13-Year-Old Hangs Herself After Bullying At School

Rachel Ehmke, a 13-year-old seventh grader in Mantorville, Minn., died April 29 after hanging herself at her home. The months leading up to the tragedy were a whirlwind of peer abuse instances, her parents say.

Now following Rachel's Friday funeral that was met with widespread community condolences, Rick and Mary Ehmke are speaking out against the bullying they say their daughter endured at Kasson/Mantorville Middle School and online.

Rachel's family and friends say the teen fell victim to school bullying last fall when her chewing gum was stuck to her textbooks and the word "slut" was scrawled across her gym locker, the Austin Daily Herald reports. And while she was outgoing, athletic and friendly, the same group of girls reportedly threatened Rachel and kept calling her a "prostitute," though she had never kissed a boy, according to KMSP.

Two days before Rachel's death, an anonymous text was sent to other students at the school, KARE reports.

"It was pretty explicit. Something to the effect of that Rachel was a slut and to get her to leave the Kasson-Mantorville School, forward this to everyone you know," parent Chris Flannery told the station.

But after the text was reported to authorities, it was traced to someone who wasn't a student at the school, according to Minnesota Public Radio. The district's bullying policy prohibits threats both in person and online, and promises investigations within 24 hours of any reported bullying.

Rachel reportedly pleaded with her father not to mention the bullying to school officials, for fear of worsening the situation. A note that her parents found after her death read, "I'm fine = I wish I could tell you how I really feel," alongside a picture of a broken heart, according to KMSP.

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Boy With Autism, Mic-Up To Catch A Teacher Verbal And Emotional Abuse.

When Stuart Chaifetz sent his 10-year-old son to New Jersey's Horace Mann Elementary School wearing a hidden audio recorder, he couldn't have predicted what he would uncover.

The move came in reaction to accusations from the school that his son Akian was having "violent outbursts," including hitting his teacher and teacher's aide -- claims that Chaifetz claims are against his son's "sweet and non-violent" nature.

Akian, who has Autism, returned with a tape containing hours of apparent verbal and emotional abuse from his classroom aide and teacher -- whom Chaifetz identifies as "Jodi" and "Kelly" -- a recording which his father later published on YouTube.

The Feb. 17 recording started with Akian's aide and the teacher, whom Collingswood Patch provides evidence may be Jodi Sgouros and Kelly Altenburg, respectively, based on a previously published online staff directory.
The two engage in inappropriate conversations, like joking about their alcohol abuse and sex lives in front of their students -- all of whom have behavioral conditions and, according to Chaifetz, communication difficulties that prevent them from relaying the conversations to their parents.

"You would never get away with talking about your alcohol abuse the night before if this was a mainstream class," Chaifetz says in the YouTube video. "And that's the point, isn't it? They knew none of those boys could go home and tell their parents that the person who ran that class was under the influence of alcohol and was throwing up."

As the tape continues, the teacher and teacher's aide's behavior turns from inappropriate to cruel.




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Indiana Law Will Watch Your children 24/7.

A bill that would allow schools to punish students for off-campus activities -- even while at the mall on weekends -- reached Indiana's state Senate Committee on Education and Career Development Wednesday. The bill passed the state House Jan. 30.

House Bill 1169, the Restoring School Discipline Act, would permit schools to suspend or expel students for engaging in activities away from school and after hours that "may reasonably be considered to be an interference with school purposes or an educational function."

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Boy Stabbed Over His Race

When one student stabbed 12-year-old Ryan Rodriguez in the back with a pencil and walked away, Ryan didn't have to ask for a reason why. He already knew: his race, the Connecticut Post reports. The boy's mother, Gail Rodriguez, told the paper that her son, who is half white and half Puerto Rican, was often bullied for not being "black enough," and that other students teased him, calling him things like "stupid white cracker."


The bullying at the Engineering and Science University Magnet School in New Haven, Conn., was more than physical assault. The Post reports that students would also steal Ryan's belongings and break his binders.

When his mother complained, however, teachers allegedly said they would have to catch the students in the act in order to take punitive action.

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School District Failed To Protect Child From Bullying.

SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah couple has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the North Sanpete School District, claiming its failure to protect their son from years of bullying, hazing and false sex assault allegations led to his suicide.

The federal court lawsuit filed Jan. 17 on behalf of Bradd and Edna Hancock seeks unspecified financial damages.

Court papers say the Hancock's son, identified as J.H., committed suicide Jan. 21, 2010

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Other Children gets Bullied, Its another case of Bad Parenting.

Troubling footage has surfaced of an autistic student being brutally beaten to the ground at his Maryland school bus stop while his peers stood by to watch -- and catch the act on camera.

In the video, acquired by WMAR-TV, an unidentified student strikes 11-year-old Kaleb Kula in the head as other students cheer on.

"Yo, beat the sh-- out of him!" one student yells. The video was later uploaded to Facebook.
Kula has been a victim of bullying for years at Elkton Middle School, WMAR-TV reports, being verbally and physically abused by his peers. He tells the station that he just has "a bad reputation."

"At least kids that don't have special needs can defend themselves a little bit more," Kaleb's father James Kula said. "He's pretty much defenseless."





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