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Updated: 10:32 PM Mar 13, 2008
Bullied Student Leaves School
Parents speak out A second case of bullying has surfaced at Westside High and this one has resulted in a student leaving the school.
Posted: 10:13 PM Mar 13, 2008 |
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A second case of bullying has surfaced at Westside High and this one has resulted in a student leaving the school.
On Monday, we talked to "Mark" who is a student there and he told us that bullies put Ipecac in his Gatorade during lunch, causing him to vomit.
The school says the students were disciplined for that incident but then, a month later, the bullying continued with a hate message left to Mark. It included a swastika and an anti-Semitic remark.
Another case of bullying at the same school has now surfaced.
We're not identifying the student but a family member tells us, "He's been called Chink, rice picker. We hate Asians. We kill Asians. He's had his car keyed."
The family says the story is also an example of an administration that has done almost nothing to combat bullies who use racism at Westside High School.
A family member says, "There were many times he would tell us that he would tell administration there were problems but that when the kids would receive no discipline he would quit telling them."
Westside High School does not have a zero-tolerance policy regarding either racism or bullying which makes discipline strictly up to the principal.
Westside spokesperson Peggy Rupprecht says, "We don't tolerate discrimination. We don't tolerate bullying. We don't tolerate racial incidents but the discipline that applies is handled on a case-by-case basis."
Citing privacy concerns, Westside schools would not comment on either bullying case except to say they took appropriate disciplinary action.
For the family of the student in the second case, the action was not enough.
One parent told us, "The situation was getting worse and our son was receiving threats that he was going to be physically assaulted and so we finally made the decision to that he would withdraw and go to a different school."
The family says they don't believe any of the students involved in harassing their son were ever suspended. In the other case, involving the swastika, a source says the students involved were suspended for three days.
School administrators say their reactions to both incidents were appropriate.







