Student attacked with taser in Oakton HS locker room

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not surprised Banbury is an exec principal. It is the FCPS way/ suck at your current job, no problem- we have a better one for you.

It's because it happened at a "good" Fairfax school. If it happened at Justice or Annandale, there would be no talk about restorative justice. C

[Anonymous]

Also from FCPS Students Rights and Responsbilities:

Assault
a. The following violations may result in a suspension from school for up to five days unless the principal makes a referral to the Division Superintendent, in which event the principal may suspend for up to ten days.
(1) Threatening to assault or physically assaulting a school staff member without injury.
(2) Any involvement in a mob assault. Any collection or group of students assembled with the intention of committing an assault constitutes a mob. Each and every student who is part of a mob shall be held directly responsible for any assault committed by one or more members of the group.
(3) Threatening to assault or physically assaulting another student or any other person (other than a staff member), whether or not causing injury.
(4) Hazing or otherwise mistreating another student by recklessly or intentionally endangering the health or safety of, or inflicting bodily injury on, the student in connection with or for the purpose of initiation, admission into or affiliation with or as a condition for continued membership in a club, organization, association, fraternity, sorority, or student body regardless of whether the student or students so endangered or injured participated voluntarily in the relevant activity. A report of hazing with bodily injury shall be made to the Commonwealth’s Attorney in accordance with Section 18.2-56 of the Code of Virginia.

[Anonymous]

The students responsible need to be criminally prosecuted. Period, full stop. This was a violent assault on a student with a dangerous weapon. And the parents of the students responsible should engage in some serious self reflection and figure out where and how they failed so miserably to teach basic human decency. This was disgraceful.

[Anonymous]

But this was not just simple possession. This was an attack. Similar to me cutting one with a knife.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No idea what happened here, as a factual matter, but does FCPS have a bullying policy?

This was not bullying. This was a violent assault that needs to be handled by the criminal justice system. These boys and their parents should be ashamed of themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A couple of thoughts:

1) a stun gun is not lethal (unless there are underlying medical issues. So, it is not attempted murder.

2) this kind of behavior has been occurring for at least 40 years in FCPS schools to the kids who are "different". (40 years ago, I got a "Dirty Swirly" after gym class in a neighboring FCPS school; 20 kids were involved in the assault. Gym teacher did not care. school just moved me to another gym class. I still have nightmares about it. Police woere called but nothing happened.

3) The penalty for this (in criminal court) is suprisingly light for a first offense.

4) We do not know what the school is doing as punishments are usually private.

The psychological damage to the victim might be life long. Regardless of how light the criminal penalties are, this should be referred to the police because it's a criminal matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just about to mention restorative justice policies, thanks.

Explain how this works? Does the victim have to come face to face with the kids who assaulted him? If so, is that one-on-one or what? If not, that would be very intimidating. If so, that would be intimidating and very time-consuming for him.

No, what happens is that the school tells the family they are dealing with it, so police isn't called, and the school then takes its sweet time to interrogate the main people involved and may confuse them thoroughly, since they are not trained to conduct such interviews. The school may handle any evidence and tamper with it, again because they are not trained to preserve evidence. School systems in the area have restorative justice policies, which means they believe minor perpetrators may have adverse life circumstances that affect their sense of right and wrong, and if given additional chances to redeem themselves, have better chances of becoming law-abiding adults. The result is that a lot of time is wasted before the victim's family realizes that the perpetrators will not be punished adequately, and the victim will likely not be separated from them in class. Then if/when the family finally decides to call the police, the investigators have to deal with witnesses who may have forgotten the exact timeline of events, because they were confused by the earlier interviews with school staff and some time has already elapsed. Videos that were circulated have had ample time to be deleted, and any physical evidence may have been washed off the floor (blood, etc) or otherwise handled in a way that makes it inadmissible in a court of law.

This is not because school systems purposefully set out to flout investigative processes and deny protections to victims. It's because there is zero clarity for administrators and staff to distinguish between minor events that should be appropriately handled by the school system, which understandably tends to err on the side of leniency, since they are dealing with children, and major events that require immediate police investigation.

That is absurd. What happened here is a felony assault with a dangerous weapon. It’s a serious crime. This type of incident should never be handled through a “restorative justice” process. Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn’t Oakton one of better high schools in Fairfax county? Hope this is an isolated incident.

Weird snob school back in the 90s. No idea now.

People who say stupid things like this are themselves, weird snobs. Go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A couple of thoughts:

1) a stun gun is not lethal (unless there are underlying medical issues. So, it is not attempted murder.

2) this kind of behavior has been occurring for at least 40 years in FCPS schools to the kids who are "different". (40 years ago, I got a "Dirty Swirly" after gym class in a neighboring FCPS school; 20 kids were involved in the assault. Gym teacher did not care. school just moved me to another gym class. I still have nightmares about it. Police woere called but nothing happened.

3) The penalty for this (in criminal court) is suprisingly light for a first offense.

4) We do not know what the school is doing as punishments are usually private.

I am very sorry. What a horrible ordeal you suffered.

Hopefully the stun gun elevates the charge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just about to mention restorative justice policies, thanks.

Explain how this works? Does the victim have to come face to face with the kids who assaulted him? If so, is that one-on-one or what? If not, that would be very intimidating. If so, that would be intimidating and very time-consuming for him.

No, what happens is that the school tells the family they are dealing with it, so police isn't called, and the school then takes its sweet time to interrogate the main people involved and may confuse them thoroughly, since they are not trained to conduct such interviews. The school may handle any evidence and tamper with it, again because they are not trained to preserve evidence. School systems in the area have restorative justice policies, which means they believe minor perpetrators may have adverse life circumstances that affect their sense of right and wrong, and if given additional chances to redeem themselves, have better chances of becoming law-abiding adults. The result is that a lot of time is wasted before the victim's family realizes that the perpetrators will not be punished adequately, and the victim will likely not be separated from them in class. Then if/when the family finally decides to call the police, the investigators have to deal with witnesses who may have forgotten the exact timeline of events, because they were confused by the earlier interviews with school staff and some time has already elapsed. Videos that were circulated have had ample time to be deleted, and any physical evidence may have been washed off the floor (blood, etc) or otherwise handled in a way that makes it inadmissible in a court of law.

This is not because school systems purposefully set out to flout investigative processes and deny protections to victims. It's because there is zero clarity for administrators and staff to distinguish between minor events that should be appropriately handled by the school system, which understandably tends to err on the side of leniency, since they are dealing with children, and major events that require immediate police investigation.

That is absurd. What happened here is a felony assault with a dangerous weapon. It’s a serious crime. This type of incident should never be handled through a “restorative justice” process. Ridiculous.

+1 I hope this is being handled by the criminal justice system by now.

[Anonymous]

pages 49-57 of the student rights and responsibilities categorizes incidents and the potential discipline that may be applied through FCPS.

Virginia law:
§ 18.2-308.1. Possession of firearm, stun weapon, or other weapon on school property prohibited; penalty.
A. If any person knowingly possesses any (i) stun weapon as defined in this section;....is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

§ 18.2-38. "Mob" defined.
Any collection of people, assembled for the purpose and with the intention of committing an assault or a battery upon any person or an act of violence as defined in § 19.2-297.1, without authority of law, shall be deemed a "mob."

§ 18.2-42. Assault or battery by mob.
Any and every person composing a mob which shall commit a simple assault or battery shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

§ 18.2-57. Assault and battery; penalty.
A. Any person who commits a simple assault or assault and battery is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor,

[Anonymous]

What I have seen happen in FCPS is that admin treats the bully as a victim, and blames the victim in any way possible. They’ll say “oh, if it was really a problem, he would have told someone or gotten help”. Bullying has a paralyzing effect such that victims usually do not speak up. That’s why bystanders are so important. Recognize subtle signs and look out for each other. Do not blame victims! Do not assume they are ok, just because they aren’t crying/screaming for help. The long lasting psychological effects of extreme bullying are similar to being in a war-torn country.

[Anonymous]

Virginia Law
(a) For Class 1 misdemeanors, confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both. (b) For Class 2 misdemeanors, confinement in jail for not more than six months and a fine of not more than $1,000, either or both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn’t Oakton one of better high schools in Fairfax county? Hope this is an isolated incident.

Weird snob school back in the 90s. No idea now.

People who say stupid things like this are themselves, weird snobs. Go away.

People want to justify why they live where they live, and "schools" is/are usually the bottom line. If you tell the truth about what is going on in schools, you decrease their property value - an especially sensitive subject if that person grew up in this area. Plus, the school does not want the bad press, which is why the parent did the most important thing - go straight to the 6 o'clock news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I have seen happen in FCPS is that admin treats the bully as a victim, and blames the victim in any way possible. They’ll say “oh, if it was really a problem, he would have told someone or gotten help”. Bullying has a paralyzing effect such that victims usually do not speak up. That’s why bystanders are so important. Recognize subtle signs and look out for each other. Do not blame victims! Do not assume they are ok, just because they aren’t crying/screaming for help. The long lasting psychological effects of extreme bullying are similar to being in a war-torn country.

+1

FCPS close ranks and simply don't want to deal with the real issue. If someone is a known drug dealer, for example, it is easy to get rid of that student or small group of students, because they are a known problem doing something blatantly illegal, repeatedly. If someone is a bully, they are sneaky by nature. FCPS has cameras, and are extremely careful what they show the victim's families. FCPS has a lawyer behind this, because FCPS has years of experience, and they need to protect their "brand". It's not such a great school system, but it is extremely large. People from outside the area are sometimes impressed with that.