A Mother And Son Stand Up to Bullying

[William769]

Zach Huston loves to run. Still, the track coaches at Unioto High School in Chillicothe, Ohio probably don't know that because he's too worried what his peers might do if he were to join the track team.

Huston, a freshman at the school, was the subject of a beating, caught on video that went viral online. He says that without the October 17 attack being filmed, faculty and administrators would have taken little action against his assailant. In fact, Huston says his classmates have taunted him since the third grade, with little done to stop or prevent it.

"In third grade, they didn't know what gay was yet, so they didn't call me that, but they mimicked my voice and called me other names," Huston told The Advocate. "That was up until fifth grade. That's when everyone started to know what gay was, so they called me gay slurs. Then freshman year, the physical stuff started."

The 14-year-old Huston said this year in high school, other students started daring each other to touch him, or shove him. For years his mother, Rebecca Collins, had urged teachers to stand up for her son. Now that many have witnessed the brutal beating and called for action, Collins said she isn't backing down from people who say she's only drumming up publicity for money or personal satisfaction.

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/11/25/A_Mother_And_Son_Stand_Up_To_Bullying/

[xchrom]

1. just so fucking sad.

it's not bullying when it goes on year after year -- it's torture.

[Initech]

2. I *SO* agree there! Bullying is a form of torture if nothing is done about it.

[Amimnoch]

3. Rec'd the thread, and I'd rec your reply on top of it if I could.

Torture of this poor young man is a very astute definition.

[Pacifist Patriot]

5. Absolutely!

[bluestateguy]

4. I hope the boy is also encouraged to use self-defense

as in a good ass kicking for any bully who lays a hand on him.

Sometimes that does a lot more good than a few hours of detention or a two day suspension from school.

[HockeyMom]

6. She is just a good mother defending her son

That is it. I would do the same for either of my daughters; the straight one or the lesbian one. It's a shame that nobody else seems to want to help him, or her, because of his sexual orientation. A bully is a bully no matter who they are bullying. School officials have a duty to deal with ALL bullies.