Fosston Bullying Allegation Video Goes Viral

[Sioux-cia]

My grammar school reunion coming up this summer has brought back so many memories, good and bad. I was skinny, homely, and the tallest girl in the class. I also had very strict parents. All these years later I can remember the pain of being made the brunt of jokes by a couple of boys and feeling helpless to do anything about it. My parents, while they loved me, were of the 'buck up, don't be a baby' generation. So, I internalized my feelings. I admit the bullying affected me for many years in grammar school. I thought it was my fault. If I weren't skinny, homely and tall, the boys who made fun of me would be my friends. I overcame the taunts, jokes and slights from grammar school. I believe my parents could have been more sensitive but, on the other hand, they helped make me the strong woman I am. As an adult, I'm an over achiever, and the fiercest mama bear anyone can come up against. So all in all, I'm good.

I think the Fosston parents believe they were up against a brick wall. I don't fault them for their actions. Fosston is on alert and, right or wrong, the video will have a positive outcome.

[Sioux-cia]

I was never a kid who got teased a lot, but I got some ribbing from buddies/teammates, etc. When I was in grade school I would get into fights every so often with other youngsters who I didn't get along with. I guess it's about sticking up for yourself. I think this girl needed some motivation on how to stick up for herself, there is a reason why she is being bullied while other are not. Bullies suck, but there will always be bullies. Her parents will not always be around for her so someone must teach her how to live in this world. I am not trying to give any life lessons but it is apparent to me that this girl needs some help, not for her parents to post her crying all over the internet. Bullies feed off that stuff. The teasing may go away but she will always be "that girl" in Fosston. This just creates more attention.

A little girl bullied by boys two years older than she is...really?

[Redneksioux]

Supposedly it was addressed with the principal 5 times. I'd be curious how many times her parents actually addressed the bullying problems with the principal themselves. Bullying happens at almost every school and I've heard that to this day many times it's just brushed off but I think it's really sad the parents had to exploit their own kids online and on the news to deal with this.

[Siouxman]

Supposedly it was addressed with the principal 5 times. I'd be curious how many times her parents actually addressed the bullying problems with the principal themselves. Bullying happens at almost every school and I've heard that to this day many times it's just brushed off but I think it's really sad the parents had to exploit their own kids online and on the news to deal with this.

If the parents had taken it up with the school several times, then it isn't exploitation. It is using whatever tools are available to you to get something done. Public opinion is huge, and it appears they succeeded in getting some action. Supposedly the school district policy is the third bullying complaint against a student results in suspension but that did not occur in this case. That seems to indicate the parents have complained before. But again, that is their side of the story and the school has not provided any explanation except for the superintendent to say this is the first he had heard of it.

[The Sicatoka]

Recent regional headlines:

HEADLINE:

NDSCS student missing since May 1

HEADLINE:

Drug charges filed against NDSCS student missing since May 1

First headline is heart-wrenching.

Second headline fills in some (not all) of the blanks.

The truth is somewhere between what each side tells you. (The media tells you the side that sells the most advertising space for them, normally the emotional side.)

[Taz Boy]

I was never a kid who got teased a lot, but I got some ribbing from buddies/teammates, etc. When I was in grade school I would get into fights every so often with other youngsters who I didn't get along with. I guess it's about sticking up for yourself. I think this girl needed some motivation on how to stick up for herself, there is a reason why she is being bullied while other are not. Bullies suck, but there will always be bullies. Her parents will not always be around for her so someone must teach her how to live in this world. I am not trying to give any life lessons but it is apparent to me that this girl needs some help, not for her parents to post her crying all over the internet. Bullies feed off that stuff. The teasing may go away but she will always be "that girl" in Fosston. This just creates more attention.

It's hard for me to read this and not shake my head to the point of concussion. The little girl does not need help; she's fine. The bullying boy needs help.

taz

[Bison Dan]

Corporal punishment in this area went away in that late 80's. There was certainly bullying in school when I was growing up but kids are much more brazen now because many parents these days refuse to believe that their kids could ever do anything wrong. I do remember kids used to respect authority figures whether it be a teacher, administrator, lunch room attendant, or bus driver and knew that if they bullied or made fun of another kid there was a very good chance they were going to get smacked in the back of the head or yanked out of their seat by their collar or ear......now if that happened the little shits parents would sue. Plus where I grew up(Linton and Bismarck) I guess there must have been enough "good" kids to police this activity.

Quick story

Back in high school myself and a buddy(he was our heavyweight wrestler) were walking down the hall to the lunch room and 3 kids were harassing a kid who was in special education classes at our school and they had dumped his books and were mocking him. We walked up and confronted them and we each grabbed 1 kid and slammed them against the lockers and told the other kid to pick up his books. This happened right outside the teachers lounge and made enough noise when we slammed them against the lockers that a couple teachers came running out into the hall, assessed the situation and walked back in the room and closed the door behind them.

Now days those teachers would probably get fired or suspended.

Good story - now those teachers would have kicked you and your friend out of school.

[Oxbow6]

Good story - now those teachers would have kicked you and your friend out of school.

We used to have teachers and the principle that would slam the bullies up against the lockers..........................fair to say those days are gone.

[scpa0305]

It's hard for me to read this and not shake my head to the point of concussion. The little girl does not need help; she's fine. The bullying boy needs help.

taz

You're probably right. Because it's "he said she said" no one truly know exactly what happened besides the little girl and the bullies. My initial point was that the parents messed up by throwing their daughter on FB and it going viral. She will forever be "that girl". I feel bad for her.

[petey23]

Good story - now those teachers would have kicked you and your friend out of school.

Probably.

[mg2009]

I was bullied pretty viciously for several years (lets say 6th through 9th grade), standard stuff about how I should kill myself (yeah, I know many of you feel the same way about me), my family was terrible, my family should all die, how I was poor and had crappy clothes, I got in a few fights, and was on the receiving end of vandalism, theft etc. I never got any harassment for being a nerd because most of my tormentors were also very smart kids, so I actually got a weird respect in that angle. On a couple occasions even teachers went out of their way to humiliate me. In most ways it made me a better person, on the other hand I can't emotionally bond with anyone because I've learned by habit to keep *everything* to myself, because anything that was personal was a weapon to be used against me.

It's a tradeoff that I feel was worth it. Also 15 years later I still spend alot of time stewing on it.

We used to have teachers and the principle that would slam the bullies up against the lockers..........................fair to say those days are gone.

I saw at least two teachers deck a student while I was in 9th grade in Fargo. Neither got in trouble, circa 2001.

[iramurphy]

Couple of thoughts. There is no excuse for bullying and other kids, teachers, administrators, bus drivers should all try and help stop it. Other parents can also be pro active if they wish. This isn't the playground kids get in an argument and call others names it is the daily harassment that no one should have to tolerate especially. Some of you may not realize that laws in Minnesota restrict what the school administrators can do to the perpetrators if they are "special ed" . Those kids can't be expelled or disciplined the asme as the other kids. "Special Ed" designation includes a wide range of kids now including those with emotional or behavioral issues. Not knowing what the parents have done nor how the admin folks tried to respond makes it difficult for those of us on the outside looking in to judge.