My Son No longer Feels Safe at His High School with Weeks Left Until Graduation. Please HELP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, is there any way you could drive him for the next few weeks?

I would not feel comfortable driving my kid to school because the threat of the saftey is still there. Who's to say that this kid won't have his friends attempt an assault in the bathroom or cafeteria or a stairwell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does your kid know where he's going to college? Do they even collect his June grades?

You could also tell the college ahead of time. Tell them you're trying to work it out with the school but he has been threatened and the Principal said s/he'd do nothing to guarantee his safety.

I would strongly avoid telling the college of this situation. It's best for the parents, the school, an attorney and whomever else to deal with this quietly. There is no reason to blabber all over the place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are they even learning in these final weeks? Was he accepted to college? Don't think they will care about final grades.

OP here. Yes, DS is going to a 4 year university. I really do not want his grades to suffer at the end of the year as we are worried about potentially losing academic scholarship money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are they even learning in these final weeks? Was he accepted to college? Don't think they will care about final grades.

OP here. Yes, DS is going to a 4 year university. I really do not want his grades to suffer at the end of the year as we are worried about potentially losing academic scholarship money.

Tell the school that if they don't handle it you will also go to the media as well as hire an attorney and tell them you better keep your boy safe while you are in school. I would arrange for a ride home though, even if it is just a ride to another metro station if that is cheaper and it is too expensive for him to ride all the way home by public transport. Don't risk it so close to end of year. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

OP get your kid to a psychiatrist and have the dr say he can’t go to school for medical/mental health reasons. Then start the process to get him into the OSSE home and hospital instruction. We did this and it carried us to
within one week of the end of school year and got our kid out of a difficult school
situation where kid was being physically threatened and administration did nothing. https://dcps.dc.gov/service/home-and-hospital-instruction

[Anonymous]

Listen to your gut. If you feel he’s in danger keep him away

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP get your kid to a psychiatrist and have the dr say he can’t go to school for medical/mental health reasons. Then start the process to get him into the OSSE home and hospital instruction. We did this and it carried us to
within one week of the end of school year and got our kid out of a difficult school
situation where kid was being physically threatened and administration did nothing. https://dcps.dc.gov/service/home-and-hospital-instruction

OP here. Thank you so much for this!!! I truly appreciate this information. Will this work in the case of a charter school?

[Anonymous]

Am I the only one who thinks this kid totally overreacted? He got chased. Period. he didn't get threatened or touched. One kid got chased by other kids. Isn't that just ... part of the life of a child?

Nothing bad happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who thinks this kid totally overreacted? He got chased. Period. he didn't get threatened or touched. One kid got chased by other kids. Isn't that just ... part of the life of a child?

Nothing bad happened.

The next time a group of people chase you while yelling threats, you should just carry on as if nothing was wrong. If they don't touch you, there's no problem.

While this may be common in most children's lives, doesn't it say something about our society that we accept it as a normal rite of passage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who thinks this kid totally overreacted? He got chased. Period. he didn't get threatened or touched. One kid got chased by other kids. Isn't that just ... part of the life of a child?

Nothing bad happened.

The next time a group of people chase you while yelling threats, you should just carry on as if nothing was wrong. If they don't touch you, there's no problem. While this may be common in most children's lives, doesn't it say something about our society that we accept it as a normal rite of passage?

But OP didn't say there were any threats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who thinks this kid totally overreacted? He got chased. Period. he didn't get threatened or touched. One kid got chased by other kids. Isn't that just ... part of the life of a child?

Nothing bad happened.

Don't downplay the incident. Under the guise of ‘de facto hazing’ as a rite of passage in high school is not an over-reaction. No matter how you choose to view the incident, bullying is victimization abuse; it is a case of the stronger preying on the weak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is absolutely a real threat.

-Former urban HS teacher

I went to high school out in the boondocks, and this type of situation occured occasionally. You would deal with them by either avoiding them, fighting them, or getting someone to stick up for you. And sometimes this stuff would just blow over.This thread just got me thinking of the movie, "My Bodyguard." Hahaha.

I can remember these situations being really stressful, especially when they drag on for weeks. If your son attends a school in a bad neighborhood that has significant gang activity, I can see this situation becoming very dangerous, very quickly. Hopefully your son is able to assess the severity of the situation?

As far as all of this crazy legal advice...if these kids are actually dangerous, they don't care about your dumb letter, restraining order, etc. They have zero honor or integrity and will gang up on your kid and use weapons without thinking twice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who thinks this kid totally overreacted? He got chased. Period. he didn't get threatened or touched. One kid got chased by other kids. Isn't that just ... part of the life of a child?

Nothing bad happened.

The next time a group of people chase you while yelling threats, you should just carry on as if nothing was wrong. If they don't touch you, there's no problem. While this may be common in most children's lives, doesn't it say something about our society that we accept it as a normal rite of passage?

But OP didn't say there were any threats.

From OP in 21:41: OP here, the student and his friends were yelling threatening and volatile epithets at my son whiie chasing him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who thinks this kid totally overreacted? He got chased. Period. he didn't get threatened or touched. One kid got chased by other kids. Isn't that just ... part of the life of a child?

Nothing bad happened.

You know where you can go, don’t you?

[Anonymous]

Involve DME and ward council member, if necessary.