Your brother is lucky to have you in his corner.

Sylvania City Schools have an anti-harassment policy but they wait too long to enforce it. We have a family member who attends Central Elementary School and they are pitiful in how they respond to verbally and physically aggressive kids. They want the kids to work it out but when the school culture supports harassment and bullying or racism then the harassment is perpetuated. What some people don’t get is that there is a portion of the student (and adult) population, who like the power they get from offending, intimidating and harassing other kids. Keep up the good work.

If you read what I wrote, it’s been made very clear that parents are the responsible party when it comes to what their children have access to in electronic media.

I feel like I’m beating the dead horse on this but again, my statement was in response to the suggestion that somehow abortion caused this scenario. My suggestion that electronic media had a part was in response to it being a more viable cause as opposed to abortion. That was the context.

The reason why some children are dead right now is because threats were ignored. Not everything can be prevented but to ignore the fact that school murders have increased compared to what they were like two decades ago doesn’t create solutions. It’s really easy to say someone should “just get over” something or “stop being so sensitive” I don’t disagree that at times there is an over-reaction. Yet, it’s the job of the school and the parents to create as safe of an environment as possible. In this scenario, given what is known? It’s clear that the parents and others spoke out. While murders are rare as you stated in comparison to the number of schools, there is a connection to bullying in most of these stories.

According to the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center (www.safeyouth.org), more than 5.7 million (30 percent) of students in the United States are estimated to be involved in bullying as either a bully, a target of bullying, or both.

http://www.infendo.com/culture/harvard-says-video-games-dont-create-violent-children/

bad parenting shouldnt be blamed on video game makers

Blog away – unlike corporate run news, you don’t have to worry about getting edited (the facts, that is).

Or you could always just wait to hear what the school district says about it. I mean, what the school district’s lawyers say about.

Gee, who are you going to believe?

Kids kill other kids, in almost every single scenario where there has been a murder or murders in a school there were warning signs. Warning signs that were ignored…It’s the job of the school to act when these types of things happen whether it is a verbal threat that might never be acted on or one that would. It’s the job of the parents to act, and it appears from what I know, Derek’s parents did what they were supposed to do, they should not have to be forced to pull their child from school when he’s not the problem. However, time and time again that’s what parents in our area end up having to do because the school system does not act.

Keep crying about how you or your brother gets attacked everyday I’m sure it happens all the time I know it does to me when I walk five steps and get verbally attacked again. Why don’t you confront the kids if you’re so concerned about it? Its pretty sad you have to impress people with the way you write on a blog site Derek. People are so THIN SKINNED now a days probably get a lawsuit if you order crackers or BLACK coffee. It seems like I am just hearing grown ups crying about the same old crap their parents used to cry about. The only scars anyone should have after being attacked constantly are the one that will make them stronger otherwise just keep crying about it and don’t do anything that will solve your problems.

Your brother is lucky to have an advocate such as yourself – keep it up.

But please don’t think that “all” people share the views of what this “Damon” character is all about. Racism, unfortunately, is a polarizing issue and is also very uncomfortable to deal with – no matter what race one is.

I happen to have numerous friends in Sylvania and I can promise you that there is not a racist bone in their being. Just because everyone doesn’t become an activist doesn’t mean they condone it.

In this case what I wish really would have happened is other kid’s present that don’t agree with this Damon character need not be wallpaper and speak up or do something. But with today’s society, not getting involved or getting into a good old fashioned donny-brook isn’t allowed. It’s too bad.