| 47 % of sixth graders said they were bullied at least once a week, according to Time Magazine, April 18, 2005. |
| Of course, no amount of bullying is acceptable. Does school culture make it worse? |
| Does School Culture (and school-lawyer culture) contribute to Bullying in Schools? |
| "It would be a holy day if you were shot dead by a sniper." Principal in Virginia indicted for perjury Link: Article by Jay Matthews of Washington Post |
| No evidence? Here's why: Shinoff keeps important documents locked up in his files, and presents perjured testimony. Does he do it to benefit children or to promote a system that keeps dollars flowing to school attorneys without solving school problems? |
| Has bullying been ignored before and after the Santana High School Shooting in San Diego County? |
| SDCOE lawyer Daniel Shinoff denies that bullying contributed to the meltdown of Andy Williams, a small 15-year-old who shot two fellow students to death at Santana. His fellow students said he was bullied. The district says there is no evidence that Williams was bullied. (It's strange that reporters can find out information that eludes the district. Maybe the district should pay more attention to kids.) |
| "What excuse would there be for harming and shooting others?" said Grossmont High School District's Superintendent. "There is no excuse for that." Of course not. Nor is there any excuse for tolerance of bullies and covering up wrongdoing. Taxpayers should not be spending millions of dollars a year on lawyers like Shinoff and Bresee who seek to avoid responsibility, not to solve problems. The money would be better spent if different people were in charge of our schools. And our children would be safer. |
| When parents of two students shot to death at Santana High School in 2001 offered to drop their lawsuit against the school district in exchange for the district's holding a conference on school violence, the district refused! The district would rather continue spending money on litigation than accept his clients' offer to settle for no money, said attorney Kenneth Hoyt. (Associated Press report on September 9, 2005) Daniel Shinoff called the shooting "unforeseeable" and said the district WAS NOT CULPABLE. (School attorneys encourage districts to follow a policy of "no investigation, no paper trail." Nothing is forseeable when you keep your eyes closed!) Link: Sept 6 2001 San Diego Union Tribune article |
| "Based on the district's own review last year and information from the District Attorney's Office, there is no evidence that Williams was bullied at school." March 13, 2002 San Diego Union Tribune article |
| Link: SDCOE lawyer Daniel Shinoff Loses Case Poway High School students win $300,000 Why didn't the SDCOE JPA settle this case? Neither taxpayers nor students benefited. How much did taxpayers pay Shinoff for a case he should have settled? |
| Joanne Jacobs writes, "...Americans are seeing the sharpest decline in teen crime in modern history. Schools today are as safe as they were in the 1960s..." (March 9, 2006 joannejacobs.com) |
| Do San Diego County lawyers instruct school administrators and teachers to commit perjury in order to cover up bullying by teachers and students? |
| Lots of people want a bully for their lawyer. But should schools be run by lawyer-bullies? |
| Schools and Violence |
| School district was negligent in Santana shootings, claim says By Greg Moran UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER March 13, 2002 EL CAJON – The families of two students killed during a shooting rampage at Santana High School have sued the school district, saying officials failed to detect warning signs in the behavior of Charles "Andy" Williams. The lawsuit, filed last week by the families of Bryan Zuckor and Randy Gordon, accuse the district of negligence and wrongful death stemming from the March 5, 2001, shootings. Zuckor, 14, and Gordon, 17, were killed during a 10- minute shooting rampage that began in a boys bathroom on the Santee campus just before 9:30 a.m. Williams, who had just turned 15, was arrested after he was subdued by three police officers who rushed into the bathroom. Thirteen other people were wounded in the shooting spree. Williams is facing charges of murder, attempted murder and assault with a firearm. He has pleaded not guilty and has been held at Juvenile Hall since his arrest after the shootings. The suit contends that the Grossmont Union High School District did not observe that Williams was having behavior problems and that it was negligent in failing to intervene and address those problems. Kenneth Hoyt, the attorney representing the families, said that in the weeks and months before the shootings Williams was missing classes and his grades were slipping. "Andy Williams exhibited signs and symptoms of a troubled person," Hoyt said. "When you have a student who is missing excessive days and whose grades have dropped remarkably, these are red flags and there needs to be some intervention. We believe that the school should have procedures in place." Williams, who was a freshman at the time, had just moved to Santee and had been in school for only a few months. His defense attorneys have said he was the victim of frequent bullying by others at the school. District Superintendent Granger Ward disputed those claims, saying the attack was a criminal act by someone who brought a gun to campus and shot students and staffers, and that's where the ultimate responsibility lies. "It is unfortunate that the perpetrator of this crime is not the focus, and that's where the focus should be," said Ward, adding that he was limited in commenting about the allegations because of the lawsuit. Based on the district's own review last year and information from the District Attorney's Office, there is no evidence that Williams was bullied at school, he said. "What excuse would there be for harming and shooting others?" Ward added. "There is no excuse for that." The lawsuit was filed one day after Hoyt filed a separate suit against Williams and his father, Jeff Williams. That suit also made wrongful-death and negligence allegations. Staff writer Jill Spielvogel contributed to this report. Greg Moran: (619) 542-4586; greg.moran@uniontrib. com |
| Daniel Shinoff denies that bullying contributed to the meltdown of Andy Williams, a small 15-year-old who shot two fellow students to death at Santana. His fellow students said he was bullied. The district says there is no evidence that Williams was bullied. (It's strange that reporters can find out information that eludes the district. Maybe they should pay more attention.) Dan Shinoff refused an offer by parents of shooting victims to settle for no money, if the school district would hold a conference on school violence. "What excuse would there be for harming and shooting others?" said Grossmont High School District's Superintendent. "There is no excuse for that." Of course not. Nor is there any excuse for tolerance of bullies. And the taxpayers should not be spending millions of dollars a year on lawyers like Shinoff who seek only to avoid responsibility, not to solve problems.. |
| Concluded Massachusetts therapist and author Lauren Slater: "We have to judge the individuals who committed the horrible deeds, but we can't judge them through the lens of saying, 'I would never have done that,' ... because the Millgram experiments show that under orders, most of us will do that." |
| Not according to San Diego County Office of Education's Favorite Attorney Daniel Shinoff. |
| A Culture of Contempt? |
| Is your child safe from victims of bullying who have acquired guns? Absolutely not. |
| Who are the bullies? Studies show the bullies are likely to be the popular kids. |
| The Bully Blight Time Magazine The Bully Blight Apr. 11, 2005 By MICHAEL D. LEMONICK Like most of her classmates at Washington High School in Milwaukee, Wis., La Shanda Trimble, 18, is attentive to fashion trends; it's the particular trend she chooses that sets her apart. She's a Goth, wearing black lipstick and nail polish, listening to bands like Linkin Park and Rob Zombie rather than rapper Nelly or R&B star Ciara. She likes to wear her hair in pigtails instead of the more popularly accepted braids. The other kids don't approve. "They think I should act like them,'' says the 11th-grader. "They like me to listen to rap and pop and wear, like, brand-new shoes." For these stylistic transgressions, Trimble is routinely punished. "I'd be walking down to a class, and I'd hear murmuring, and somebody would say, 'She's going to put a spell on you.'" One boy rode a broom into class to mock her; another called her ugly and crazy. Finally, one day last month, she couldn't take it anymore. "I started crying uncontrollably," she says. She's behind in her classwork now because she avoids going to school whenever she can. Bullies have lurked in hallways and on playgrounds ever since history's first day of school, and until recently, dealing with them was considered just another painfully useful life lesson. But that attitude is changing. In 2002 the American Medical Association warned that bullying is a public-health issue with long-term mental-health consequences for both bullies and their victims. Just last month UCLA researchers published two new studies showing that bullying is much more widespread and harmful than anyone knew. During a two-week period at two ethnically diverse Los Angeles middle schools, says Adrienne Nishina, a post-doctoral scholar at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, nearly half the 192 kids she interviewed reported being bullied at least once; even more said they had seen others targeted. Also important, says Nishina: kids are frequently as distressed by witnessing bullying as by being bullied. Why bullying exists isn't entirely clear, but another study published last week in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine attributes it at least in part to excessive television viewing. (Perhaps time spent in front of the tube is time spent not learning social skills.) But bullying existed long before TV, and while this may help explain the persistence of the problem, it doesn't do much more. Whatever the reason for bullying, the consequences are clear. Nishina found that victims feel sick more often than their classmates do, are absent more often and tend to have lower grades. They are also more depressed and withdrawn--a natural reaction, says Nishina, but one that "can subsequently lead to more victimization." The studies also indicate that schools take too narrow a view of what constitutes bullying. Physical aggression is forbidden, as are such forms of verbal bullying as sexual harassment and racial slurs. But the rules are generally silent about less incendiary name calling. "You're probably not going to get into trouble if you call someone fat or stupid," Nishina says. "But our research suggests victimized students felt equally bad." She also classifies nonphysical, nonverbal behaviors, including gestures and making faces, as bullying. "They happen quite a bit and can have an effect as well," Nishina says. "But they're very subtle and very difficult for us to capture and assess well." Even tougher to assess is the growing phenomenon of cyberbullying--vicious text messages or e-mails, or websites on which kids post degrading rumors. A recent survey of more than 5,500 teens found that 72% of them said online bullying was just as distressing as the face-to-face kind. The damage from bullying doesn't stop after graduation. According to Dr. William Coleman, professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, bullies are four times as likely as the average child to have engaged in criminal behavior by age 24; they also grow up deficient in social, coping and negotiating skills and are more likely to engage in substance abuse. Victims have similar problems; they also have fewer friends and are more likely to be depressed. Since most bullying takes place furtively--in hallways, bathrooms, the back of the school bus--teachers have a hard time controlling it. It's not impossible, though: with the help of Nishina's UCLA adviser and study co-author, Jaana Juvonen, a local elementary school put together a program in which teachers, parents and students review antibullying rules at the start of each year. The students do role-playing exercises and sign contracts promising not to bully. Teachers incorporate lessons about bullying and coping strategies into classwork. The school has also hired extra staff to monitor places like lunchrooms and playgrounds. A program like that might have saved a lot of trouble for the Darien, Ill., public-school system. Last October an eighth-grader who was allegedly harassing Joey Urban, now 14, wound up rupturing Joey's eardrum with a poke from a lollipop stick. The Urbans are suing, complaining that the attacker received only a three-day suspension. The school district says that the boys were friends and that the injury was an accident that occurred while they were roughhousing. La Shanda Trimble won't have to resort to the courts. Next year she'll be attending the Alliance School, founded to create a safe atmosphere for students who feel unwelcome in traditional settings. Says co-founder Tina Owen, an English teacher: "A lot of adults think 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' But these students seemed to be hurting really bad." --Reported by Elizabeth Coady/ Chicago, Avery Holton/Austin, Sora Song/New York and Sonja Steptoe/Los Angeles With reporting by Elizabeth Coady/ Chicago, Avery Holton/Austin, Sora Song/New York, Sonja Steptoe/Los Angeles |
| Education Reform Report |
| Should school districts protect kids from bullies? |
| Why did Grossmont Union High School District refuse to have a conference on violence? San Diego Source (Online Daily Transcript) News briefs from San Diego County September 08, 2005 EL CAJON, Calif. (AP) -- The parents of the two students killed in the Santana High School shooting in 2001 offered to drop their lawsuit against the school district if it agreed to hold a conference on school violence. The district has refused, saying it already has held forums on the topic and beefed up campus security. Kenneth Hoyt, an attorney representing the parents, said the district would rather continue spending money on litigation even as his clients agree "to settle for no money." Perhaps because the truth might come out? |
| Grossmont School District failed its students in the lead-up to the Santana High School shooting in 2001, says attorney Kenneth Hoyt. "Andy Williams exhibited signs and symptoms of a troubled person...When you have a student who is missing excessive days and whose grades have dropped remarkably, these are red flags and there needs to be some intervention. We believe that the school should have procedures in place." |
| A Few Bad Apples-- Or Normal Human Behavior? |
| A 2nd victim's family files claim in fatal Santana High shooting By Jill Spielvogel San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE September 6, 2001 The family of a 17-year-old student killed during the March shooting at Santana filed a legal claim against the Grossmont district yesterday, saying it should have taken measures to prevent the rampage. Mari Gordon-Rayborn, the mother of slain senior Randy Gordon, filed the claim for the "irreplaceable loss of a son and brother." She seeks the maximum amount the district's insurance will allow in damages. The claim does not make specific allegations other than the assertion that the district should have taken action to prevent the accused student from opening fire on the Santee campus. Charles "Andy" Williams, 15, is charged with shooting and killing Randy Gordon and 14-year-old Bryan Zuckor and wounding 13 others. Gordon-Rayborn declined to comment. Grossmont Superintendent Granger Ward said, "We had an unfortunate incident this past March where a young man was involved in a criminal act, and that's where the responsibility lays." He declined to say more, citing pending litigation. On Aug. 22, trustees rejected a claim filed by the family of Bryan Zuckor, which also asked for the maximum amount allowed under the district's insurance and did not make specific allegations of wrongdoing. With the board's decision, the Zuckor family has six months to file a lawsuit. Trustees have 45 days to act on Gordon-Rayborn's claim. The school district's attorney, Dan Shinoff, could not be reached for comment yesterday. When the Zuckor family filed a claim, Shinoff called the shooting an unforeseeable criminal act and said the district was not culpable. There would have to be evidence of liability for the district to pay damages, he said. The district must pay the first $100,000 on any settlement or judgment from its own budget and has insurance coverage of up to $14 million beyond that. State law allows six months to file a claim, and yesterday marked six months since the March 5 incident. So far in the aftermath of the Santana shooting, the district has only received claims from the families of the two students who were killed. The family of a Granite Hills freshman injured when a student opened fire there March 22 filed a claim against the district in May alleging the school was negligent in allowing the shooter to come on campus with guns. Trustees rejected the claim, which sought $250,000 in damages. |
| Is your child safe from bullies? |
| It could have turned out differently if...adults hadn't been ignorant about desperate children |
| San Diego Education Report. |
| Talking to Kids Homework Book Boondoggle? Phonics Spanking Nat'l Board Certif Ordinary People Writing Sample |
| Defamation Suit |
| School Stories |
| Severe abuse by teachers |
| Fred Kamper case |
| Parents Ask Forsyth County School Board to Reinstate Sharon Purdie By Susan Rolfs Sep 22, 2007, On Thursday, September 20, 2007 the Forsyth County school board heard five families share their stories of how Sharon Purdie, former Special Education Director, helped them to resolve the problems they were facing with their children within the Forsyth County school system's special education department. These families believe her willingness to help them is what led to her removal as the Special Education Director. The Forsyth County school system is calling the change a "lateral move"- The parents are calling it a demotion in retaliation for her advocacy to parents of special needs children. Keith and Lisa Jarrard, a mother and father who have filed a lawsuit against the school system, spoke about their issue regarding the school's abuse to their child. The father stated that there are many good employees and teachers in the Forsyth County school system. However, there was concern over the teachers and employees that do not follow the laws toward special education students and therefore Forsyth County School System should terminate them. The mother added that some of the punishments, such as shoveling horse manure and dog feces are horrendous for a child with special needs to endure.. She questioned the reasoning behind such a punishment. The parents credit Purdie for helping them understand the process of filing a complaint against the school system for the mistreatment of their child. Another Parent spoke on how her child has enjoyed school and attributed the success to the highly ethical Special Education Director. She went on to mention that her child will be scarred for life after experiencing unfair treatment by a principal of a middle school in the Forsyth County school system. In this case, Purdie saved the school from a law suit. http://www.cumminghome. com/news30041/Education/parents-ask-forsyth- county-school-board-to-reinsta.shtml |