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Source: Milwaukee Journal SentinelAug.存倉 19--After lots of reminders and some tragic stories, society has begun to take bullying a lot more seriously.So seriously, in fact, that a parent of a middle school student in Fond du Lac made a federal case out of her son's treatment, which she says included months of racial slurs, unwanted touching, Facebook harassment and teasing and slurs over his perceived sexual orientation beginning in 2011.But in what he termed a tough call, a federal judge on Friday dismissed the case against St. Mary's Springs Academy. In a thoughtful, 23-page decision, U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller explains that, with so much at stake, our greater attention to bullying must also develop a more refined definition."Suffice it to say that, while the Court empathizes with N.K. (the student), it is reluctant to make a definitive determination that he was, in fact, the victim of bullying," wrote Stadtmueller.But legally, that's not the question. It's whether St. Mary's Springs violated Titles VI and IX of the Civil Rights Act for failing to stop the bullies. Stadtmueller decided it did not. He said that since so many facts are disputed, or seen through the eyes of children, he is reluctant to intervene."There will always be spats between children. Certain children will always say and do nasty things to one another. Try as they might, school officials will not be able to stop this, either, even if courts such as this one were to begin holding schools liable when their students engaged in reprehensible behavior. No matter how many judgments courts may hand out, the often cruel nature of children will still prevail over newly propagated rules and instructions," he wrote.Stadtmueller found that while the boy no doubt suffered such treatment, he appeared to also dish some out."He, too, occasionally made disparaging remarks, including racial epithets, to certain classmates and took other aggressive actions against the alleged bullies," he wrote."Perhaps this resulted from his being fed up with several months of bullying. Perhaps he invited some of the other students' conduct in a classic case of escalating hostility. Perhaps it was a little of both. In the end, the question of 'who started it?' revolves around 'he said she said' reports."Those are playground inquiries without a clear answer."The decision chronicles the efforts that the boy's mother, and school officials, took over the months to address various incidents. Ultimately, in April 2012, the boy withdrew from St. Mary's.Stadtmueller found that while no school officials had seen the alleged bullying firsthand, the boy's and his mother's frequent and detailed accounts amounted to giving the school actual knowledge.However, he did not believe the school responded with "deliberate indifference," noting that officials heard the boy's complaints, spoke with the offending students, had conferences with students and parents, and held bullying-prevention sessions for staff and students.Sam Hall, a Milwaukee lawyer with Crivello-Carlson, who represented the school, agreed that social media has made it even more important for kids, parents and schools to be on guard against bullying."In reviewing the facts of this case, we are grateful that the court recognized the numerous difficulties that schools can face and for the court's conclusion that St. Mary's and its staff were not indifferent to this problem," Hall said.After lots of reminders and some tragic stories, society has begun to take bullying a lot more seriously.So seriously, in fact, that a parent of a middle school student in Fond du Lac made a federal case out of her son's treatment, which she says included months of racial slurs, unwanted touching, Facebook harassment and teasing and slurs over his perceived sexual orientation beginning in 2011.But in what he termed a tough call, a federal judge on Friday dismissed the case against St. Mary's Springs Academy. In a thoughtful, 23-page decision, U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller explains that, with so much at stake, our greater attention to bullying must also develop a more refined definition."Suffice it to say that, while the Court empathizes with N.K. (the student), it is reluctant to make a definitive determination that he was, in fact, the victim of bullying," wrote Stadtmueller.But legally, that's not the question. It's whether St. Mary's Springs violated Titles VI and IX of the Civil Rights Act for failing to stop the bullies. Stadtmueller decided it did not. He said that since so many facts are disputed, or seen through the eyes of children, he is reluctant to intervene."There will always be spats between children. Certain children will always say and do nasty things to one another. Try as they might, school officials will not be able to stop this, either, even if courts such as this one were to begin holding schools liable when their students engaged in reprehensible behavior. No matter how many judgments courts may hand out, the often cruel nature of children will still prevail over newly propagated rules and instructions," he wrote.Stadtmueller found that while the boy no doubt suffered such treatment, he appeared 自存倉o also dish some out."He, too, occasionally made disparaging remarks, including racial epithets, to certain classmates and took other aggressive actions against the alleged bullies," he wrote."Perhaps this resulted from his being fed up with several months of bullying. Perhaps he invited some of the other students' conduct in a classic case of escalating hostility. Perhaps it was a little of both. In the end, the question of 'who started it?' revolves around 'he said she said' reports."Those are playground inquiries without a clear answer."The decision chronicles the efforts that the boy's mother, and school officials, took over the months to address various incidents. Ultimately, in April 2012, the boy withdrew from St. Mary's.Stadtmueller found that while no school officials had seen the alleged bullying firsthand, the boy's and his mother's frequent and detailed accounts amounted to giving the school actual knowledge.However, he did not believe the school responded with "deliberate indifference," noting that officials heard the boy's complaints, spoke with the offending students, had conferences with students and parents, and held bullying-prevention sessions for staff and students.Sam Hall, a Milwaukee lawyer with Crivello-Carlson, who represented the school, agreed that social media has made it even more important for kids, parents and schools to be on guard against bullying."In reviewing the facts of this case, we are grateful that the court recognized the numerous difficulties that schools can face and for the court's conclusion that St. Mary's and its staff were not indifferent to this problem," Hall said.After lots of reminders and some tragic stories, society has begun to take bullying a lot more seriously.So seriously, in fact, that a parent of a middle school student in Fond du Lac made a federal case out of her son's treatment, which she says included months of racial slurs, unwanted touching, Facebook harassment and teasing and slurs over his perceived sexual orientation beginning in 2011.But in what he termed a tough call, a federal judge on Friday dismissed the case against St. Mary's Springs Academy. In a thoughtful, 23-page decision, U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller explains that, with so much at stake, our greater attention to bullying must also develop a more refined definition."Suffice it to say that, while the Court empathizes with N.K. (the student), it is reluctant to make a definitive determination that he was, in fact, the victim of bullying," wrote Stadtmueller.But legally, that's not the question. It's whether St. Mary's Springs violated Titles VI and IX of the Civil Rights Act for failing to stop the bullies. Stadtmueller decided it did not. He said that since so many facts are disputed, or seen through the eyes of children, he is reluctant to intervene."There will always be spats between children. Certain children will always say and do nasty things to one another. Try as they might, school officials will not be able to stop this, either, even if courts such as this one were to begin holding schools liable when their students engaged in reprehensible behavior. No matter how many judgments courts may hand out, the often cruel nature of children will still prevail over newly propagated rules and instructions," he wrote.Stadtmueller found that while the boy no doubt suffered such treatment, he appeared to also dish some out."He, too, occasionally made disparaging remarks, including racial epithets, to certain classmates and took other aggressive actions against the alleged bullies," he wrote."Perhaps this resulted from his being fed up with several months of bullying. Perhaps he invited some of the other students' conduct in a classic case of escalating hostility. Perhaps it was a little of both. In the end, the question of 'who started it?' revolves around 'he said she said' reports."Those are playground inquiries without a clear answer."The decision chronicles the efforts that the boy's mother, and school officials, took over the months to address various incidents. Ultimately, in April 2012, the boy withdrew from St. Mary's.Stadtmueller found that while no school officials had seen the alleged bullying firsthand, the boy's and his mother's frequent and detailed accounts amounted to giving the school actual knowledge.However, he did not believe the school responded with "deliberate indifference," noting that officials heard the boy's complaints, spoke with the offending students, had conferences with students and parents, and held bullying-prevention sessions for staff and students.Sam Hall, a Milwaukee lawyer with Crivello-Carlson, who represented the school, agreed that social media has made it even more important for kids, parents and schools to be on guard against bullying."In reviewing the facts of this case, we are grateful that the court recognized the numerous difficulties that schools can face and for the court's conclusion that St. Mary's and its staff were not indifferent to this problem," Hall said.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Visit the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at .jsonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉新蒲崗