allow it to happen.

These kids are murderers. Why on earth would they not be charged?

Brandon,

I think you might have banged your head a couple of times too many? Are you half retarded? To open your comment by calling everybody pathetic dumbasses is, well half retarded. Dumbass!

Brandon, "wet backs"? Bigotry will not garner any sympathy. Hatred will not lead to understanding.

I wish they would elaborate more on the bullying information. COULD this just have been the result of rough horseplay? . Just "two boys jumped on him"...happens all the time on playgrounds. That info doesn't give us any other information, like is there a history of this boy being bullied by these two, how many incidents of bullying this boy were there? Same kids? There has got to more revealed to illustrate that it was, in fact, deliberate bullying and not just boys being boys. I don't mean to diminish the tragedy at all. I can't even imagine the pain this family is suffering

I've never really understood how suspension was really all that big of a punishment. Kids who enjoys school aren't likely to act out/cause trouble, so I would think that most of the kids who receive suspension probably don't care for school all that much. It'd be like a reward-"Sweet, I do whatever I want, and then I don't have to go back for a few days." It seems like it's more of a punishment for their parents, who might have to take off work or find some other arrangement for their child. It would seem more fitting to take something away from bullies etc that they actually care about (like if they're on some sort of team/club, suspension from that, or make them stay late after school and do some sort of restitution).

But I agree, two day's suspension for likely being the cause of another child's death is way too light of a punishment.

I don't think their is enough info yet to persecute the parents, as much as I would like to think they have a hand in this. Their children may have some kind of mental disorder, that they are fully aware of, but because federal law states "least restricted environment" for kids, they may not have a choice as to where their child receives an education. The parents could be trying to do everything right, only to have the school district thwart their every attempt at doing what THEY think is in the best interest of their children. It may sound far-fetched, but is entirely possible & happens more often than you'd think.

Now if it is determined these parents are just the permissive types that let their kids walk all over them with no discipline & feel their children are angels who can do no wrong or are "just being boys", well, then the best thing to happen IMO is they are publicly shunned--them and their kids. Let the community turn against them. Businesses refuse to serve them. Fellow students ignore the kids. People spit at the ground as they walk by, etc. Let's face it. There won't be jail time or anything like that.

Get 'em, C Dog!

The one thing I cannot fathom on this blog is how anyone can stand up for the boys responsible for this child's death. There is no excuse for bullying...ever!! Parents or guardians are a child's first teachers. It is often seen that children who bully are often from parents who carry around the mentality..."not my child; he/she would never do that"!! Ignorance of being a parent. No parent should ever assume their child is not capable of such behavior and that is why it is important to discuss these issues. Bullies come from all walks of life...welfare and financially well-off. Just as kids being bullied will not speak up, you will never see a bully admit his/her wrong-doing. It all starts with parents who are "in the know" about their child. That means being involved. It is not invasion of privacy when a parent snoops or asks questions. It is part of being a parent.

Bullying today is far worse than it was 20, 30 & 40 years ago. Each decade proves it gets worse over time. Until it is conquered by those who have the power...parents, teachers, school administrators and law enforcement (to name a few)...even children who witness should learn to speak up because it is OK...this will just get worse.

Aggie-345886

I wish they would elaborate more on the bullying information. COULD this just have been the result of rough horseplay? . Just "two boys jumped on him"...happens all the time on playgrounds.

There has got to more revealed to illustrate that it was, in fact, deliberate bullying and not just boys being boys.

Really?! Here is some information to help you out a little and get this, I took it right out of the actual "story"...

Bailey's family says he was jumped by two classmates during recess at Darby Township School last January and suffered a concussion as well as a broken nose as a result.

Yeah, sounds like rough horseplay to me...

He then began to suffer seizures the next day, forcing doctors to put him into a medically induced coma.

Still sounds like horseplay...

He had to have a blood transfusion after getting pneumonia.

Horseplay?

12-year-old boy who was victim of bullying attack dies after weeks in hospital...

Yup, I'm convinced. It was horseplay, now everybody go home. C'mon, clear out... We have lives to live here...

Any questions?!

RIP little angel God has taken you away from this evil world ,he will take care of you ......

yeah uh huh. "God" will take care of him, just like he did when he was in this world. Are you serious? At what point are you people gonna figure it out? Anyway I thought he was attacked by a couple of adolecent criminals in training or maybe those kids were "God's little angels" too, just doing "God's" will.

Personally I like the explaination that they were just human animals doing what they do best. Yeah sure its depresssing but at least that explaination doesn't strain credulity.

dgeding

It's official, you're going to hell.

...(below)...

If it can't be any worse, then why are you still here?!

Take care....

wade... (below)...

Now days, prison "is" a private school payed for by our taxes....

we all know the parents are the probable cause of the boys being bullies in the first place....

so at very "least" they should not be aloud in public schools ever again.

now at 12 years old they must be in school so the parents must pay for privet school...

this is of course only if the boys aren't in prison .

Creek Dog

dgeding

It's official, you're going to hell.

Take care....

Gee really? I'm sure it can't be any worse than this @!$%#ball of a planet.

"the kids who did this only got a 2 day suspension" I guess those watching this happen gave no responce to police on their questions. Also have to wonder what it would take to get more than two days out of school ? This boy died because of bully's....they should be out of that particular school for good..and the law should do its job instead of looking for ways out.

Steamie2010

dgeding,

Please hurry and get off this palnet! You are not worthy of any farther comment. Go to hell. :)

Typical Christian BS.

Creek Dog

dgeding

It's official, you're going to hell.

...(below)...

If it can't be any worse, then why are you still here?!

Are you serious? I can't get in an all fired hurry to go somewhere I don't believe exists. I haven't ran into my coat closet looking for Narnia either.

Such tragedy.

The other tragedy is with the police investigation which has been weak at best. A 'two-day suspension'? Get real- talk about minimizing their actions on the part of the school. Then they 'assure their investigation will continue...' wow! We're really doing something here aren't we? Such slipshod, crappy work being done here. Meanwhile the medical people are still trying to determine the cause of the seizure...

What is happening is that these two punks are going to go scot-free due to the total, utter failure of those officiating the matter! No justice will be served because of this dispicable ineptitude.

So quick to judge are you? We don't know the whole story and probably never will.

dgeding,

you obviously didn't get the love you deserved as a child.. so sad. I can see you have a lot of hurt in your heart and may God bless you :)

At a minimum, the parents of the two bullies should be made to pay for the younger brother to go to private school. That's what I'd like to see at a minimum, but that won't happen and probably nothing will happen. Those poor parents of the victum will now have nightmares of their loss and fear for their remaining child.

Here is a prime example of the failures of the parents for the two attackers! A good portion of parents these days (with so many examples on the news, nation wide), buy a video game system and some of these morbidly violent games, and throw their kids in a bedroom, and think "just as long as they are under our room, nothing could be wrong" attitude. The mind is grown, altered, and the thinking process is built on the environment/experiences these kids are raised in! Having a blood filled, violent game just develops these monsters we see today!! Now I will agree that not all children will turn out "bad" but why are parents taking the chance? We censor movies today, why not give more attention to these violent games and enforce laws to protect our future generations? This is so sad.......one kid dead and the other two kids lives destroyed! When will our increasing liberal country wake up before it is completely destroyed? There are reasons conservative people exist, its Gods (or for the liberals.... mother nature, etc.) way for our society to have a checks-and-balances system in place so we don't become extinct!

Couple of punks in their "pre-gangsta" training jump this kid and I bet nothing is ever done!!! Oh, and I'm sure they are "sorry".

I'm sorry for this family. This is why children bring guns to school. Many of the original mass shootings at school were done by children and adults who were being bullied. When they see that the system that is supposed to protect them fails they start planning ways to protect themselves. What would have if this poor baby hadn't died. Would they have patched him up and sent him back to school to interact with these bullies. Would he have grown up resenting the bullies, the teachers who were supposed to protect him and his parents? What would have happened if this poor innocent child had grown up, brought a gun to school and shot up the place. It would have been the systems fault for not protecting this poor innocent child when they had the opportunity to do so.

As difficult as it will be, the parents must file charges immediately as the police and school are not. File charges against the boys, their parents, and the school administrators. The parents of the boys are 100% responsible for ALL the medical costs of Bailey. The school MUST suspend the killers now before they act again and REQUIRE the parents to homeschool. One parent in each family is required to be with their son AT ALL TIMES...24/7! Get tough judges!

These boys were brought up in a home not knowing right from wrong and the school is enabling that position by letting them return to school. Seems like maybe money is the only thing thier parents would understand.

baschnagel -

I'm sure this wasn't their intent.

I'm sure that it was not, too - but when two boys jump one, you can be sure that these two are puny little cowards who have every intent upon inflicting harm without any chance of a fair fight.

Bullies back down pretty quickly when the odds are against them - I saw that when I made a group of men who were harassing me on the sidewalk at night back down with just my words and my carriage.

I'm sure that these two brats are "sorry," too - sorry that they might face charges. I doubt that they care about anybody but themselves, just like their parents. In fact, I would charge the parents as well - perhaps that will make a few of them actually discipline their spawn.

And where were the teachers? Probably ignoring it or even egging it on - as they did in my day, with some twisted toughen-you-up plan in mind. Some of my teachers appreciated having a smart, well behaved student; others were boorish louts who set the kids against each other and stormed around screaming. Everyone hated them, even the bullies.

There's a problem with this story, a question that no one seems to be asking. Why did it happen? Apparently, two kids jumped him. We know that. The story also says he got a blood transfusion after getting pneumonia. For all intents and purposes, this seems like a bombshell that was just waiting to go off. He had several prior problems, and getting jumped (they don't even tell us what happened) finally seems to have kicked off the end. While I feel sad for the parents, I'm wondering if the other kids knew he was weak, what the heck was actually happening between the kids, and why he got jumped in the first place.

Everyone needs to cool their jets. I went into this entire thing wanting vengeance and harder sentences too, but step back and look at it with an objective mind. We have to find out why the attack happened, what happened at the attack, what the witnesses have to say, and if the boy that was attacked was acting like a twerp, or if this was just a case of two jerk kids picking on someone much weaker, possibly sicker, than they were. It's only AFTER you gather that information do you choose what to do with them.

They should be made to attend the funeral.

The problem is that we're too busy trying to be politically correct so as not to offend anyone to actually fix our problems. We'd rather do some backwards "bullying hurts" messaging that actually makes the kids who do the bullying laugh than to get in the face of society as a whole and demand that we all stop acting like freaking animals. You want kids to stop bullying? Make certain every parent knows that their child is NOT SPECIAL and doesn't deserve "fair" right out of the birth canal just because they managed to survive the choice stage of their existence, so that they will teach them right and wrong every day and not wander through life saying, "I thought he knew better." It is imperative we bring back honor, integrity, humbleness, intelligence (without arrogance), by demanding that every member of our society always attempt to have honor, integrity, humility, intellect and all the other good and right values in everything they do--THAT is what differentiates us from the animals, our ability to value rightness. Of course, we will all sometimes fail, but the way we are presently living, it seems very much that the vast majority of us aren't trying at all and have the attitude that it doesn't even matter.

and if the boy that was attacked was acting like a twerp

Seriously? "Acting like a twerp" factors into an attack by two against one, in which the victim suffers a broken nose and a concussion? (It's in the article if you care to read it.)

Yes, people can hold off on manslaughter/murder charges, but what about assault?

S. William,

The same thought crossed my mind. They'd be standing there looking at a dead child that most likely wouldn't be there if it weren't for their actions... Then it (hopefully) will sink into their heads...

ThaMonkeh,

Why did it happen?

It's called "Bullying". Does this help?

And as for the rest of your post mentioning underlying problems, it doesn't matter. It's like kicking the cane out from someones hand that needs it to walk, they fall and die.

Or a home invasion where the old lady has a heart attack (underlying problems) from being so freaked out. It's the fault of the perp for for aggravating an aggravated health problem.

To put it simple, even if this kid had underlying problems, the two bully's aggravated them to the point of death. Plain and simple.

And even if he "did" act like a twerp (Have no Fk'n idea why you would even write that) did not give these kids the right to beat him to death. They must have been hitting him pretty hard for 12 yr olds to cause his death. It's not like they're 200 lbs of solid muscle....

I feel for the family of this young man. Hopefully the offenders will be held full accountable for the outcome of their actions. The parents should be held financially accountable for the medical bills along with the school for allowing this to happen.

baschnagel, you say the bullies likely didn't intend to kill this little boy. Big deal. People who get behind the wheels of their cars drunk don't "intend" to kill anyone either. BUT, acts of making the choice to do something that potentially has serious negative consequences have to be punished. Children can't predict consequences as well as adults, but parents need to be teaching their children that any act of bullying has the potential to have negative consequences way worse than they can even imagine and that it is just plain wrong. Period.

The police don't know if the attackers will be charged????????????? Um... that's murder guys. You better charge them.

This boys will be boys thing and stand up for yourself never made sense to me.

Way way back when if someone was beaten up, teachers told them to quit tattling. Now those kids are raising kids with that mentality.

If you do the magical stand up for yourself, it works about 1 percent of the time then you get jumped.

Better off getting a brick and waiting behind a wall till they walk around. In the military it is called tactics.

"They should be made to attend the funeral."

If bullies were human, this might work. Unfortunately, they're bullies-who have no conscience-which means that they would probably point at the casket & snicker; thus making the families victims again.

I think CoCo has an idea:

"The school MUST suspend the killers now before they act again and REQUIRE the parents to homeschool. One parent in each family is required to be with their son AT ALL TIMES...24/7!"

I C 1 of 2 things happening:

A) The parent would then C how badly his' little angel' really was & would B able 2 curb this behavier, or

B) The 'little angel' makes the parent his next victim.

Better the parent w/blinders on than another kid.

Don't know if there will be a charge or what charge?

Murder is a charge. Manslaughter is a charge. There are different penalties for each, and it is up to a court to decide.

Both are illegal, however. Yes they are juveniles. That's why we have a juvenile court system.

Creek Dog, I was a big fan of yours until you blatantly told someone he was going to Hell. I was always taught that Christians were kind, loving, non-judgemental people. Simply because someone doesn't believe the same way you do, he is going to "Hell?" How about you be nice, kind, loving, and leave the fates of these people who are different from you in the hands of your deity?

Rest in peace Bailey!!!

Hopefully justice will be served. The bullies should be put into a detention hall and hopefully get a taste of their own medicine.

If the young boy had no seizures prior to the attack then they are a result of the attack. Whether the attack caused him to hit his head isn't relevant. The two boys are responsible for his death. At the very least they should be tried for 2nd degree manslaughter. Now, at their age they would probably be tried for a reduced charge but they should be tried - and have to do time in a juvenile facility.

At some point people have to take a stand and do the tough but right thing. They are responsible for the loss of his life because they were weak little boys who had to prove just how BAD they were. Now, they'll find out what BAD really is.

Jim -

God forbid you say anthing about homosexuals in school but Johnny over there is a dork, I'll look the other way while you mistreat him... Obama everyday is either bullying, denigrating or making fun of someone...

What in hell are you talking about? Do you know how many kids get bullied in school for supposedly or really being gay? Did you read one of the comments that mentioned this? No, of course you did not. You just went on autopilot trying to twist this into another rant about Obama.

You are obsessed with Obama. Get some help.

dgeding

Are you serious? I can't get in an all fired hurry to go somewhere I don't believe exists. I haven't ran into my coat closet looking for Narnia either.

But wouldn't that be awesome if it was there??? lol Now I feel a need to go look in the closet.

Two days out of school playing video games is punishment for a murder? Really? I suspect if these two mindless thugs get out of this one, it won't be the last time they attack another person.

When my own son and his friend were being bullied in middle school, I asked my son why he didn't fight back. (At the time he was almost 6 feet tall). He replied he was so much bigger than the bullies he was afraid he'd seriously hurt them. That was until the last day of middle school. He and his friend were walking home and were jumped by 5 bullies. Josh fought back, but his friend who was smaller was pushed into a busy street and hit by a car. He was seriously injured and hospitalized for over two weeks. I called the school and they said because it was the last day of the year, they couldn't do anything. I called the police who said "Boys will be boys". We called the bullies' parents and said we were going to sue the h*ll out of them if they didn't get their brats under control, and then I notified the parents of the injured child who the students were that injured their child. They DID sue for the medical costs and won. The bullies parents had to split the tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills. As usual, money talks the loudest and the bullies parents pulled them out of the "unfriendly" school.

RIP you little Angel.

As for the two kids that murdered this little one, they should be charged with assault as well as murder.

They were old enough to know the difference between right and wrong, and beating on this little kid they knew was wrong, and they did it because they knew he was small and weak.

If an older adult beat the shyt outta these two bullies, they would be in jail, and so should these two for doing the same thing to this young little child.

RIP Bailey

So tragic and sad loss of life. I wonder what party the bullies' families belong to.

Songbird1979

Creek Dog, I was a big fan of yours until you blatantly told someone he was going to Hell. Simply because someone doesn't believe the same way you do, he is going to "Hell?" How about you be nice, kind, loving, and leave the fates of these people who are different from you in the hands of your deity?

#1.80 - Mon Mar 4, 2013 11:30 AM EST

It was sarcasm. I thought it was a little funny. I mean, I start out with "It's official". You know as well as I do it's "not" official so I figured anyone would realize this.

When is the last time you've been to mass? My priest mentions all the time about how bad (BAD) people who are going to hell. Then goes on the explain what hell is all about.

I was always taught that Christians were kind, loving, non-judgemental people.

So was I however, you left "Humor" out of it.

I'm here to post my thoughts just as you are. That said, I figured people to take it or leave it, "just as you are".

My apologies f I offended you...

Thanks for the constructive criticism and have a good day!

Children are expelled for a year if they carry a weapon to school, but only given two days suspension for injuring and killing a child! Expel them and punish them. Zero tolerance means zero tolerance. Even if the child was epileptic beforehand, there is no reason to excuse hitting a child in the head.

Every school system has means to expel and punish children. They lie when they say thing like "it's a barrier-free school," which really means that they get funding for having children that are behavior problems in the school. Send those children to reform school.

The point amused muse is that one group shouldn't be protected over another. Nobody should have to endure bullying, gay, race, social misfit, whatever. It still seems ok to demise overweight people. People put this president on a pedestal he's a nightmare and the biggest bully out there. Reporters are bullied by him and his cronies not to report negative stories about his agenda. People want to put out that he's the next coming of Jesus. I disagree maybe the coming of Satan. I'm just counter balancing that effort. Have a nice day muse

Brenda-251440

"Children learn primarily from watching and interacting with others..." Seriously? Is that what you truly think. Children learn primarily at home. Children who bully bully siblings and likely have parents who are also bullies and, therefore, do little to correct their wayward behavior.

Thank you, thank you so much Brenda. At last, someone who puts the blame exactly where it should be.

It all begins in the home. The behaviour of these children is a direct reflection of the type of parenting they received. The school system can only work with what's already there. I think if parents are held accountable for their children's behaviour, then we will start to see a change.

If these kids get off scott free, then we have a big problem. Anyone could say "oh, I was just beating him over the head with a baseball bat. I didn't mean to cause brain damage or anything."

Right. Manslaughter it is. Tough on 12 year olds, but the reality is that one innocent kid is dead because of them. They need to pay the price.

If this happened to my child, I would personally hunt down the killers and make their lives hell.

It is not society that rules you - you rule you. If you refuse to stand up against wrong, you choose wrong. If you stand up against wrong, you choose to do right in the face of wrong. To be overwhelmed with confusion as to how to react to wrongdoing where the outcome is death because it involved the 'circimstances of ignorance or wrong thinking', you deny that the very tenant of right and wrong exist. You deny that actions result in consequence.

The school is 54% black, 43% white, 58% eligible for free lunch, 9% eligible for reduced lunch, my guess a couple of brotha's mugging the white boy for his lunch money. Blame the white kid he probably got tired of it and tried to stand up for himself, forget about the parents paying for anything, because statistics show only one of them is there, the other probably shows up once a month to get his share of the public assistance that is meant to raise his children. Food stamps, free lunch, preferred status on college of their choice even if they score sub 900 on college entrance, and the man in the big white house more concerned about them then the kid who was killed.

Avenger-2464988

....... Society caused this tragity. Each and every one of us is in some way responsible for this death.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

while I agree that we have this warrior society that contributes to behaviors like this.... that is very different from rationalizing ourselves into thinking these two bullies are blameless, which appears to be what you are inferring.

they definitely need to have their heads examined and get some major punishment, regardless if the beating caused the seizures to start, the two of them beat a kid bad enough to break his nose and send him to the hospital....

The fact that a debate even exists in this thread about whether or not to hold these kids responsible is a BIG part of our societies problem.... we don't teach personal responsibility to our kids....

Their examples are NFL players who wiggle out of DUI Manslaughter with money and Starlets who break the law repeatedly for years and never do jail time and kids that bully and beat another kid apparently to death then skate with 2 days off from school.....

Then we are surprised when they grow up to be non productive monsters thinking that they will always get a break.

Hi CD, 1SGFitzsWife4ID,

What a strange justice system we now have.

Two eleven year old children on the playground tried to pull the scarf off the head of a Muslim girl and were arrested by police, expelled, and charged with a hate crime.

These two beat a child, cause his death (come on, we know he died from injuries received) and they get suspended for two days and are allowed to return to school, and law enforcement "aren't sure" if charges will be filed.

Blame for the offenders goes to their parents.

Blame for the death of the child - my first pick is the doctors who decided to take the path they did.

How did religion become part of the topic - well, when you wish (look up the word "wish") the departed an eternity in Heaven, you are basically inviting a counter point - neither side has an upper hand. Saying you are privileged and have utopia awaiting you - is a form of bullying. Those of faith also see any counter point, as bullying.

Creek; Hell isn't even in the Old Testament - it's a Roman Catholic tool of manipulation. Half of the New Testament is 300 years after the time of Jesus....just think of those two words; Roman and Catholic (talk about irony) - Romans, who once fed Christians to the lions - 300 years later were the face of Catholics...and stuff like that doesn't make you go hummm. Constantine didn't adopt Jesus - me made him self into Jesus. And they say Obama is an emperor...lmao.

I'm spiritual, not religious, but, I love the topic of religion - it's in everything - and humans just can't resist their opportunity to push their own desires.

The story says the boy was jumped - so, how is the school supposed to be prepared for something that took maybe a minute to manifest? Some of you make it sound like schools are full of 12yo's premeditating crimes. Hello; parents know by the time their kid reaches the age of 12 - if they have a problem child or not - schools may have an idea who they are, but they are damned if they and damned if they don't - only the parent can alter a child's behaviour on a consistent basis.

@give & take,

Unfortunately, until we ALLOW parents 2 DISCIPLINE their little monsters WITHOUT screaming ABUSE, we really can't hold them responsible for what the little monsters do-since no body can stop them.

Judd

misspelling?? really? Your a fine example of whats wrong with alot in society today. What the he11 do you mean the police are debating wether 2 that bullied and beat this kid into the hospital are quilty of any crime?? Of course they are. They beat someone so bad they had to be hospitalized. WTH is wrong with these policemen and DA??

These two bullies need to be punished or next time you see them they will be bragging around the playground about how they got away with murdering a defenseless kid and they will continue to bully others until they or their recruits repeat the same thing again. These 2 will form a posse that will terrorise the school...and the ones to blame will be their teachers and their parents. Who the he11 raised these 2 and I bet one of them has a sports freak and wife beater for a father, if any father at all.

UpstatNY2, its pretty obvious the two bullies in this instance were white and not black, and here's the evidence:

1) The boys were only suspended for two days.

2) The police aren't sure if they will press charges.

White kids are less likely to get suspensions than minorities, and when they do the punishments are usually less stringent (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2012/0306/Minority-students-are-punished-more-than-whites-US-reports.-Is-it-racism) so the tipoff here is the fact that bullies were back in school (and that no rent-a-cops looking for "suspicious kids" took any potshots at them and claimed Stand Your Ground while they were suspended) before the victim's body grew cold. If these had been black kids they would have already been convicted, booked, gang raped, and initiated into a prison gang by now because when it comes to throwing blacks in jail America has that drill down by law.

The other indication that these bullies were white and not black or hispanic or anything other than salt-of-the-Earth-Mom's-apple-pie-white-without-a-care-in-the-world boys is the number of people here claiming that these two were just boys being boys, and that we shouldn't go so hard on these two kids who have such a long and promising future ahead of them. If these were black boys most of the comments here would be the typical, limbic-brained, "the only REAL American is a WHITE American" wingnut, Tea Bag-biting tribalistic BS that fills any other story thread here where one of the parties involved is a minority (let alone a black person).

White males are the only people in our society we allow to have the benefit of the doubt. Everyone else is guilty by association or by birth, ergo if we're giving these two bullies a pass - like we gave Mitt Romney a pass for all his documented occurences of bullying - then they must be white.

Nice try, though...

Many kids are Cruel---this is devastating---

Parents, you and you only are the role models for your children--take this responsibility seriously. They do to others, as what is done to them at home; name calling, putting your child down, low self-esteem, calling your kid Stupid. You think they call roll over on this irresponsible Adult behavior, but they soak up every word you are saying, and then "ACT" out on other peer groups, turning it in to bullying, just like they had done to themselves at home.

Bullying could be the number one priority for Schools to react. Suspensions, and teacher/parent conferences---get tough on these aimless children who also have been abused, verbally, or physically.

My condolences to this family--one can never imagine how the pain of this loss will kill the parents as well. They are all victims of the Bully.

Wow! Ciewywth, way 2 race-bait.

"White males are the only people in our society we allow to have the benefit of the doubt. Everyone else is guilty by association or by birth"

Yeah, right! That's how OJ got away with murder...............because he's white.

Try again.

give & take

Until we start making parents responsible for the actions of their children we will continue to have these problems. If the crime calls for prison, a parent must serve the term.

We should turn abandoned schools and military bases into family prison units and make parents serve incarceration terms with the children.

They have industrial size laundry units and kitchens so the parents can do the laundry and cook the food. The grounds can be turned into gardening units to grow food and animal husbandry areas for a few cattle and pigs to grow for meat processing. There are gyms for physical exercise and areas for classes so they can continue education. Make the parents experience life with their children to a degree they never have, in a community they can't leave.

The boy was beaten to death. That is not bullying...that is murder and needs to be prosecuted.

You guys seriously want to charge the parents for these crimes? I admit, they share some responsibility for how their child is raised, but think of the consequences of such a plan.

If I were a sociopathic or schizophrenic child--maybe I hate my parents. Maybe I want to stay up late eating cookies and watching tv all night. Then my parents say "go to bed" and I get angry. All I have to do to get revenge on my parents is commit murder or something. Then I can stay up as late as I want because my parents are in jail.

When I was a kid, I knew it was wrong to gang up on somebody and beat them to death. These kids knew what they were doing was wrong but they did it anyway. They made a conscious choice. Not their parents--who may have been totally unaware of it because their kids LIE to them.

Strato:

It has been researched, and proven a child's permanent personality is formed by the time they are 6 years old.

Overall it would be miminal, the number of parents who are emotionally ill. Yes, some Bullies, do come from mentally disturbed parents, of which I mentioned in my comments---On a whole, no. There are many Abusive parents, from broken families, more than one can count who use their kids as pawns in a bad marriage, or the parents treat each other like S--------------that' where they pick up the "Ok" to Bully---

It is still the parents responsibility on how they raised their child. Discipline, respect for others, kindness, compassion, knowing what is right or wrong, and how they treat another human being.

Many get swayed by their peers later on---young Adulthood.

If you want to get an idea of how insensitive the system is to bullying, watch "Bully" a movie by Lee Hirsch or Google it to see articles on the film. To get an idea of how pervasive this type of behavior is, just go to the Facebook page for let's say "crazy girl fights" or you-tube it. Pretty horrific behavior. Even some adults coaching them to fight. Unfortunately, Bailey's story is not an isolated incident. It's just news because he died. Some say it is just a reflection of how human civilization still handles its differences and why our species is doomed unless it can change.

TWO DAYS..... that's what the boys who did this received.....

The two should be BEHIND BARS

Terelyn, it is not illogical to state that society is responsible. The justice system, the education system and the media are examples caused by society, any of which can or not choose responsibility.

Brandon Schmitz meekness causes bullying? Too much like the argument by rapists that their victims are 'trying to be seductive'.

Junicon, yes, why aren't the police called in for actual battery incidents? One thing is a fact, if those kids were found with drugs, the whole police department would descend upon the school.

I don't call this bullying - this is assault and murder! I don't care how old these monsters are who did this - if they haven't learned by their age what is appropriate behavior, then they never will. These brats should be sent to jail, not just suspended 2 days from school. They are not going to learn, they are already set. They won't be any different when they grow up. They will grow up to rape and murder! Put them away now before more innocent people have to suffer because of these two worthless creatures!

Sometimes children just grow up evil! Sometimes it is the fault of the parents and sometimes it is not! But you have to recognize it when you see it and end it there!

Some school bullies -- especially amongst their peers -- consider getting a suspension, a reward, a badge of honor among bullies. They won't have to wake up in the morning to go to school and listen to an authority figure in each class telling them what to do. Provided they're not ordered to have to do any studying or do any homework while they're on suspension, that makes them very happy. It makes them want to do the crime, again.

This child died as a result of being beaten into a state that required he be placed in a medically induced coma. The school is culpable, in that the abuse happened while the child was in their care. I would bring a civil suit against the school district, the adult who was supposed to be supervising during the recess and that person's supervisor (what if a "stranger" had come onto the playground and done this to the child), and the parents of the two boys.

This is a family tragedy that would not have happened in those circumstances if everyone had been properly doing their job.

Whether the child has a medical history of seizures is relevant. It gives the parents of the deceased child a stronger case against the school district for allowing its students to bullying a child with a known disability. If the deceased child's parent's can prove there is was no history of seizures, then they have a complication caused by the beating but not necessarily the cause of death. Evidently, there was sever enough brain damage to warrant the child being placed in an induced coma. Serious enough without seizures. In short, the city or county is trying to mitigate damages and the parents what every ounce of justic their child is entitled to. And, there is no justice that can replace a child. I hope these parents gain satisfaction and peace.

As for the bullies' parents . . . they will live with their shame forever. Whether they try to hide it or deny it, they will all subcomb to the shame that their children have killed another child. You just don't shake it off and go on. These little bullies will always know that they are killers. Even if the bullies and their respective parents are able to honestly stand up to the circumstances and satisfy the law and the deceased child's parents . . . these children will have started out their lives with murder on their little hands and their parents, no matter how hard they try not to, will always have a seed of fear that they birthed a willful killer. No matter how earnestly the parents profess their child's innocence, the fear will be there to deprive them of the full joy that is a parent's hope. All three sets of parents have lost their child, some in part . . . some in whole.

The two boys should be charged with assualt pending futher investigation . . . not to satisfy the parents, but to restore public confidence in our laws that anyone who beats a child will get prison time. And to satisfy the public need to know that the law is no respector of persons based on age, or due to a perceived conflict of interest, or city or county governmental influence which is continued bullying by the very officials who are sworn to protect every citizen . . . especially our most vulnerable . . . our disabled aged and children who have no will to protect themself.

My guess is, there are ongoing negotiations between the school district attorneys, the attorney for the two bullies and the parents of the deceased child that have been going on since the attack. The district attorney's office for the county or city would have some kind of jurisdiction over the police department and the school board district attorney's would be representing the school involved . . . all are on either the county or city payroll . . . perhaps they are coordinating efforts between the two in their negotiations with the deceased child's parents who should if they have not already sued the custodial party and the offending party.

Pandora6 said: "Some say it is just a reflection of how human civilization still handles its differences and why our species is doomed unless it can change."

You are correct, Bailey O'Neil was a step in our evolution towards a more understanding and less aggressive species. One that won't someday nuke ourselves off the face of the world. Unfortunately, he had a run in with some of societies Neanderthals who are fighting to protect their way and who, if they aren't weeded out of our gene pool, will someday destroy us all.

Steamie2010, et al.,

You do realize that you just bullied dgeding...on a story about bullying...right?

dgeding,

Wanted to drop you a friendly note to let you know you're not alone here :)

Whenever a bully messed with me in school they got punched in the face and they stopped bullying me. What are you people going to do? Follow your kids around for the rest of their lives? They need to learn to fend for themselves and fight back, this is the reason why bullies and predators have a upper hand because you people say "Let the parents and kids complain to school administrators instead of fight back" and of course the school administrators do nothing. I don't care you can all hate on me for making this comment, reply in expletives and caps if you want to because I won't be coming back, I've said my piece. This nation is a nation of wusses and whiners nobody stands up for themselves anymore, nobody takes responsibility for their actions and you all wonder what is wrong with the country. Condolences to this family and these two kids do need to get more than two days detention, I am not debating that but kids need to also stick up for themselves. You can't be by their side 24/7 and if you try their going to be maladjusted adults who have attachment problems, you know, kind of like the same generation who still lives with or off their parents. Grown ups stuck in adolescence, like Gen Y is, is that the way you really want things?

My sincere condolences to the family for the lost of their son. What a horrible tragedy to have happen to the boy. Absolutely sicking to read this article. Bullying has got to freaking stop. Kids need to be taught how to coexist together and not as individual mobs attacking the weak or defenseless ones.

If is found that the kids caused the death then manslaughter should be the charge.......................................

To Jim: (referring to President Obama):

Like the time he went on Jay Leno and made fun of mentally challenged people. That's the real him.

No, President Obama was actually making fun of his own low bowling score of 129. He also later apologized profusely for any possibility that he offended anyone, which is a lot more that I can ever remember from any other president or any other presidential candidate.

For example, I do not recall Romney ever apologizing to the 47% of the citizens that he offended. Had he done so, he might actually be POTUS today. I don't recall George W. apologizing for getting us into a war with Iraq due to WMD that did not exist. Nixon never apologized for Watergate. I could go on and on. Apologizing, even if it is for inadvertently and unintentionally offending someone, takes a lot of humility, and that's the real him (Obama).

While the students who jumped Bailey were suspended for two days, police have not yet revealed whether they will be criminally charged....

Gee, it's a shame these kids didn't make a gun gesture with their fingers or chew a pop tart into the shape of a gun. Then they might be expelled or in jail. Kill a kid at recess? The school has tolerance for that. Sick f--kin government schools.

What kind of stinking snots do we raise??? The parents of those kids should be prosecuted. I taught my three children never to bully and they did not. The parents are responsible. They are responsible.

Of course, we see bullying everywhere including politics. It reminds me of the same kind of behavior coming from a certain party who wants to bully women, voters etc. Threatening to use guns for example. Whether you agree or not, it's bullying and it all makes me sick.

Terelyn... and Others.. I did not at any time suggest that the boys who did this are blameless. I did say we don't even have enough imformation to make a judgement. However Society IS to blame We have put in place restrictions on teachers too the point they can't do anything to a kid who is being unruley. .We have placed fear in parents for "Over punishing" thier own kids because someone thinks there should be no corporal punishment of our kids when they do wrong. We allow telvision programing that is filled with violence and movies and video games that teach our kids HOW to kill or seriously injure another. The News is filled with sensationalizm of violance every day. Our kids are being numbed to the loss of life and WE , SOCIETY, are allowing it to continue. We must take some of the responsibility because WE are failing to lead our kids down the right path. You can attempt to side step your part but that won't change the fact that we are the adults and it is our job to teach our kids right from wrong. It is our job to protect them from bad influences. It is our job to see to it that In "real life" yiou can't simply push the reset button and start over if you kill or seriously hurt another.

So YES society is very much a part of the blame of these things happening.

Hmm, maybe we should have background checks on all parents and their children before they enter a public school system. Shoot, if they are doing this with gun owners, they need to do it with ALL the parents for that we do not know if they are being PARENTS AT ALL! But it's typical for this type of society, to many parents still kids themselves, to busy parting, to busy drinking, and sure as $hit way to greedy and selfish!!!

This isn't "bullying". Let's call this what it was. It was assault and murder! They mercilessly beat him and he died. To use the term "bullying" is to cheapen the severity of it.

Avenger and others who are trying to gloss this over: They have videos and witness accounts and they are still "investigating". Just who are these bullies related to? What do they need to prosecute these little creeps? I should think a film of what happened will tell you all you need, unless you just don't want to investigate any further. Let's see if they ever see a judge!

Judd really??? The only thing you can come up with is to comment on my lack of spell check at 2am? Says allot about priorities for you now doesn't it!

Wow. Kill a kid and get two days suspension? That's some justice system they got. When I was a kid I got two weeks suspension for fighting and that was one on one. Besides scratches and bruises, neither of us were injured. These kids ganged up on this kid and brutally beat him to death. My how times have changed.

Sorry folks but we're all responsible for this.

Our society continues to drift downward and we're not doing anything about it.

Kids are growing up watching violent TV shows and playing violent video "games" and we all stand around and wonder why this sort of thing happens.

We all need to step up and stop buying this trash that masquerades as entertainment that involves killing...and war...and gang violence.

This isn't rocket science people...my heart goes out to this child and his family.

Children should be safe at school...especially from other children.

well for those of you that say this is just kids being kids, i strongly disagree. although yes it could just be a case of him hitting his head wrong, i doubt it. he suffered a broken nose that more than likely was what caused the concussion. more importantly there is the act. this isn't bullying this is plain and simple assault. two against one is called a coward. i am not big and bad enough to do it by myself i will get a buddy to help. these kids both need to be punished or the next we hear from them will be in the next mass shooting. they didn't punish me before they wont do it now.

I don't know why they weren't charged right off ? In my state a two on one assault is considered a felony assault. When I was a kid we beat the hell out of each other but ganging up on someone was considered a cowardly act and it didn't matter who you went after you'd end up with everyone coming after you. Fights happen and a freak injury like this doesn't happen very often in a fair fight but two against one makes it a much more likely outcome. This is why they have Gang problems, they treat a two on one fight like it's just a fight. It's not it's a felony. Nip it in the bud ! I'm sure this wasn't the first time these kids ganged up on someone I hope it's the last.

As if the bible isn't violent.

"What is all this fuss about violins on television?".....Emily LaTella.

The thing about unparented children bullies is that they grow up violent and this can be turned upon the father sperm donor and mother egg donor if they at some point decide to discipline their little angel.

Case in point - I knew a bully who eventually at age 19 was incarcerated after pulling a knife on his mother. The dad's opinion was that "boys will be boys." Sure enough.

andora6

Some say it is just a reflection of how human civilization still handles its differences and why our species is doomed unless it can change.

I have my own theory on this one. Part of the problem is that we are over civilized in that we have arrested natural selection. Once upon a time, tribal society would separate out "sociopaths" and banish them from the village. This would effectively eliminate them from the gene pool. The sad thing is that they are now making a comeback...look at the fortune 500 CEOs...

IndigoKid

Kids are growing up watching violent TV shows and playing violent video "games" and we all stand around and wonder why this sort of thing happens.

We all need to step up and stop buying this trash that masquerades as entertainment that involves killing...and war...and gang violence.

Oh it's a hell of a lot worse than video games. We celebrate the lowest human lifeforms in our society. Look as some of the reality shows out there. In addition to that kids see violence and criminal acts pay off on TV then see the nightly news and realize it pays off in reality as well.

However, it does not excuse these little POS from their actions.

where is the "bullying" part of the story? a fight is not "bullying." was there a prolonged negative interaction with the 3 boys? did the victim get picked on by these other 2 in previous encounters? i think of "bullying" as strictly intimidation, not actual physical BATTERY. normally these types of intimations and physical beefs are called assault and battery to us adults so why does it get called "bullying."

if the intent of the two boys can be shown to want to cause substantial physical harm to the other boy then they should face the law and be charged accordingly, the seizures after the fact sustained by the victim would need medical testing to determine whether it was caused directly by the fight or the fight exposed an unknown medical issue. in a twisted world the fight could actually be a blessing for the boy if it exposed an unknown medical condition, it has happened many times before.

least we not forget that these are just kids who have not matured yet, once we throw the unruly children into cages of the unruly, then they forever will be unruly. rehabilitation of the children is very easy compared to that of the adults but we have long ago abandoned any process of state rehabilitation and instead use for-profit quota-based private prison systems and we throw our young in there at every younger ages.

This is BS. The school protects the thugs and allows children to die. Sounds like they are teaching children to pick on the weaker ones. If they want the law of the jungle, time to arm all the children.

Betcha it was a hate crime.

That we had a presidential candidate who was a documented bully in his younger years suggests Americans do not take this problem seriously.

I was reading this story, and I was shocked that the bullies only received a 2 day suspension. I thought the comment about getting a two day suspension for eating a pop-tart into the shape of a gun was not only hilarious, but spot on. Then, sadly, I googled it and saw it was a true story.

Next time I read a story about a school shooting, I will think back to this story. I will think about students who are fed up with being bullied and bring a gun to school to get some relief. I will think about parents who have followed all the rules and laws and cannot get any satisfaction for their children. I will also think of parents who had their child murdered at school, while the villains of the piece shrugged their shoulders and said, "Gee, sorry."

And I will understand.

Creek Dog....

Here is some information to help you out a little and get this, I took it right out of the actual "story"...

Bailey's family says he was jumped by two classmates during recess at Darby Township School last January and suffered a concussion as well as a broken nose as a result

And you go on to copy paste all of his injuries. No question he was severely injured. No question that he was jumped on by two boys during recess. I neither said nor implied he wasn't.

I've read the article, but can you show me WHERE in that sentence or in the entire article it says it was a deliberate act of BULLYING? THAT is the information that is missing

I'm not "sticking up for two boys at all"...just think the article should give the specifics as to why they say it was due to bullying. What's the history? What did the two boys say prior to jumping him? What did they say to him before this incident? Have they been hasseling him all along? Have they been pushing him around in the hallways, lunch room, on the school bus? There has to be a REASON or REASONS why they are accusing the boys of deliberate bullying. The article doesn't say. At all.

What about that don't you understand?

Wants to know...

Are you referring to Romney giving the boy a haircut, or to Obama shoving the girl down to the ground?

Aggie I think you can call it bullying if a verbal or physical attack seems to happen for no good reason. No doubt the bullying was a deliberate act; how badly the child was hurt could be questioned as to how deliberate! Did they intend to hurt this child this bad? OR could they say 'it got out of hand.'

echols1 (post 1.65) makes an interesting point. 35 years ago I was a kid in a little hick town in central valley California, filled with god-fearing christians and a church on every corner to accommodate them. It was the kind of place where farm labor, sports and the law of the schoolyard were all believed to build character, to prepare us for the real proof of manliness, which was joining the military. Thus, it was a town enamored with the concept that 'boys will be boys'.

In 7th grade, one such boy - he was the son of a local preacher - was routinely bullied by another boy. One day after school the bully got two friends to help, and they cornered the kid against a backstop with baseball bats, the episode ending with the kid on his knees pleading for his life. The next day the bully, proud of his actions (to this day I'm not sure why), told everybody at school what had happened. The kid left the school soon after and I never saw him again.

Except once. It was several years later, and I was a junior in high school. The kid showed up at an arcade (remember those?) and walked around slowly. He recognized me and asked if I had seen the bully around lately. I told him the guy had been arrested for thievery and was in juvenile hall. He looked disappointed and walked out. Curious, I went to the door and watched him. i watched him walk up to the car parked on the curb right outside, watched him talk to the guy leaning against it, watched them both get in the car, watched him pull the revolver from his coat pocket and put it in the glove box.

I had looked in the kid's eyes, and I have no doubt, had he met the bully, that he would have killed him. I know he would have been convicted of murder and sent to prison, with none willing to defend his actions. But I have to wonder: wouldn't he also have proven that he learned the lesson that the town taught him?

While the students who jumped Bailey were suspended for two days, police have not yet revealed whether they will be criminally charged.

As a parent of an eight year old boy I have to say that if ANY kid bullied my son like this, criminal charges would be the least of his problems. The VERY LEAST.

I'd personally see to it that the puke would NEVER walk upright again a single day in his life. And his life would be a living hell from that day forward. And his parents wouldn't have a pot to pizz in by the time I would be done with them.

screminmimi

Hi CD, 1SGFitzsWife4ID,

What a strange justice system we now have.

Two eleven year old children on the playground tried to pull the scarf off the head of a Muslim girl and were arrested by police, expelled, and charged with a hate crime.

These two beat a child, cause his death (come on, we know he died from injuries received) and they get suspended for two days and are allowed to return to school, and law enforcement "aren't sure" if charges will be filed.

Mornin Mimi- I was just going to add, last week at my daughter's high school, a girl wrote "BOOM@220" on one of the bathroom walls, not only was she arrested for terroristic threats, she's being expelled! To be fair, right before Christmas we had a huge problem of people calling in bomb threats to three of the schools here (a total of 9 times I believe) big story here.

But yeah 2 day suspension?? They need to be tried for at least involuntary manslaughter, yes they meant to kick his ass but I doubt they meant for him to die. If nothing else I hope these two bullies learn a lesson about actions creating consequences, I feel so badly for this little boys family.

Way to go Jim...you have managed to flog a president you dislike with a murdered child. It is cold and unfeeling people like you who turn their kids into monsters. Up yours.

Pheobefeline... What you say is true. But was there prior EVIDENCE that that these boys bullied him? Were there verbal attacks, minor physical attacks, like deliberately bumping into him, picking fights. Bullies usually call theirs victims some insulting name, or harrasse their victim in various ways. ALL I am wondering is, WERE there other incidents of these boys maliciously, habitually, bullying the other? Verbal or physical? The article just doesn't say, so how did they arrive at their conclusion? My asking that, doesn't constitute approval or acceptance of what the two boys did in any way, shape or form. Those boys still need to answer for what happend as a result of their actions. Their intent makes a difference in severity of punishment.

When a child dies it should completely cease to be a school issue and become a police matter (as I'm sure this now is).

I was wrong on one count, they interviewed the father of one of the boys, he was black but he is at least in his sons life, and says that no one wanted anyone to die. I probably agree with that but his son pummeled the kid until he broke his nose and gave him a concussion, whle one of his friends also helped, and a school that is disproportionately black means most of the whites were afraid to step in, which is apparently a problem in Philly whether it is school age or adult. I agree fights when I was in school garnered a week of suspension and several weeks of detention.

White flight, those that can afford to move away from these schools do that, while those who cannot just suffer the discrimination that the press and political leaders refuses to recognize.

Aggie - I'm not sure what you think you are saying, about bullying only being considered bullying if it is continually done. I pulled this from the local junior high student/parent handbook.

Bullying /Harassment: No student should be afraid to come to school because of bullying, and no parent should be worried that his or her child may be bullied. Bullying is any hurtful or aggressive act toward a
person or group of people. Bullying behaviors include but are not limited to insults, threats, name-calling, put-downs, spreading rumors, making fun of people, hitting, and kicking, to name a few. Some acts of bullying break laws when they involve extortion, battery, sexual harassment or hate behaviors.

Nothing about has to occur multiple times, so get a grip.

jon....All of those things you cited constitute bullying. But there is no prior evidence of any of it, at least none cited in the article. Did they call the boy hurtful, insulting, hateful names? Has this young victim ever complained to his principal, or his parents that these boys had frequently intimidated, harrassed him? ALL I am saying is , if it was just boys being boys but in a pretty agressive way, it's not bullying, just stupidity, immaturity. Another questions comes to my mind. Has this boy ever participated, willfully, in roughhousing with these boys in the past? If there is a history and evidence that this was a premeditated and malicious attack...that makes it a crime, but it certainly wouldn't be the first time some tragic accident occurred because of thoughtlessness and immaturity. We're not talking adults here. Young boys...think they are invincible..often don't think at all. I'm not trying to exhonorate the boys, just think the article could have clarified why it was termed "bullying". Has to be some evidence or history to bring it to that conclusion. Whether there is or there isn't why wouldn't it be covered in the article. That's all I'm questioning.. The content of the article.

aggie345886 I understand what you are saying. Where do you draw the line of distinction between bullying gone terribly bad, and blatant attack.

The two students who attacked Bailey received a 2 day suspension? Well, that'll teach 'em.

First off, condolences to this poor boy's family.. A tragic waste

Now, I would say lets not get hysterical but...... Too late!!

As I see it, MessNBC called it bullying as that will draw the masses and comments, it a is buzzword, a gottcha, a term used to rile up the masses. HOWEVER the cops called the supposed altercation a fight. 2 ENTIRELY DIFFERENT things. Decent people get into fights and I assume we can all agree scum bags bully.

Now to call a fight a situation of being bullied is mindless, knee jerk, overly emotional, hyperbole until the truth is know. People fall down an bump their heads in a fight, a bully attaching someone is more like Battery then a mere fight.

Before I scream, cry, and Nash my teeth I will await the police report. I would hope if this was more then just a fight with the worst possible result then the police will have to press some sort of charges, until then this is simply a tragedy turned into an over hyped media story by our typical sensationalist media.

I am 100% for punishing the bullies and their parents!!!

The very act itself was bullying, unless the victim started the fight; and, there are no facts reported to suggest that he did. But my goodness with a head injury and broken nose why was he not immediately taken to the emergency room. The adults involved in this story exercised incredibly poor judgment from the beginning.

Aggie, What does it matter whether they did it before or anything else. The boy died. He's dead. What part of that don't u understand?

There are some real problem with this society yes. When it gets to the point where you don't punish anyone for their crimes and they think they got away with it, there will be problems. They get a two day suspension for beating another kid bloody? There's a problem there. Like someone said, that an assault...period. If a kid of 14 is never punished for the things he does wrong, what will he think...He'll think he got away with that too. I child has to learn from their mistakes too.....and if it a punishment for doing something bad they learn not to do that. But too many times now it's just a time out thing. Soon all they think is if I do bad all that will happen is I have to sit down for a few minutes....That Not Too Bad, for what I did. So they do it again, there has to be consequences for doing things. Just like for adults now.....they plea bargain to a lesser crime and get a slap on the hand. So they got away with it too. And if they go to prison for a crime, they get out after serving 1/4 of the sentence for good behavior. Is there bad behavior in Prison? They have to serve only half as long that way? Prison time is not the sentence, it's more like a vacation for some of these criminals now. It could be better than what they had on the street but, with bars that don't serve drinks!!

Something has to be done soon or all these little hoods will be big criminals that think they got away with that.

Tokenflame

WTF, the kids who did this only got a 2 day suspension? Where is the justice? They should be tried as adults and put into a reality based nightmare of their own.

It's not like the bullies had a pink bubble gun, or a pop tart shaped like Idaho or Florida, that's good for a 4 day suspension. This kind of bullying is wrong, and maybe someday our politicians and school officials will get their priorities figured out.

the man in the big white house more concerned about them then the kid who was killed.

This has nothing to do with the President. This is about 2 bullies killing another child. Please stay on topic.

Congrats to you and your ex for handling the situation. I love it. And you are right about mob mentality. A gang of kids will do together what they would never do individually.

Bullying doesn't always come just from piers, I had 2 Phys Ed teachers in middle school (well we called it Junior High in those times) who loved to find reasons to get me and a friend into trouble, often times ending in "hacks", until my father found out and went there and had a little "heart to heart" with both of them. The problems ended and they wore their "education trophies" for some time. And the problem isn't a new one by any means. All it ever has taken is for someone to be a little noticably different and perceived as weaker.

From Salem/Keizer OR area. Good on you and your ex!!!!! This crap should NOT have to be tolerated!!!!! One of the big problems with bullying is societies tolerance of violence and the access kids have to it from every direction. Just this afternoon I was on my carport and heard the neoghborhood kids playing. One said to th other "I'm going to kill you while your sleeping". Didn't hear what proceeded that statement but my god why should 1st and 2nd graders be talking like this???????

Roger perhaps you've never dealt with a lazy, condescending school principal who get's the mistaken idea that he's not going to do the job he was hired for wich is to protect the students of his school. I think this principal FINALLY got the point the father was attempting to make when HE became the target in FEAR, if figuratively only!!!!!!!

You're right Star Wizard, bullying doesn't only come from peers. It also, apparently, comes from ex husbands.

skrewdworld - You are the problem. You, like all bullies, believe that bullying is justified by circumstances. I would imagine that after "ex" man bullied the principal, the principal reacted by bullying someone weaker than he, perhaps his admin assistant, perhaps one of the teachers. At some point the behavior has to stop and the cycle broken. If you accept that there are legitimate circumstances for bullying then its just your opinion versus my opinion as to whether bullying was justified in a particular set of circumstances.

joemike, are you a parent? how would you have handled the situation, or how would you have helped to break the cycle?

while I agree in theory, your comment is lacking in substance. I consider what the ex did to be a direct response to bullying--he was responding to a threat to his child. As a parent, I can tell you without a doubt that anybody who harms one of my children is going to receive back tenfold anything they do to my kids. Don't p1ss off the mama bear

Both of my cousins ended up being bullied in elementary school. The older one ended up taking care of it himself. The younger came home and told my aunt. She called the school several times over it, until the bully threatened my cousin with a lighter. She then called the school, spoke with the principal and informed him that her attorney was now on speed dial and would be contacted to file a lawsuit if this did not stop NOW. She followed it up with a call to the superintendent. Funny thing after that - the kid was never once bullied by that other kid again. Pathetic that that's what it took, but at least it worked.

Colleen...

Hard to believe. If you ask me, the Principal would've filed a complaint for being threatened.

C'mon man. It's the Principal. He didn't get there because he's stupid...

My son went through the same thing and the school blamed him for standing up to himself. His classmates have a perception that he is gay so for years, he heard the derogatory words on a daily basis. I went to the school on an almost weekly basis because one administrator told me that my son was the problem. I guess he should have let the other kids ridicule him on a daily basis. I know my child better than anyone and I know his faults but no one deserves to be harassed on a daily basis. My son was suspended a few times for fighting back. The school's policy is that if someone hits you and if you hit back, they will suspend you also. However, if you stand there and don't hit back, they won't suspend you. I told my son that if anyone hits him, he has my full permission to pound them. No one has a right to put a hand on my child and just get a week's suspension.

This craziness stopped when I went to the school superintendent and warned him that if one particular person in the administration of the school ever had any contact with my son, I would take the matter to court. My son is now doing better socially and academically. One particular member of a school's administration can have a profound affect on your child's life and every parent has the right to make the same request I did. If you think that your child is being treated unfairly, do everything in your power to protect your child.

Creek Dog:

with whom would he file a complaint? I can see it now:

"gee officer, that mean father threatened me because I wouldn't do anything about the fact that his child received repeated beatings while under my watch"

1) burden of proof

2) he'd have to admit to the police he's either incompetent, indifferent, or both

skrewdworld post Jan 29 Texas Woman's execution halted:

"Where in any of my posts did I ever call anyone stupid, an idiot or an azz? Where did I say anything negative about anyone else's posts? Fact is I did none of the above."

U R nothing but negative about other peoples posts.

skrewdworld post Feb 21 Majority of Americans believe illegal immigrants should be deported:

""the true hater, racist, bigot. The shoe fits and fits you well. Who the heck do you think you are to judge anybody??? Just look at what you wrote!!!! Think your the stupid one when you show that kind of intelligence level with hate, anger, ignorance, sterotyping and hypocrisy!!!!!! You wouldn't know a red neck if one jumped up and bit ya!!! I can tell ya though it's not HATERS and hypocrites like you buddy!!!! You sir are definetely the nuisance around here!!!! Get over yourself and go buy yourself a clue!!!!!!!!"

♪♫Good morning, Ms Hypocrite.♪♫

Check it out 4 yourselves, Kids. Look at her previous posts.

I think "bullying" is being used in too broad strokes. When I was in 4th grade and some idiot kid who had a problem with me put a dead rat in my desk - that was bullying. Maybe even playground pushing and shoving. But the attack on this kid was not bullying - it was a criminal act and those kids belong in juvy. Including all of this under the "bullying" umbrella downplays the severity by letting schools have jurisdiction to handle the more violent actions.

Creek Dog, the principal "didn't get there because he's stupid"? How about: the principal got there because he enjoyed power over his little kingdom. Believe me, school administrators are some of the snootiest, laziest bureaucrats that we should cut, but they are increasing their numbers and giving themselves salaries. Aside from implementing "zero-tolerance" BS and forcing teachers to mark up a C to an A for the children of prominent families, what in hell do they really do all day?

My elementary school principal threatened to punish me because I was taking piano lessons before school - before school, mind you - for "tardiness." I was never late to class. How did this jerk even find out what I was doing?

Everyone hated him. And yes, he was an idiot.

When I was a kid, this boy used to bite and kick me for his entertainment. One day I decided to follow a trusted adult's advice and bit him back. That kid screamed to high heaven as if some demon had leaped on him. He NEVER tried to abuse me again. This is what is missibng in the world a a whole, much like the politicians in Washington think throwing money at terrorist will make them better citizens. The only thing a bully knows and respects is that which he demonstrates, brute force.

Lazarus

Must have been a tough punishment for the two. Instead of going to school, they were forced to stay home and play video games all day.

Colleen- My sister just recently moved from Roseburg she said the same thing.

I fought off a bully in school and I got punished. In fact, I got punished because a bunch of kids were throwing my books around the room! Fighting back works if you and the bully are alone. It does not work if a teacher is tolerating this kid's abuse of you because s/he is secretly afraid of the kid, or of his/her parents (or prejudiced against yours, as can happen in a small town).

When no teacher was in sight, a boy grabbed me from behind, pinning my arms, so I back-kicked him in the knee as hard as I could. That did stop his picking on me, but if a teacher had seen me, I probably would have been punished again! I cannot tell you how much I despised most of my elementary and middle school (junior high for us back then) teachers. The administrators, too - when someone broke into my locker and tossed my winter coat around the hall, the Vice-Principal reamed me out for "sharing my combination" despite my protests that I had not.

When I went to high school it all changed. My high school principal was a great man. He gave us a speech about "starting with a clean slate" that I took to heart. I had always been a good student, but he brooked no petty tyrants among his teachers or admins and it made all the difference in the interactions between the kids.

There was still teasing, but I could handle it then without fear of being punished. And because my confronting them did not rebound on me, or because sane teachers stepped in to confront the comedian themselves, it stopped.

I'm FB friends with some of these people now - but not the one who became the cop. As an adult I had some choice words for that bully, and he had nothing to say for himself.

What has happened to the laws about monitoring minor children, not just in the classroom, but on the playground? Anywhere on the property of the school young people attend is the school districts responsibility? If ignored, more than the bullies are breaking the law.

These are all "learning experiences!" There is a lot of buck-passing to the parents here in the comments, and of course they must be involved. But, those on the spot have primary responsibility and use whatever is legally necessary to stop the bullies making life miserable for another student.

And it is the law at the time it happens and when it happens. That, in my opinion, is a vital part of our responsibility to the youngsters we teach.

In this day an age, more than one teacher stopping this nonsense is an essential, if for nothing else for another teacher to use a digital cell phone and use it to photograph the evidence. We all know there are a few parents of the bullies who will try to defend them and and won't take responsibility to help teach their kids a pretty basic issue on right and wrong./

When I was growing up, we always had at least three teachers during recesses and lunch times when we were in the playground. Don't the educators today realize that neglecting The Bully Mentality is creating harm not just to the recipient, but suborning the bully. It teaches those one or two or three (at a time) bullies that their behavior is OK if they do?

That, in case anyone is interested, is an F- for their teaching (lack of) ability.

I'm a teacher, blessed with tall inches in my height, and I wade right in when it is my turn to monitor the play yard. There are some parents who volunteer to help and take the same courses for certification of this aspect of doing what is necessary to impede bullies as we teachers do.

At least, that is what happens in the district where I teach. Personally I abhor the adult mentality that thinks bullying others is OK. lol I will take any of them on also... words can be a massive solution (and relies on facts)..

How in the hell can anyone defend what these kids did. Whether this was actually bullying or just a fight, two on one means they intended to hurt this kid period. A couple years ago I put my son in TaeKwonDoe. He is very small for his age and I wanted to make sure that if he need to he had the tools to defend himself. Recently he has been bullied by two kids two grades higher than him. They caught him the bathroom and would not let him leave. Now when they see him they feel the need to pick on him. My son made me aware that this was happening and I asked him why he did not defend himself. He told me he was taught not to use TKD except as a last resort. So I am very proud of my son for not wanting to hurt anyone but the bullying continues. My wife has talked to the teacher several times, the two students have been talked to several times and it conitnues. My concern is one day my son is going to finally stand up to these two kids and hurt them. Anyone that has taken a form of martial arts knows it is intend to hurt someone if needed. I finally had a enough and talked to the teacher. I told her I hold her personally responsible for my child's safety everyday he walks through that door. I also told her that while my son may get in trouble with the school for defending his self he would not be in trouble with me. As a parent, you do not want any harm to come to your child let alone death. Part of me wants to find out who these kid's parents are and show them what it feels like to be bullied. I cannot image what I do if I was Bailey's father.

Bulldozer (hum, interesting name given the topic...)

No, I'm not a parent. What that makes me is detached, logical, consistent and not emotionally involved. The ex's reaction was emotion-based, not helpful, counterproductive, continues the cycle of violence, teaching his children that they too should be bullies and does nothing to stop the growing epidemic of violence in our schools. If fact, it adds to it.

I have however spent the last 10 years studying the topic of bullying and verbal abuse as they were the subject of my doctoral dissertation.

Have a nice day.

joemike:

thank you for the reply. regardless of your level of education, you have no idea what it is like to be a parent until you are one. there is no substitute for practical experience. I'm not trying to undermine your most recent comment or your academic achievements, but I challenge you, should you be blessed enough to become a parent, to remain consistently detached, logical and unemotional when your child is hurt---especially at the hands of another. your gut takes over and you will do anything and everything to make sure that your child is safe.

sometimes you can exhaust all other options and be left with only one course of action: respond in kind. My older brother has Asperger's and was mercilessly bullied. My parents tried everything but the school failed to deal with it. After witnessing a couple of big jocks tormenting my brother for the unpteenth time, I just reacted and slammed one of them into the lockers. I responded in a similar manner the next time I saw somebody messing with my brother. it wasn't long before the bullies left my brother alone. I'm not big, but I'm fierce and most bullies like easy prey.

I don't believe somebody to be a bully if they, when provoked, ultimately respond in a forceful manner to the bullying. the former is instigation, the latter is defense.

btw my moniker has always been Bulldozer, I didn't choose it just for today.

I am a parent and have had one of my children bullied. It is terrible and I finally was able to stop it by removing him from the situation. Physically threatening the principal is not the answer. It is just sanctioning violence.

On a couple of occasions I have seen kids being bullied by a group of kids. I have not hesitated to intervene. One case was a teen-age girl who was trying her best to ignore the taunts of a group of boys and girls. My husband and I told them to knock it off and they did. We waited until the kids were gone and we knew that the girl would be safe. Don't be afraid to get involved if you see something happening. In another case, I was wrong. The kids were just having fun and teasing. Still, society as a whole needs to be more involved. Bullying to the point of causing someone to die is a crime.

Bulldozer, thanks for your reply and I absolutely agree that I don't know what its like to be a parent. I not sure though that responding as a parent is helpful in the long run or looking at the big picture. The tolerance for aggressive or bullying behavior tends to be an organizational trait. Some organization, schools, clubs, etc. are more tolerant of aggressive behavior. The long term solution is to change the culture of our schools to be less aggression tolerant and thereby reduce the incidence of bullying. Charging in like the momma bear is a natural reaction, but in the long run ineffective.

If you really want to reduce bullying in your schools you need to start a conversation with the school leadership when emotions are not high and create partnerships between parents and schools to reduce aggression.

Bear in mind though that there is an almost inherent need when people join in groups that the members of the group figure out where they fit. The author Robert Fuller discusses this behavior in his book Sombodies and Nobodies. When we come together we have to determine our relative rank in the social order because it determines how we are to behave in the group. Do we show deference or are we deferred to? Do we speak first or last, or at all? This is normal group behavior. However, when this behavior is taken to extremes and some members of the group try to exert their higher status or abuse their rank, this is when aggression and bullying occur. The difficulty is to allow the behavior through which we determine our spot in the group, but avoid the aggressive/abusive behavior.

joemike, I gave you a thumbs up. I really enjoy reading a well-thought, articulate comment, regardless of whether or not I am in complete agreement. In this case^^^^ tho, I agree. I'm not even condoning charging in like a mama bear---I've seen that reaction for the slightest perceived infraction and even when the kid in question was undeniably guilty. For me personally, the mama bear comes out only when all other, less "toothy" avenues have been explored LOL

interesting note regarding people in groups: I worked as a zookeeper for a number of years--15ish of animal-related experience. People in groups are really no different than any other social animal, with the exception that other animals are aggressive as a matter of survival, whereas people are mean just for the sake of being mean. I like and understand animals more than people, sometimes

it was nice talking to you and it would be a pleasure to do so again

@ Amused Muze 2.18

I love your posts because they are so very genuine. I'm glad that you have come through all of this in such great shape and able to give such wise counsel. The bully who became a cop...by any chance was his name Drew Peterson? Just asking (he's a neighbor of mine and bully to the max).

Roger-521043

your ex probably bullied your kid to make him the weak person he now is, lead by example by NOT fighting fire with fire, it takes water to put a fire out. Bullying a principal is by NO MEANS acceptable.

And I suppose violence never solves anything? And yes, sometimes bullying a principal is acceptable. Especially when that principal refuses to take responsibility for doing his or her job in keeping your child (under his or her care) safe. How did you stay alive as long as you have?

So, you don't say, seem like you have aparticular hair up your backside and feel the need to "call me out". You've taken a statement I made out of context and tried to twist it to your own agenda. The comment I made was directed at one particular post where I HAD NOT said anything negative yet another poster put those words into my mouth. Never did I claim in that all the years I have been reading and posting comments that I had never said anything negative at all. Next time you want to "attempt" to pick a fight try and get your facts straight, mkay????

Creek dog-are you a parent???? Have you ever had to deal with principals, assistant principals etc..???? FYI they are just people like everybody else and are sometimes imperfect and fallable. As a parent if I have an issue with the school, principal, a teacher etc.. I will defenitely speak my piece, respectfully, and I don't believe a parent has to cower to that type of "authority figure" just because of their position.

By the way, don't say. Are you trying to bully me???? Seems if you are the one that's truly enjoying the personal attacks??

Well, Merrika, if you don't know what to say, I do: "Arrest the little sh*ts".

Yep, those kids need to be punished.

Arrest their parents, too. And take a look at what the school was not doing about it.

Absolutely. Both the little monsters and the parents of them should be arrested and made to pay all damages this poor family incurred, including the cost of removing their other child to another school. This crap needs to stop, if the kids aren't held responsible then the parents need to be, as a parent if I EVER found out my kid was bullying another she would be living like a cave girl for years. No phones, no TV's, nothing but enough clothes to last a week and a mattress on the floor, and she would be made to apologize. I remember seeing one parent standing outside near their kid, he (the kid) had a sign around his neck saying "I am a bully", and I couldn't help but think...good for that parent.

Prayers going up for little Bailey. What a tragedy and tragic loss for him and his family for the inhumanity of his perpetrators. Blessings to both Bailey and his family....

yeah I understand your feelings, but doing unto them will get you your own little prison cell. Best let the law take its course

Agreed. There's some pretty bad talk around here about stringing up these kids for what they did. How is that any better than these kids who beat to death one of their classmates? It isn't, it's worse. Because we're the adults who know better and don't act out every stupid impulse. And I say that as a parent.

Pragmatic that's the way the law works also, isn't it? We have a death penalty for a reason. And when 2 kids kill a fellow classmate they deserve more than 2 days OSS. Their punishment doesn't fit their crime. And their parents deserve to share some of the blame for raising children with no morals. By 12 they should know the difference between right and wrong. How can you stick up for 2 kids who killed someone? They didn't mean to kill him I am sure, but they did mean him physical harm by attacking him. It wasn't an accident. The kid was singled out for a beating.

Pragmatic that's the way the law works also, isn't it? We have a death penalty for a reason. And when 2 kids kill a fellow classmate they deserve more than 2 days OSS. Their punishment doesn't fit their crime.

Not everybody has the death penalty.

Their punishment doesn't fit their crime.

While true, I was responding to comments calling for these kids to be executed. That punishment doesn't fit this crime either.

How can you stick up for 2 kids who killed someone?

Oh I am not defending what these kids did. I am condemning the adults who are behaving no better than they are.

Dan, I agree. This child had a concussion and a broken nose. That's assault.

Good God Almighty. How hard is this to figure out. This child apparently never had any history of seizures. These little punka$$ snots bash him upside the head -all of a sudden he's having seizures. Now this child is dead. They know $#$% well the beating he suffered is responsible. And those little &^%$ who did it are guilty of murder - plain and simple. They're old enough to know right from wrong - they willfully chose to do wrong.

I'd throw the book at those two examples of hellspawn - they should be locked up in a juvenile facility until they turn 18 - and then I'd pack them off to a real prison - cause scum like this - I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they didn't do it again in the future. If this boy was my child - I'd be suing the school for not doing enough to protect him - and see if I could sue those kids parents.

If I could, I'd bleed them dry. I'd take everything from them that I possibly could, besides hopefully seeing their little demon seed locked up for good. That's how I'd look at it - you killed my child, you've broken my heart, taken someone from me that I'll never get back - and by God, now I'm going to make you pay - even if it takes me the rest of my life.

I'd make $#$@ sure there was justice for my child and I'd use every avenue available to do it, the courts, the media, activists and organizations who protest this very thing. They wouldn't get away with something like this. And that is the Irish in me - you can label it seeking justice, seeking revenge, whatever you want - but we're relentless and proud of it.

At age 12 a lot of those kids are huge - big as grown men. I've known two - I don't know how big the one kid was, but I know the other weight 189 lbs at age 11!!! You can imagine the damage they can do to a smaller child - and they always pick on a smaller child.

doesn't matter how large they are, it only matters as to how much injury they can inflict, in this case they are guilty of at least manslaughter.

I agree 100% with Dan and Susie above. But there is another issue here, too. The loving and caring parents of the boy that died will have a lifelong heartache that cannot be cured. Plus they now have 100's of thousands of $'s in hospital bills that they probably have to pay off monthly as a reminder of their lost child and their financial condition will suffer greatly. There must be a way for the judge to force these parent's of the 2 idiot boys to pay for a major portion if not all of those bills and for the 2 bullies to begin paying as soon as they can get part-time jobs until they reach 40. They need a monthly reminder of what they did and it should hit them hard financially as well! The amount they pay should increase as their income increases!

Paladin - unless the parents had some darned good insurance - they will be stuck with a bill that is most probably way beyond their means. So, I would venture that at some point you and I will get to pay this bill when the parents have to seek bankruptcy just to survive. Even if the bills are tossed over to the other parents - unless they have the financial means - this will end up as a write off. Hence, bullying "costs" all of us - - - one way or the other.

It's to be hoped that, after all is said and done, Bailey's parents will bring a 'wrongful death' lawsuit against the parents of these murderous little bullies.. I don't know if the two boy's parents have any money or not, it doesn't matter, in the end THEY need to be stuck with the bills for the hospital costs.. Even if the kids get away with what they did in a criminal court, the O'Neill's can still sue in civil court.. I really hope they do!

The school district would likely have to take some financial responsibility in this.

id also like to see the parents or parent made to take their children to the schools & go with them in the auditorium as they tell the other schools what they did , most parents of bullies say "theyre just being kids" , NO MORE OF THIS CRAP!!! If the school is found to have done nothing , then the principal should also be made to go to other schools & tell what his/her lazy azz caused & all teachers /principals asst principals should be made to attend & the negligent school authorities should be made to pay their own way to the other schools. make them know they are responsible & share the blame.

If that's the "penalty" that these kids can expect, then our society can expect kids like them to continue to commit murders on the playgrounds.

"You killed somebody, young man. I hereby sentence you to put flowers on your victim's grave!"

It just doesn't get more ridiculous than that...

placing flowers on baileys grave until baileys parents say enuff

There are facilities for punks around here, I'm sure. I know there was one at Glenn Mills when I was growing up. These kids need real punishment.

Stimulatingsolutions, that is an entirely emotional response you have offered. I'm sorry, but in no way is that justice.

I'd like to see the 2 kids taken out of school and forced to work in jail for minimum wage and have that money go to pay the medical bills for the dead kid. It should only take them about 50 years to pay it off. That would be fair.

listen azzhole dogly , nowhere did i say that having to put flowers on a grave would be their ONLY punishment , freakin morons like you , OHHH , JUST ELECTROCUTE AN 11 or 12 YR OLD KID , YOU ARE AS BAD AS THE ONES THAT EXCUSE THEIR ACTIONS , too the extreme in any way in a situation like this negates the credibility & reasoning & attempt at justice in this situation. & perskaya , no way again , did i say that it should be the only punishment , i also agree with Most special , that they should be required to pay any & medical bills this family may have incurred . What I AM SAYING , is electrocuting them as was suggested in the first cpl posts or locking them up for life isnt the answer. I posted the responses i did when there were only 7 posts on this news article .notice the time of the posts. I also think the parents of the 2 bullies should also be required to pay the bills this family has incurred.

My response isnt one from an emotional standpoint , in the first minutes after this news was released , the demand for death by electrocution or life sentence of the bullies was the emotional response & i responded to that .i see no good to electrocuting an 11-12 yr old or for society to pay for the next 80 yrs to house & feed these 2 bullies

locking the 2 bullies up for life or a death sentence is the societal easy way out of dealing with this situation . Should there be incarceration , HELL YES , but my suggestions also make sure that after the incarceration , , 8-10-20 yrs of visiting this young childs grave & also forced visits to schools telling of what their cold heartless actions caused , may , just maybe , stop one more incident like this . I doubt very much that Baileys parents would find solace in the death of 2 more children as punishment or lifelong incarceration as the desired legacy of this incident. IM pretty sure that the only way good can come of this , is if a punishment is formulated to deter atleast one or possibly more of these incidents .And if the school authorities were negligent , they also share the blame & similar requirements should be made of them.

Since this beating occurred on school property at recess time, if I were the family I would sue the crap out of the school district. People don't take bullying seriously until they get hurt in the pocketbook. My son started school at 4 and was the smallest boy in the class. One night I heard him sobbing in bed and found out he was being bullied by four or five much bigger boys. I told him not to worry about a thing because it was going to end now and I went to the school first thing the following morning and raised all bloody hell. The bigger boys were punished and left my son alone after that. Then one day about a year later, I went to the school for some reason and as soon as I got there I saw a big girl run up behind my son and punch him in the back. Well, I screamed at her and the teacher came over and said I can't act that way. I said wanna bet - that's my son and nobody is going to pick on him.

not only does the school system need to be sued SO DOES THE PARENTS. Why are they not being held responsible for their childrens actions.The parents need to be locked up as well as the kids. I bet if parents have to start taking responsibility for thier children alot of this BS will stop. Prosecute the hell out of them and hit them where it hurts, the pocketbook and we will see some results. This bullying BS has serious consequences on the bullied child. They never reeally get over it and these acts need to be made illeagle. Most of the shooting acts were done by children that had been bullied by other students. Why must we wait for a senators child to get bullied before anything is done about this horific act.

This is not bullying, this is assault that resulted in murder. In schools and at work there should be two very huge distinctions - bullying should be classified as harassment through the use of words be it face-to-face or via texting or other electronic means whereas when it escalates to the physical be it shoving, throwing something towards someone's person, or to this point actual physical violence it should be assault and depending on the severity of the assault could be labeled with the intent to commit murder.

I'm really on the fence about stuff like this. At a certain point we have to recognize that children do not exercise good judgement or intent and not treat them like adults. Yes at 12 you know that hitting is wrong and hurts. Yes at 12 you know that people die. But at 12 can you know that your actions can kill somebody? Possibly. On a level of playing with toy guns and bang bang you're dead. Then everybody gets up and has a laugh. At 12 do you fully appreciate the consequences of causing death? Probably not. You aren't thinking too deeply ahead in your life past next summer's vacation.

For every horrific instance such as this where we think we ought to treat kids as adults, there are lame-brained instances where we realize we ought to tone it down. A seven year old calling his teacher cute does not warrant a suspension because of sexual harassment. A seven year old kicking a bully in the groin is also not sexual harassment.

There is no excuse for this and to merit a two day suspension only is ridiculous.

This I can agree with completely.

Pragmatic-3918582 your post to me means what I believe. That the two should be tried as children. This should include an imprisonment and if it did not in that state, then that means that the punishment is not fitting the crime. The answer then is not to change the whole thing to adult court, but to change the laws about the punishment so that it fits the crime by juveniles.

I do hope that you do not mean that just because a child may not completely comprehend the consequences of their own actions, then they should not be punished.

For those who still believe that children should go through adult court, I can not agree unless the crimnal child's parents/guardians are consistently brought upon relative charges.

Zero tolerance should mean zero tolerance. IF a little bullying is tolerated it simply implies that victims have NO rights and the bullys can continue doing what they do. I think once someone bullies another, then they should lose the priviledge of going to school. School is for one purpose...to be educated, and zero tolerance should mean zero tolerance.

This is exactly right, lauriesarno. I removed my son from a school district when he was in 4th grade because of bullying that the principal refused to acknowledge existed. I don't regret it one bit, but why should good parents be the ones who have to uproot their children to protect them?

If a kid is a bully, remove them from school and make THEM be the ones to pay for private schooling. Bullies are harming our children, in this case the kid died just as if the bully had pulled out a gun and shot him. We need to keep the bullies out of our schools, not punish the victims.

No, good parents should not be the one's to have to make the move. Yet if a child is in this situation, and all other reasonable measures have been tried, do not make the child stay in the situation. Certainly, by the time 6 months passes, it is evident if the situation will or can be resolved. If not, switch schools or homeschool. Or find a homeschool group to join. If the child is in high school, remember that the high school diploma is not the end-all that it is made out to be. Nothing is wrong with g.e.d.'s from accredited institutions. A g.e.d. can satisfy any of the military enlistment requirements. It is good to employers. A g.e.d. can set one on a college path, because community colleges accept g.e.d.'s, and then one can also transfer to universities with community college credits.

Do not stay in a useless situation that is not changing.

I disagree. Abused kids are not the only ones who abuse. I was a victim and I ought to know. The ones who bullied me were mostly spoiled, rich, pampered kids. Victims of abuse don't always abuse either - like myself, I'm sure there plenty of victims out there who never abused anyone.

JerseyKat, you are so right! My daughter has been bullied since she has been in the 3rd grade and she is now 17 and she is still being bullied. The bullies are not being bullied at home. The are spoiled brats who are being taught by their parents that they are so special that they are better than others. My husband and I have been actively involved with the school and even had to get the police involved. The overt abuse and harassment has stopped, but the covert bullying has continued. Bullying goes beyond the physical abuse. Sometimes, I think the mental abuse is worse - spreading vicious rumors about others, making fun of others, alienating others, etc. These acts make kids questions themselves about their self-worth and causes physical illnesses to manifest.

Schools have policies regarding bullying and they look good on papers. However, I don't believe these policies are ever put into action. When you ask the school administration about consequences bullies face, the standard answer is they are dealing with the bullying but they cannot disclose the type of consequences or even the names of the parents.

Peoplefirst (?) You've put up with bullying of your child for 10 years??? Change your moniker...

PeopleFirst, you said it right in your post.

"The are spoiled brats who are being taught by their parents that they are so special that they are better than others."

It proves the point that it is a home problem. This type of behavior has to be fixed from its roots. Do you think punishing the kids that bullied your daughter is going to fix the problem? No. Mommy and Daddy will continue to let them do it and they will never learn better.

I do not defend bullying by any means, and the two in this case need to be punished. I do feel that schools and parents should get involved before it gets this serious.

One high school I taught at about 3 years ago, we had a boy selling drugs in the bathroom. Not just marijuana the hard stuff. He was caught and the police came and got him. the next morning his mother was up there with her attorney and got him reinstated. You can blame parents for a lot of things.

To : People First--

Your child is already 17... I would say try Catholic school. You do not have to be Catholic. The kids are nice and well-behaved.

wiseone,

Catholic schools ARE much,much better. Low income people can even get tuition assistance. As a single, divorced mother of four my mother was able to put four kids through at the same time.

I was in 1st grade when we were taught that at 7 yrs of age we knew right from wrong and were responsible for our actions. If we hit an area of uncertainty then ask an adult for advice. The problem we're having these days is that children aren't taught any of those things. Responsibility? Whats that? It is always someone else's or society's fault when the kids act like barbarians. We had our share of fights, believe you me, but a 2 on 1 fight got you labeled as a coward and you lost the respect of other kids, no matter how high up the totem pole you were. Bullies often would find themselves confronted by some other kid who would tell them to knock it off or be treated the same way. I don't know if it is still true today but those reactions were because we were taught a level of standards, told we were old enough to be responsible for our actions, and then held responsible for our acts- no excuses. AND- fighting for one's self defense was acknowledged as OK. The victim wasn't punished along with the instigator. That violated both common sense and everybody's sense of justice. Maybe a level of standards ought to be taught to kids starting in 1st grade in public schools too, along with a message of personal responsibility for actions. I think it would go a long way in improving the present situation without involving religion necessarily, and thus make it acceptable for public schools.

JerseyKat I am so glad that you did not try what you thought would be the solution at age 10 and instead "snapped" and went to the principal for help. I think schools today are doing a lot to make kids aware of what they can do if they are the victim of this phenomenon that is called "bullying" (really is harassment and at times assault - they just changed the name since it involves kids); however, that is not to say that it has stopped. I think that you're an example that those things kids do to one another are not easily forgotten and can leave scars that never heal. It is truly sad that people - regardless of their age - have to find someone to look down on to make themselves feel better.

RetiredVet - My drunken bum of a father nearly killed me when I was two weeks old. When I was four he beat me so severely that my mother left him and went to my grandparents house. My grandmother really didn't want me around and she continued the abuse but not as bad as dear old dad. The bullying at school began in first grade when some kids discovered that my father had been a drunk. I was about 11 when I finally went to the principal after years of being bullied, so I had been bullied at school for years. I did learn one important lesson - even though I had no adults at home to help me, I was able to help myself and I ended the bullying myself. When the principal became involved I learned that someone cared and that I mattered to someone which gave me some self-esteem that I had never had. From about that point on, I finally did well in school and eventually went on to earn two degrees. No kid should want to kill themselves at age 10, but I had already been abused for years.

@JerseyKat - How awful for you, to have such a dysfunctional family life and then to have to suffer abuse at school, too. I'm glad you finally found someone to be in your corner. What a shame that you wanted to kill yourself at such a young age. It tears me up to think of anyone who feels so desperate and lost that they have such thoughts.

We had a young boy near where I live that committed suicide two years ago due to bullying. He was gay and because of it he had been tortured throughout his school life. He finally had enough and took his own life, thinking that was his only way to escape the constant physical and verbal attacks. I didn't know that child but I still mourn him, the fact that he was so lost.

Parents need to stay involved in their children's lives, they need to know what is happening at school. They need to let their children know that it's ok to tell their parents or school officials they are being bullied. And parents MUST be pro-active for their children. Go straight to the top if your child is being bullied. If that doesn't work go to a lawyer next and let the school know that's your plan. Nearly always the bullying will stop.

JerseyKat, thank you for not taking your life when you were ten. You sound like a really smart, together person and the loss of YOU would have been a great loss for your community. Congratulations on making a success of your life when the odds were against you. Well done.

bigdogmom1. Thanks for your kind words. It's hard for me to go back to such a painful time. A week ago I spoke out about sexual abuse I haven't mentioned. Yes, I had that going on at the same time I was being pushed around at school and by my grandmother at home as well being sexually abused by a college-aged cousin. By age 10 I felt I had nothing to live for. There was no one in my corner and very little happiness in life. No kid should feel that way, so now I force myself to go back in time and speak about these things so that others will know what it's like to be a helpless little kid. My school did a lot of nice things in addition to helping me stop being bullied. When they learned the level of poverty my family lived in, they really stepped up to help in so many ways. It was so nice to think someone actually cared. I'm sure there are those who knew me as a little street urchin who would have never guessed I would go on to earn two degrees. I'm not rich, but I did all right. I do think a lot of old neighbors and teachers would be surprised at how things turned out for a kid like me. I owe my old school so much for all they did and I do remember the principal and school counselor in my prayers as well as some others who showed some kindness to a little kid.

I don't know where you guys went to school but you should have moved. I went to school in the 50' and 60'. I never saw any kind of bullying. Maybe it was because it was a church town, you know a Church on every corner and a gas station across the street. there were no secrets. Sooner of or later it would have gotten back to your pastor. I miss those days. If you ever got in trouble at school it was hell to pay.

And the school allowed these murdering kids to come back after 2 days OSS while the family of the bullied child was forced to remove their other child from the school? What is going on?

Thanks to our economy and budget cuts things like school counslers school psychologist and the school nurse are becoming a thing of the past. class room sizes are twice what they used to be and schools are being closed. It is apparent that no one in washington cares about education at all. Hell they cant get along long enough to pass a budget. Rather than to adress the bullying in schools they would rather argue over gun control. It seems like the house and the senate perfer the headlines rather than actual results.

When I was in elementary and middle school and a fight broke out in the school yard, both parties went straight to the principles office and got to say hello to the wooden paddle. Problem solved. If you got into a fight with someone, you were best friends with them after that.

If they'd brought an asprin or a girl a midol it would have been immeadiate suspension with explusion on it's heels in alot of schools, but beat a kid to death and no consequences???? My kid been suspended for more days for smarting off to a teacher than these boys who beat a kid to death!!!!!

@screwd - when the two boys received their original two day suspensions they had "only" been involved in a fight on the school grounds. I imagine now that Bailey has died they will probably, hopefully, maybe, possibly get some other sort of punishment such as expulsion. Of course the school can do nothing about criminal charges, that is for the authorities to determine. It seems pretty cut and dried - assault and manslaughter charges for the two thugs who beat Bailey to death. Three lives lost over this senseless act, how very sad...

It seems to me that if two children beat up one child bad enough to send him to the hospital they should of been expelled. The law should of been called imediatly because this is assault and battery and it is against the law. Some one should of been charged the same day.

This breaks my heart...

I cannot imagine the pain and grief that the parents are going through at this time. My heart goes out to them. I dealt with bullying and I was shocked at the lack of assistance I received when we brought this up to the main office, but this case is horrific in that we are dealing with a death. AND the two little rats are getting minor suspensions ... as well as "waiting" to see if his concussion was caused by the drop to the cement. Yikes !!! We might forget, but school is still a privilege in this country. Since these two young rats can't behave then they need to be completely expelled from the school system and let the parents care and educate them. Yes, parents need to take over their supervision. Imagine that !!! Schools need to get back to being a safe haven for those who want an education.

Not saying you're wrong but will say that bullying existed even when God was in the building. I do believe, however, that morals such as kindness, respect, honesty, integrity, you know the golden rule of "Do onto others as you would have them do unto you" are lacking in not just our schools bu our society as a whole. Unfortunately sometimes if feels like the new golden rule is "What's in it for me?" or "What do I get out of this?" But I do have to say that I have always believed that it is the job of the parents and family to instill morals upon kids and not the schools but they should be reinforced in the schools.

That's BS - when I was bullied at school, God was very present in the school, but that didn't stop the bullying. There are those - whether kids or adults - who feel like a real big shot when they pick on someone they feel is lesser or inferior. I've known kids and adults like this.

It's not just taking God, pledge of alliegance etc.. it's pretty much from taking away discipline and the kids fear that the ywould be punished for bad behavior. But we live in a society that is more concerned if somebody get's offended when greeted with the words merry christmas etc.. We gone way too far pleasing every little faction and by god nobodys' happy, healthy, or safe in our schools today.

You take God out of our schools and now you see the results. God bless Bailey's family.

What a load of malarkey. We don't need this nonsensical holier than thou meaningless drivel to explain this act of violence.

Bull@!$%#. I suffered terrible bullying when I went to a CATHOLIC school. God was very much present there. And you had better love Him, or the nuns would beat the living hell out of you.

Which God should be in schools - all thousands of them or just the one you want? Also, I'm pretty sure the Catholic Church has kept God involved with them, and look what's going on there with child molestations.

You realize there are a lot of people out here that don't need a belief in something watching them and judging them to just be good to others, it's a simple thing actually.

Hopefully, the parents of this boy will be able to find some peace.

So your god is so impotent and incompetent that enforcing the first ammendment against establishing a religion can stop him. You need to find another religion, ideally one that is not so hyprocrtical. Kids were bullied to death before mandatory prayer was forbidden so quit with the presecution routine. Your god wasn't taken out of schools just the coersed worship of that god.

I spent years being bullied by uber-"christian" kids at my school. They used to call me a doubting Thomas and would use every excuse they could think of to make me feel unwelcome and ungrateful. I pitied them then, and I pity them now, for being the very definition of hypocrites.

Christianity in school means that Jews, atheists, Muslims, and whatever else feel constantly bullied. Keep your God in your heart and your church, and hopefully no one else will try to make you a Jew at school.

Just a little trivia but some christian groups are also at odds with other christian groups. The word christian does not describe a whole denomination. Some protestant christians damn not only the catholics, but also the mormons, jehovah witnesses, christian scientists and others. Almost to the point of where it would really be better to describe them as different faiths instead of just denominations.

More like taking God out of the heart; then He comes out of everything, satan's evil and influence moves in...it all goes to he11, so to speak! Not all believe this; I do.

Detension...schmension....they should have been expelled! They don't deserve to be in school when they use that priviledge to hurt others. There really needs to be zero tolerance for ANY of this.

Those bully kids should be expelled. I feel sorry for the victim. I know how the parents felt. My 6 year old daughter was(hope so) a victim of bullying. She said something about what's going on in her class (she was a Kindergarten), to the point that she she fakes that she's sick, if she goes to school she throws up so I would pick her up from the school clinic. Until, one day she came home with swollen lips, I asked her what happened, she told me about that boy. Next day, I went to class, talked with the teacher, principal and even wrote a letter to make my complaint formal...it calmed down for 2 weeks, then it happened again, this time worse than before, she was standing on the playground and the boy jumped on her back, she fell face down, eyeglasses broken, face scratched, and she said her head ached. If only I could punch and kick the boy I would do it...my child was never hit at home and here comes this boy picking on my only child. God only knows, how I am trying to control my hands when I saw the boy in her class, I nearly jump on him and would like to do the same thing he did to my child. I even nearly slap the face of the teacher who was there on the scene. They never called me after that, they waited till its picked up time for kids. I thank God (bec I keep praying for wisdom and what to do) because I could have made a real commotion in that school. From the last time I heard, that bully has undergone psychiatric evaluation to find out he has psychological disorder, and when the father found out about it, just left them with no explanation-went to work and never came back. The bully was no longer in that school and so does my daughter. She went to other school, and I am now thinking of home schooling her because of these school tragedies. My daughter still has the frequent headaches every now and then and I am saving money to have her head checked up and maybe MRI too. She's now in 1st grade and seems fine in her new school.

My daughter went to school in Philly for the first grade. There was a little girl who was constantly picked on in the school yard when parents and teachers were present who did absolutely nothing to stop it. Having been a victim of school bullying, I put a stop to it. Believe me, in a school yard with plenty of parents and teachers around, you can be sure they would rather chit chat than get involved. I saw this for myself.

the parents of the kids should go to jail. they are the ones that need to pay the price for not raising their own child. they just let them run wild an free . now they need to pay! my heart goes out to Bailey an his family may god bless you all

Unfortunately, as JerseyKat points out, there are often plenty of teachers/parents/adults who are well aware of what is going on but for whatever reason do nothing about it. I think they just don't get it and think it's just that "Oh, kids will be kids" thing. Either that, or as mentioned they just don't want to be bothered to get involved.

They don't get it and think it is just a kid's thing? Or may be they are borderline retarded (such a thing exists, not dumb enough to institutionalize, to dumb to do many things.)

They didn't use the harsh jargon because the kids are too young to own an AR-15.

If the NRA had anything to do with it, Bailey would have had an AR-15 strapped to his back as would the two bullies. Remember, NRA says the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun - or in this case, one 12 year-old boy with a gun stopping two 12 year-old bullies with guns. Imagine the scene on the schoolyard if the NRA really reached its ultimate goal of arming every man, woman and child against the government of the United States of America.

Oh please. Stick with the facts and leave your silly political views out.

If the NRA had anything to do with it,

More ignorant ranting about the NRA. Typical how some use the death of a child to further their ignorance campaign.

Easy to blame the NRA, but they are not the politicians who author good laws, or the law enforcement who enforce it, or the courts who slap violent sociopath on the wrists.

Fact is the NRA has no authority or responsibility to protect people. Sure would be a better America if they did!

Diane,

You are hysterical. Calm down.

Where has the NRA ever said arm children and leave them on their own? Are you just being wild eyed?

Ok, what if every man, woman and child were armed? What in your delusion do you think would happen with them and the government of the United States? YOU tell us.

You sound pretty unstable. NO GUNS FOR YOU!!!!!!

sad that people bring in their stupid political views into a sad story like this . bullying is a on going thing at all schools the mentality of might makes right is a human throw back from when we lived in trees. diane you are a mentally unstable person please lock yourself in your room so as to not hurt anybody

I don't agree that that is what the NRA wants, but their attitude of kill or be killed, survival of the fittest, is the basic attitude involved in bullying. Somehow, belittling someone makes them feel bigger. It comes from the same place.

Where do you come up with that junk? The NRA supports the 2nd amendment. They don't have any attitude on "kill or be killed". If you don't like the 2nd amendment, repeal it. I carry a gun as a consequence of having been shot at and mugged several times. Are you saying that I should not have that protection? As to your thought that the cops will protect, you can forget that. Other than giving tickets, they are worthless.

"I don't agree that that is what the NRA wants, but their attitude of kill or be killed, survival of the fittest, is the basic attitude involved in bullying. Somehow, belittling someone makes them feel bigger. It comes from the same place"

About as ignorant as a statement can be!. Self defense does not promote bullying. An aggressor would be the bully. NRA promotes the second amendment as well as responsible gun ownership. As any group that defends a cause, but difference is that the gun debate is popular so now all the so called people against guns come out of the woodwork.

Melba Voneye

I don't agree that that is what the NRA wants, but their attitude of kill or be killed, survival of the fittest, is the basic attitude involved in bullying. Somehow, belittling someone makes them feel bigger. It comes from the same place.

I'm not a fan of the NRA by any means but I think you mistake their profit motive for a political agenda. As the Mob Boss said "It ain't personal...it's just business".

I cannot believe how you imbeciles can turn this story into an NRA discussion. You all are too stupid for words.

These two little bastards need to be tried as adults. If they are not I swear, if I was this little guy's parent, these two would not make it past 18 years and 1 day of age.