Bullies Throw Deaf Student’s Backpack In A Toilet, Then Mom Pulls Him Out Of School

[KamaAina]

http://www.littlethings.com/alex-hernandez-bullies/

This is disturbing. Omaha, Nebraska student, Alex Hernandez has been deaf since he was one years old. Due to his cochlear implant and surgery scars, he’s been bullied his whole life. However, one traumatic incident at Burke High School has the whole community outraged.

Hernandez noticed his backpack with his tablet, homework, cochlear implant battery, money, and school supplies were taken. When teachers reviewed security footage they discovered two teen boys stealing it and dumping it into a toilet.

“Those students think it’s OK to bully a deaf student, but it’s not. It’s not OK to bully someone who is disabled, deaf or hard of hearing,” Hernandez said. “Or anyone for that matter.”...

Nevertheless, Hernandez and his mom have made a difficult decision. They decided it was best that Hernandez transfer to Ralston High School. The high school senior no longer feels safe. What he does know is that there are plenty of people out there who support him, they just don’t go to his current school.

[Warpy]

1. I see the school is "investigating."

The minute those two punks were identified on the tape, their asses should have been expelled. Instead, their target is transferring.

Being a bully seems to mean never having to take responsibility for anything.

[kevink077]

15. Administrators tolerate bullying

And even encourage it against students they don't like. High schools are just as- or even more dangerous than jails.

[Mariana]

20. they should be arrested and prosecuted.

They stole and destroyed his property, and the value of that property was substantial. Crimes don't magically become something else just because they take place in a school building.

[Blue_Tires]

41. Lemme guess.... Athletes?

[exboyfil]

2. Here is a follow up story

The bullies were "disciplined" by the school.

Why didn't the reporter ask if the video was turned over to law enforcement for prosecution? It should have been. This is theft of valuable property and should be prosecuted as such.

http://www.ketv.com/news/hearingimpaired-burke-student-bullied-students-create-gofundme-page/41526362#comments

[dhol82]

5. That was very valuable property

Those kids should have been prosecuted, fined, and sent to juvie.
How much does a cochlear implant battery cost? Bet it's a bundle.

[jmowreader]

10. I looked it up. They're cheap.

A cochlear implant is a kind of hearing aid. They use hearing aid batteries, which are about a buck apiece at a grocery store.

This is a case of "it's not the money that counts." Without a working cochlear implant this kid loses one of his five senses, so throwing the battery that runs it in the toilet is an extremely cruel thing to do.

[GobBluth]

18. I wear two cochlear implants and you are probably wrong

Most newer implants use rechargeable batteries. The HA batteries won't even last a day. Insurance, if you are lucky to have insurance to pay for extra parts, makes it very hard to replace it. I'm lucky to have the insurance I do, which paid for 4 batteries for each ear. I chose 3 rechargeable and 1 non for back up. Depending on the company and your insurance or lack of it, replacing those can be costly and very time consuming.

Now this will all depend on what exactly this student chooses to use.

[lapislzi]

22. Your understanding of cochlear implants is incorrect.

They are not "hearing aids" in the traditional sense of the term. A hearing aid amplifies the sound going into your ear and down the auditory nerve. Cochlear implants bypass the auditory nerve completely. They are implanted in your brain to receive sound as a substitute for the auditory nerve, which is severed during the implantation surgery. The receiver is fixed to the scalp via a magnet inside your head. After implantation, the user works with a therapist to reprogram the brain to "understand" the sound coming in.

However, you're correct that when the device is disconnected or otherwise not in use, the user is completely deaf. Total silence. Would not hear a fire alarm going off next to their own head. It's vital to keep the batteries fresh and charged at all times.

[LisaL]

40. He also had a tablet in his back pack.

[jmowreader]

42. We can definitely agree destroying the tablet pushes this into felony territory

ESPECIALLY if it was an iPad.

[world wide wally]

3. One of those bullies might run for President someday.

Will you be voting for him?

[KamaAina]

9. That someday is today, at Honeywell.

Old ad slogan. But this is an example of the Trump mentality in action.

[Calculating]

4. America Loves Bullies

Just look at the love affair with Trump. In America, getting bullied or doing the bullying is almost seen as a traditional rite of passage when growing up. Nobody seems interested in doing what's necessary to stop the behavior. Bullies should face harsh punishment. In reality, it usually seems like the victim either gets in trouble for fighting back or simply has to go to a different school.

[RandySF]

6. This is why we pulled our son out of the SFUSD

Our principal avoided doing anything about the kids making kindergarten miserable for him. We took it as a sign of things to come and fit him the fuck out of there.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. The principal may have been thinking "that will toughen him up". that's the attitude of some

to bullying. they quietly support it.

[RandySF]

13. I think they just give up.

Just as the delinquents in the OP got a few days vacation and returned to school, the kids in my son's school would get a few days off and return to do the same shit over and over, because it takes something extreme to really do anything substantial.

[ProfessorGAC]

24. I Don't See Anything Wrong With That

Geez, if he's old enough to be in kindergarten, then it's tough to buck up. No more acting like a little baby.

I'm kidding, of course.

[Jerry442]

26. Yes, when bullying is that bad, authority figures are likely complicit. NT

[uponit7771]

33. +1, they should also pay for the consequences

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. horrible

[Initech]

11. God, WTF is wrong with some people?

[Pakid]

17. It called bad parenting

and there is a whole lot of in America today and I get to deal with it. Call the parents and they could careless about what their kids have done wrong they just can't be bothered with it.

[Initech]

19. Also poor education.

Although I don't think any amount of education can stop assholes from being assholes.

[Bluzmann57]

30. I have a question for you

I have a seven (almost eight as she reminds me) year old daughter and she is a minority child. She is as American as any other kid but the fact remains that there are a few out there who don't like her because of her Asian nationality. I have advised her that the best way to deal with bullies is to go through channels, like telling authority figures.
I have also advised her that if that doesn't work and the bullying continues, just punch them in the stomach. My question is; would that be considered bad parenting? We do not condone violence but when something bad continues to happen, in particular because of one's ethnicity, we feel that extreme actions should be taken. I have talked to the school officials about this and to their credit, they are very vigilant about any sort of bullying for any reason.

[LWolf]

12. And, in other news,

my students and I not only survived the first day of school today, but thrived and had a good time.

I had one new student afraid that nobody would like him or want to be his friend. He was in a high state of anxiety. When lunch rolled around, I didn't have to say anything. This boy isolated himself at a table away from everyone else; several students looked up, saw him, and moved over to sit with him, engaging him in conversation and making sure lunch was inclusive, not exclusive.

School does not have to be about bullying.

Hopefully, since security footage is available, there will be meaningful consequences for the perpetrators.

[Bluzmann57]

31. Nice story

I believe that most kids are good kids, but over time, some of us idiot parents change them.

[LWolf]

44. Yes.

Most kids are good kids; they are still kids, of course. They need structure, they need love, and they need some guidance and modeling. Treat them like the great people that they are, though, and they tend to recognize that in themselves and grow into great adults.

[mountain grammy]

14. Hopefully the kids who did this will have some kind of consequences

that will teach them something.They need to be made to understand their impact on a disabled person. I hope the school makes a big deal out of this and moves to protect and promote understanding of their disabled and challenged students. Some kids are just ignorant and need teaching.

[MotorCityMan]

21. Same as it ever was, bullied for the unforgivable crime of being different

I caught a lot of crap in school because I didn't fit in with the popular cliques. I was smart, cared about my grades, gay (not out in '79 though, can't even comprehend being out in high school), a nerd, and a band fag (derogatory term given to band members that we wore proudly to throw it back in their faces).
Just because the poor kid is different by being deaf, the bullies are going to zero right in on him. His voice most likely makes him standout for as long as he has been deaf.
These stories break my heart. When I was going through it, you would get harassed, everyone heard about it, laughed at you for it, but it would be forgotten quickly. Now it is so much worse, with the cell phones, facebook, instagram, twitter, etc. Someone gets an embarrassing picture, and it will get blasted all over social media and will stick with you a long time.
I wish I had answers on what could and should be done to stop this, and it needs to stop. It's heart breaking how many young kids have killed themselves over bullying.
At the very least, in this situation, the two bullying shits should be forced to pay for the kid's property that was damaged.

[mountain grammy]

23. It is heartbreaking

I was also bullied as a kid, but lucky for me, after a miserable 6th and 7th grade, we moved to the city and I actually made friends. I was still "different" but there were a lot of us who were different. I think that move saved my life.
Yes, at the very least the bullies should pay for the kid's stuff, but there should also be some consequence that teaches them something about empathy and human kindness. I believe this is a mental health issue for both the bullies and the bullied and failure to address it has consequences of it's own.

[flying-skeleton]

16. Charge the two teens with criminal mischief

That'll teach them a lesson for life !!

[HughBeaumont]

25. Assault is a crime.

If you wouldn't put up with such a crime as an adult, what kind of person is someone who thinks this is perfectly A-OK for a child to be subject to?

[Renew Deal]

27. I'm not for criminalizing kids behavior at school, but this is an exception

It has too many bad components.

[etherealtruth]

34. agreed

[Mariana]

37. This is not criminalizing kids' behavior at school.

I'm not for pretending that crimes aren't really crimes just because they happened inside of a school building. Crimes should be treated as such no matter where they take place.

[Renew Deal]

38. Does that include you and your kids?

[Mariana]

39. Of course.

If my kid steals someone's backpack and destroys the contents at the park, or in a restaurant, or at the train station, or in a school building, the consequences should be the same. The location of the crime should not matter.

[Eleanors38]

28. ZeroTolerance™ = Bullies-in-charge. You GOT THAT?

[Divine Discontent]

29. Cue the Hillary ad about Trump bullying and kids watching

They've been taught by parents who approve of bullying more than likely

[HuckleB]

32. Ugh. This is despicable.

Great kid! He will go far!

[B2G]

35. That last sentence isn't fair

The other linked article states that several teachers pitched in to buy him new supplies. And several of his classmates started a GoFundMe campaign that tripled the targeted amount in just 3 days.

Good for them.

[lpbk2713]

36. It sounds like they have a good value system at that school.

With the possible exception of a couple of square pegs.

[yuiyoshida]

43. Future Republicans--whose parents will be voting

For Trump. We all know how Trump treated that one reporter, making fun of his disabilities. So if a Presidential Candidate can do it, the normal guy on the street can go kick a homeless person in the butt and tell him he's stupid and ugly. Its the New America if Trump wins.