Household of JoCo scholar known as n-word and punched desires aggressor charged. He needs to be
On Monday, I spoke with the household of a 15-year-old feminine scholar suspended from Shawnee Mission East Excessive Faculty after she was repeatedly punched within the face by a male classmate. The one-sided brouhaha left the lady with a damaged nostril, swollen jaw, lower lip, scratches to the face and different accidents, the lady’s mother and father, Linyka and Shaun, informed me.
The lady’s household didn’t agree with the five-day suspension she acquired Nov. 15. She was anticipated to return to campus Wednesday.
As a result of the lady is the sufferer of a possible crime — her mother and father filed a report with the Prairie Village Police Division — I’ll consult with the mother and father by their first identify. To guard the kid’s id, I gained’t use her identify in any respect.
Mission residents Linyka, Shaun and their daughter are Black. The unidentified male scholar in query is white. The couple just isn’t taking their daughter’s alleged assault evenly. Nor ought to they.
They need authorities to pursue legal fees towards the boy who pushed and hit their daughter, the household informed me. Good for them.
As of Wednesday morning, messages to Prairie Village police officers in search of extra details about the investigation weren’t returned.
Any legal matter can be dealt with by regulation enforcement, in response to Shawnee Mission Faculty District officers.
“Whereas we can’t share particular details about the incident or the District’s response, the District desires to reassure the neighborhood it takes proactive measures to create a secure academic setting the place each scholar feels a way of belonging,” Smith wrote in an announcement to The Star.
After watching video footage of the altercation, who may blame Linyka and Shaun for getting regulation enforcement concerned? Not solely was the male scholar in query clearly the aggressor — he kicked off the skirmish by cursing on the lady, calling her a racial slur and shoving her.
There are penalties for combating at college, in response to the Shawnee Mission student handbook’s code of conduct policy. However context ought to matter. Why punish the lady for defending herself and others towards racism at college?
The lady is pleased with herself for standing up for a classmate one other scholar known as a slave, she informed me. She doesn’t know the boy, and he had nothing to do with a dialog she had with a white feminine scholar about utilizing racist language.
Video of altercation exhibits boy the aggressor
The lady’s household believes the assault was racially motivated. In line with cellphone footage of the struggle, it’s exhausting to argue in any other case.
Because the Black feminine scholar walks away from the white feminine scholar she confronted, the white male scholar is heard on video saying, “Man, shut the f*** up.”
Different college students reply: “Who stated that?”
“Me, (n-word) me,” the boy says. He turns round, drops his belongings to the ground and approaches the lady. Earlier than they meet face-to-face within the hallway, his racist tirade continues.
“What?” he screams. “What? What (n-word) what?” He pushes the lady. “What?” he says.
After being pushed, the lady throws a punch and strikes the boy. She does little injury. However the pair commerce blows. The male scholar overpowers his classmate and punches her within the face repeatedly.
“He was larger and taller than me,” she stated. “I needed to shield myself from him.”
Shawnee Mission’s anti-discrimination and anti-harassment coverage doesn’t particularly spell out punishment for racially-motivated violence, district officers informed me. To discourage different acts of unprovoked violence like this from ever occurring once more, perhaps it ought to.
All college students deserve safety from racial harassment or bullying on faculty grounds.
The boy’s punishment for utilizing a racial slur and beginning a bodily altercation with the lady was unknown. Citing scholar privateness, district officers have been unable to touch upon self-discipline handed all the way down to particular person college students.
In what setting is it ever OK for a younger man to make use of the n-word — twice, no much less — after which shove a lady and deck her within the face? I’d say none. Shawnee Mission East officers might beg to vary.
For Linyka and Shaun’s daughter, a sophomore at Shawnee Mission East in Prairie Village, standing as much as hate resulted in a five-day suspension.
And that’s disappointing. Faculty leaders should shield all kids beneath their care. On this case, constructing leaders failed to supply a self and welcoming studying setting for every scholar to thrive.
And the Shawnee Mission Faculty Board of Training should tackle the unjust nature of the lady’s suspension, which may have a possible affect on her post-secondary plans.
Such a penalty doesn’t make logical sense. Why penalize a feminine scholar who defended herself towards a male scholar a lot larger and stronger than her?
College students: Racial slurs frequent, not punished
Earlier this week, minority students at Shawnee Mission East led a walkout to convey consideration to points with racism on the faculty. On Nov. 18, I met with a bunch of those self same college students at a Prairie Village espresso store.
White college students lob racial epithets at Black and Hispanic college students with impunity, I used to be informed. Faculty management is conscious of the scholars’ considerations of a hostile and discriminatory studying setting, they stated.
Nonetheless, nothing has been accomplished, in response to the group. They need stronger insurance policies and harsher penalties for hate speech.
Inaction from constructing leaders led to the altercation between the white male scholar and the lady, they stated. They used their voice to convey consideration to racism at Shawnee Mission East. Their suspended classmate was appreciative of the assist, the lady informed me.
“I’m pleased with myself and different college students for doing the suitable factor,” she stated.
Linyka and Shaun’s daughter stated she doesn’t remorse confronting racist habits on the faculty. Within the struggle with the boy, she acted in self-defense, she informed me. It’s exhausting to argue that she didn’t.
“I believe I did the suitable factor,” she stated. “I wouldn’t change a factor about what I did. He put his palms on me first. It wasn’t proper. They suspended me for no purpose.”
Shawnee Mission East leaders should do extra to guard all college students. No scholar needs to be punished for standing as much as racism.
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