Unreported (to Police) Beating of a Middle School Student in Hernando, MS

[xocet]

Middle School Student Beaten Because of Her Name

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Natasha Chen and Mike Suriani
8:47 PM CDT, November 4, 2010

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FAST FACTS:
* 12-year-old girl at Hernando Middle School was attacked by fellow students.
* The attackers said the victim's name, Randi, was a 'boy name'.
* No charges were filed because police were not called.

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Twitter - natashanews3
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(Hernando, MS 11/4/10) - A 12-year-old girl was beaten by fellow students at Hernando Middle School on Wednesday, ostensibly because of her masculine-sounding name.

Randi Foster is a four-foot-nine student who doesn't go looking for trouble. But on Wednesday morning at school, she ran into plenty of it.

After a Fellowship of Christian Students meeting, four girls and a boy surrounded her.

"They started talking about me like I was a man, and like, stuff like that. That I shouldn't be in this world. And my name was a boy name," she said.

(www.wreg.com/news/wreg-student-bullied,0,2907693.story)

Hernando Middle School (www.desotocountyschools.org/hms) has a web presence as do the DeSoto County Schools (www.desotocountyschools.org), which also have a school news site (www.dcsnews.org). On both home pages, little seems to address bullying: however, there is a link on the Hernando Middle School site, so that one can report bullying (www.desotocountyschools.org/hms/form.php?fid=ac622600e361ce994cb23e60a6b84685). Supposedly, a report to this page will be forwarded to the local authorities:

Anonymous Safety Alert

Please Note:
THIS FORM IS FOR HERNANDO MIDDLE SCHOOL ONLY. The Anonymous Safety Alert is a tool for reporting sensitive information to school officials. This may include violence towards a student or teacher, drug use, sexual harassment, bullying, threats, weapons, emergency assistance, gang activity, or any inappropriate behavior. School officials and local enforcement agencies will be forwarded this information.

The Safety Alert may also be used to report misconduct or inappropriate behavior of a DeSoto County School District employee(s).

All information is anonymous. The information provided must be accurate to the best of your knowledge.

(http://www.desotocountyschools.org/hms/form.php?fid=ac622600e361ce994cb23e60a6b84685)

The administration at Hernando Middle School is to be found on this page (www.desotocountyschools.org/hms/page.php?pid=923). (Note that this page seems to have been removed from the public view.) However, the principal's name is Paul Chrestman (search for Paul Chrestman at http://issuu.com/mcpr/docs/fall09 or see page 51 (which is page 26 in the site's numbering scheme) next to "00s"): his email address is [e-mail] which is found http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yp8lXsEKmIYJ:education.olemiss.edu/xls/School_Contact_Information.xls+Paul+Chrestman+Hernando+MS+school+contact+information&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us">at this link in line 70.

[virgogal]

1. I know a woman named Randi. These kids are morons.

[Angry Dragon]

2. The name Randi Rhodes comes to mind

[mzteris]

4. no, they're "Christians". . . n/t

[Stargazer99]

3. i'm getting sick of the fundamentalist religion in this country

When "religion" inspires this type of behavior it is time to put a screeching halt to it. the name Randi and being taunted about being male has all the rotten earmarks of fundamentist religion. When does religion says it is ok to harm another? What an ugly, rotten excuse for religion.