TEACHER BULLY: Middle School in Los Angeles.
September 24, 2022
Is it equal for special education students? Disabled students face a lot of challenges. Bullying, timeout, seclusion, and restraint.
What’s in the news?
September 23, 2022.
Mother claims school ignored claims after son was beaten in alleged bullying attack in South LA
by KABC-TV, Los Angeles, California, The Walt Disney Company
What’s the story?
A mother in Los Angeles claims that Los Angeles Unified School District ignored her concerns over her son being bullied which was caught on video at John Adams Middle School in South Los Angeles, who moved to another school. The victim is a special education student.
The victim claims that it took place on the playground with SB, the initials KABC-TV uses, getting punched after being pushed accompanied by a racial slur. The push resulved in broken bones in his hand.
Lashae Bowen, his mother, claims that the school’s principal didn’t provide assistance.
Bowen says that there was another bullying incident a month earlier and she was assured there was an anti-bullying safety plan. She didn’t get any answers after this incident.
After many times calling for help, she contacted an attorney.
The mother says that there was no adult supervision on the playground. One attorney who was interviewed says that school shouldn’t be like “The Hunger Games”.
The school district’s response was that the school stands firmly against bullying, discrimination, indeference, and harassment, and implements restorative justice practices.
LAUSD has six months to respond to a claim, and the family attorneys say that a lawsuit could be filed.
Included in the story?
Yes. The video shows that the victim was on camera and spoke himself, and is quoted in the printed story. However, his face was not on camera. Calling him SB while using the mother’s name defeats the purpose of hiding the victim’s name. “Mrs. B” or “Ms. B” would have been appropriate.
COMMENTARY:
Is this the Least Restrictive Environment?
The victim is identified as a special education student, which means he is not in the least restrictive environment, which is defined as being with non-disabled students for the maximum amount possible. Although special education students can be placed in self-contained classrooms, recess and lunch are the exception.
What needs to change?
What was the school’s response? What’s with the school’s non-response?
This is an example of why:
The school system failed at a basic part of its job – Keeping All Students Safe, which is the name of a bill in Congress which bans seclusion and restraint, but not timeout, and fails to make them criminal acts.
1. School: If the special education student was a bully, the mother would have been contacted immediately.
2. School: Why was the special education student forced to move to another school? Why not the actual bully? The bully’s behaviot is the problem, not the disabled student’s behavior. If the disabled student’s behavior is a factor, why did the bully respond in negative way?
3. School: What caused the bully’s behavior which doesn’t blame the victim?
4. School: What consequences did the bully face?
5. School: The family should not settle out of court.
6. School: A nondisabled student assaulted a disabled student. Although race is a factor, an attorney was quoted about the racial aspect of this story. A disabled student, who happens to be black, was attacked along with a racial slur.