Another CA public school student driven out by bullying.

[RandySF]

VALLEJO (CBS13) – A girl’s mother says her bullied daughter will not return her school in the Vallejo School District, where parents say bullying is an ongoing problem.

It’s still very difficult for 12-year-old Makiya Howell to talk about the attack.

She was trapped in the girl’s bathroom at Solano Middle School, surrounded by more than a dozen girls two weeks ago, and being punched and kicked while a classmate captures the attack on her cell phone.

“If I didn’t get out of that bathroom they’re really going to try and hurt me,” said Howell.

She’s been bullied all year about her appearance.


http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/05/30/bullied-vallejo-girl-speaks-out-after-videoed-attack/

[pnwmom]

1. So, so sad. But, like the video says -- "it gets better."

Middle school for so many kids is the absolute worst time. I hope she gets all the help she needs to get through this.

Why do adults let this kind of stuff go on? Do the school administrators really not know?

[RandySF]

2. That's if you make it in one piece.

Our PTA president tried to convince us to stay in our school by promising things will get better, but was never specific. We decided to not take any chances.

[pnwmom]

3. And more power to you. Your son's too young to take any chances with.

You're doing the right thing.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Sometimes they really don't know.

The parents of the bullies are usually just as convinced their kids didn't do anything wrong as the parents of the bullied are convinced their child is being bullied. If no adult has witnessed the bullying (common, since bullies learn to be sneaky), it can be tough to sort it all out. If other kids have witnessed the bullying, you can usually figure out what happened when you interview them about a specific incident. Kids who aren't in trouble rarely lie about what they have seen.

The kids who are bullied also don't always report it. I witnessed some bullying this year and the kid who was bullied finally admitted it had been going on all year. But that took awhile to get the whole story from him. At first, he seemed embarrassed that I had seen him being bullied. He also had not told his parent or his siblings. None of the teachers had any idea. And we are a fairly small school with few discipline problems.

Bullies are very sneaky. Often, when we stop it at school, they continue the bullying in the neighborhood when they are not in school. And some bullies have learned not to bully at school, but they are brutal outside of school.

I'm not trying to justify any of the bullying or anything school admins don't do to address it. I'm just trying to explain the reality. It's a very complicated issue. IMO, schools don't do enough to address it. But it's not as easy as it seems to stop it.