You’ll be beaten, tormented, and forced to write in cursive when you arrive.
At least, that was our expectation as 8th-graders preparing for high school in the late 90s.
As if facing a four-year bit at San Quentin Penitentiary.
Of course, nobody was shanked in the yard for a cigarette.
And computers had already begun chasing cursive into history over the preceding years.
Even traditional bullying was scarce throughout my school career, outside of minimal teasing.
But while joking is expected to some degree, parents and teachers enforced the rules.
Even the rare schoolyard fight didn’t involve the police.
Unfortunately, that authority seems to have joined cursive handwriting in the history books.
While modern teachers, parents, and staff drone on about marginalized communities, they fail to see or refuse to acknowledge there’s one sitting in front of them.
Special Needs Girl on Hit List
Is there an adult in the house?
Not in Delaware County schools, apparently.
After years of bullying a special needs girl in Eastern Pennsylvania, several of the victim’s classmates took their torment to the next level after placing her on an online hit list.
What’s more, the school’s principal allegedly attempted to have the girl involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility without notifying the parents.
On April 27 of this year, the student’s mother, Liz Finnegan, and other family members attended the Northley Middle School Board meeting to make a public complaint regarding the poorly handled situation.
See Liz’s statement here.
Finnegan told the board she became aware of the hit list after one of the students involved spoke out as she felt the move crossed a line.
The girls involved also claimed Liz’ daughter was lying about a previously reported sexual assault and teased her about the incident.
That’s when she began hurting herself and was hospitalized due to her debilitating depression.
Still, the girl remained optimistic, especially after one of the older girls moved on to high school.
Unfortunately, the students weren’t the only problem, as one of the bullies’ parents allegedly threatened the girl over voicemail.
Click here to hear an adult psychopath threatening a special needs child.
Unfortunately for the parent, she wasn’t smart enough to block the number.
Finnegan posted a response to a Penn-Delco school board meeting this week where the admin announced plans to respond to further bullying attempts with legal action.
But this isn’t an isolated case, apparently.
According to Finnegan, the school is aware of similar situations that go unhandled.
Special Needs Girl On Trial For Pronoun Usage
Like many students, I dreaded speech class.
But at least I never had to take the stand before a school board to defend myself for misgendering a student.
Yet a California school did just that after a special needs girl committed the cardinal sin.
During the statement, the young girl also describes not feeling comfortable changing in the PE locker room as adult males were present in the female changing area on at least one occasion:
Click here to see the Inquisition.
The mother also claims the child was forced to discuss sexual acts in class, and when she opposed the material, she was called a bigot.
You guys are completely ignoring the fact that this is still a safety issue and that your school teachers are harassing an already marginalized child, a disabled child with a brain injury that actually affects her short-term memory…- Thelma Gonzalez, mother
Glendale City Council responded, saying they haven’t found any evidence of wrongdoing, and the school teaches “comprehensive sexual health education” per state standards.
The school also claims the classes are voluntary.
However, it appears that anyone that does so is considered an outsider.
Teachers Assaulting Special Needs Students?
While those in Pennsylvania and Glendale practice mental bullying, physical abuse is a concern in places like Chicago.
Earlier this year, Chicago parents were outraged when they learned special needs students were mistreated by at least one teacher at John Whistler Elementary School on the city’s south side.
It’s also reported that at least one was sexually abused.
One teacher allegedly told students, “The longer you cry, the longer I will hit you.”
See the public response here.
When kids lagged on schoolwork, the teacher is reported to hit kids with her hands, rulers, and other objects.
After parents confronted school staff, they were told that kids were clumsy.
Some kids could use a good smack, but this is different.
The students in question suffer from disabilities like autism, cerebral palsy, and other cognitive afflictions.
One parent told the Chicago Sun-Times:
I feel discouraged because I feel like I have let my daughter down…It was my job to protect her and see that she is in a safe environment. And I now believe that something terribly wrong was happening at Whistler Elementary and that my daughter has been abused in that school. -Pearl King, mother
King and other parents plan on bringing lawsuits against the school for emotional distress, battery, and other counts.
While teachers and politicians excuse Chicago’s rampant gang violence as a product of a marginalized community, nobody bats an eye when teachers abuse special needs kids.
Happy Pride.
Now it’s June.
And these children and their parents will continue to struggle with abuse and lack of resolution from those that are supposed to keep them safe.
Yet our employers will force us to salute the rainbow flag, companies will launch their Pride marketing schemes, and politicians will insist we protect marginalized communities.
But special needs kids and abused children, in general, will get no flag.
They will get no parades, and your employer won’t schedule mandatory special needs or bullying awareness.
To be fair, March is National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. And October is National Bullying Awareness Month.
But I’d be willing to bet you didn’t know that. I didn’t.
Because it’s not beneficial for advertisers and politicians.
So march forth this June and support marginalized communities like good consumers.
But don’t forget about the one in the schoolhouse.