Backpack-attack followup: Letter that Denny is sending home

Just received from the Seattle Public Schools communications team, a letter that they say is being sent to all Denny Middle School families, in the aftermath of the attack that sent a 12-year-old boy to the hospital (we were first to report the incident; here’s our most recent story). Here’s the full text of the letter:

June 17, 2009

Dear Denny Students and Families,

I want to share with you information regarding an incident that has affected our school community. I am sending you this letter to update you on the facts and to assure you that we are doing everything we can to support our students and provide for their safety.

On Monday, June 15, an incident occurred during lunch time. Student A swung a backpack at Student B. The backpack hit Student B in the head causing Student B to lose consciousness. The Seattle Fire Department and Seattle Police Department were immediately contacted. The injured student was subsequently transported to the hospital. Fortunately, that student was able to return to school the next day. The Student A has been assigned the appropriate consequence in alignment with school district policy. The Seattle Police Department is currently conducting an investigation into the incident.

I do want to alert you that some media reports regarding this incident are not consistent with the facts as we currently understand them to be. As a result, I would like to assure everyone that all of us at Denny Middle School remain very committed to providing an academically challenging environment here at school—where every student is safe both emotionally and physically. As a reminder, if anyone ever has any information relating to bullying or other potential conflicts that students are experiencing, please share that information immediately with school staff. We will follow up with the appropriate next steps right away.

Sincerely,

Jeff Clark, Principal

ArborHeightsMom June 17, 2009 (5:47 pm)

I feel for the poor kid who got socked with the bag of rocks. Thoughts are with that family!

Roadsterboy June 18, 2009 (9:47 am)

From what I’m hearing, the rocks may have been made up by the boy’s friends, but a backpack full of books can still do some damage. I believe the real problem, however, is that even when they say they do, schools and school officials do NOT take bullying seriously enough. Children at that age can be unbelievably relentless, vicious bullies, but as long as there is no physical violence the schools prefer to look the other way. For the victims, it can become debilitating and psychologically damaging when there are no relief avenues for them. Adults can probably be expected to deal with this kind of abuse in more adult ways, but adults are usually taken more seriously when they complain about this kind of behavior, too. A 12-year-old is not an adult and may very well not be able to see any other option than to hit their abuser with a backpack. When will we wake up and REALLY hold the schools accountable for stopping the bullying?

Stu June 18, 2009 (9:49 am)

Me too, unless he had it coming as some people say. We adults will never know what exactly transpired between the two kids. But knowing how cruel and mean some kids can be, it’s quite possible that he deserved every pebble in that bag.

The girl may be a violent aggressor, or she may be the brave girl who prevented this kid from perpetrating more harrassment (and worse?) in the future. We’ll never know.

sarelly June 18, 2009 (10:29 am)

No one deserves to be violently attacked in a civilized society, no matter what they’re SAYING. Really, Stu, listen to yourself. If she’d been physically attacked and fought back, that would be different, but that is not what the report says. I agree: We don’t know what happened because we weren’t there. What we do know is that someone’s child was hospitalized.

Roadsterboy June 18, 2009 (1:38 pm)

Stu, as strongly as I feel about bullying, I have to agree with sarelly–nobody deserves to be smacked in the head with a backpack for what they’re saying. HOWEVER, if this boy was, in fact, bullying the girl mercilessly, then he deserves at least the same punishment she is receiving from the school–suspension for a few months–if not more. He’ll recover from his physical injuries, but victims of relentless bullying often suffer the psychological impacts for the rest of their lives. It’s easier for the school to make a big fuss about the physical violence and, if they follow true to form, they’ll sweep the bullying under the rug and not deal with it, but it’s high time the community to held the schools accountable, too.

Bruce W June 18, 2009 (2:31 pm)

I am still in amazement at everyone adding on “but if he did do something…” There has not been any proof whatsoever that he did any of these things that everyone wants to add on to try to sugarcoat what this girl, a proven liar at that, did. Tell me something, when you hear a story about a guy hitting or beating up a female, do you make your opinion but make certain to add on “but if she did something to deserve it…”? I already know that you don’t. So with the Seattle Times story today clearly stating “Police find no evidence that girl in back pack incident was bullied”, why is it still needed for everyone to throw in their own little “HOWEVER, if this boy was, in fact, bullying the girl mercilessly”? There is no “in fact” to support your partial, half or full pardon for what she did. IF it comes to light that the school dropped the ball or that he did do something to make everyone condone this, then save your judgement of him until that time. One more thing I learned: a peer-reviewed and published research out of Florida State University, says in non-reciprocal violence amongst young folks, 70 % (yes, that is seven-zero) of it is perpetrated by GIRRLS.” For PROOF of this, please go to http://www.lapresrupture.qc.ca/rechercheviolence.html

justme June 18, 2009 (2:57 pm)

Our public school’s lack of supervision on the playground is pathetic and greatly at fault in situations like these. Student Conflict Managers are NOT effective either.
Our schools need to stop spending so much money on consultants and other high paying positions and start spending the money towards the safety of our kids. This would never have happened IF there was adequate staff on the playground.
My son was locked into a baseball dugout his entire recess at Alki Elementary and nobody was aware of it until after it happened! It wasn’t a violent act, but it certainly could have been worse. These kids are the schools responsibility when they are under their care!

Roadsterboy June 18, 2009 (4:21 pm)

Thanks for your amazement, Bruce W, but since you’ve quoted from my posts, may I politely suggest that you re-read them? Not only did I not “sugarcoat” or “pardon” what this girl did, but I pretty clearly stated my opinion that her action was wrong, even if she had been bullied and, for the record, I agree with her punishment. I also did not actually accuse this particular boy of anything–I used a hypothetical “if/then” statement. I’ve not seen today’s Seattle Times article yet but, frankly, I wouldn’t expect the police to be able to “find evidence” of bullying, anyway–it needs to be caught in the moment through more vigilant playground supervision, as justme also suggested above. I am, however, wondering why you felt it necessary to defend this young man by telling us that most violence of this nature is perpetrated by girls. My position on bullying and schoolyard violence is the same, regardless of the sex of the perpetrator or victim and I fully stand by my earlier statements about the nature of the larger, and still largely hidden, problem of bullying.

WSB June 18, 2009 (4:32 pm)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2009352414_backpack18m.html

But there’s nothing in there we didn’t report here. We were first to see the entire police report (as transcribed here Tuesday night), which is what the Times quotes from. And first to publish the letter sent home from school, also mentioned in that story – we got it yesterday at the same time it was sent to the rest of the Seattle media, and published it within moments. And first to even report this in the first place – the citywide media watches neighborhood news sites like ours and picks up stories from there (if you’re new to WSB, I’m a 30-year veteran journalist).
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The one thing we did NOT do here is rush off to go get on-camera interviews with the kids. I managed two local television newsrooms for years and am still disappointed not only that the kids were allowed on camera, full faces and full names, but also that the folks in my former business didn’t see anything wrong with putting them on. These aren’t even teenagers – they’re kids. They could have been interviewed without that full exposure. Their names were of course in the police report and I had already published my story, deliberating omitting their names, late Tuesday night, when I found out that hours earlier they had both been fully identified in voluntary TV interviews – Tracy (WSB editor/co-publisher)