My question involves education law in the State of: PA
Last month my son came home with a bloody mouth. The school had called two minutes before he arrived and let me know he was injured at school and that they didn't have time to investigate because the buses had to leave. (it was a friday afternoon)
My son told me that boys at school were harrassing him and threatening to beat him up and that they approached him and were threatening him and challenging him and saying "we can beat you up" and "take a swing at me" (that sort of thing over and over) My son took a swing and the boys grabbed him in a headlock and took him to the ground. Then they hit him repeatedly and another boy leaned over him and threatened to stab him with a pencil. The bus arrived and they let him up. When he got on the bus and sat in his assigned seat, the main offender came and sat next to him and punched him in the face. He then pushed him off his seat and started swinging his backpack at him to get him away.
He was sent home bloody without being checked by a nurse and without the school doing anything!
I ended up going to police to make sure the school would do something since they had sent my son home on the bus with the offenders and he would have to ride back with them as well. The police officer explained that they do not get involved in these matters and then called the school.
The school told him that they were reviewing the videos and MY SON was the one harrassing the other child and that he started everything! So, the police officer comes out and lays into my son and told him "you are a liar, you are the instigator, and you are the aggressor!" He said this was all my son's fault and that because of him we would have to go to court and I would have to pay a fine and everything. He really let my son have it!
On the way to school, my son just cried and cried about him being harrassed being his fault.
We went to the school and waited hours and the officer repeated everything about it all being my son's fault but that he hadn't yet seen the videos.
The principal then called me when I got home and told me again that this was all because of my son and he was the harrasser. She sympathized with the other kid and said he beat my son up because he was so frustrated with my son. She said there were no videos because they had mislabled them and couldn't find them. (confused yet?)
So, on Sunday, I get called into the police station to view the non-existent videos and guess what? You see 3 boys repeatedly approaching my son who is clearly seen minding his business. You see them come at him and surround him and then you see my son swinging and kicking to get them away and then the beating occurs.
The police officer says this is 50% my son's fault because he swung first. It didn't matter if they were threatening him repeatedly and threatening to be him up. It didn't matter that my son was surrounded by 3 bigger boys challenging him. He was scared out of his mind!
So, here's the kicker. We were given a choice by the police officer that either our son get's charged with assault or we have to agree to a youth community panel where he will get community service only after admitting to what he did wrong. We had to choose the community panel.
But am I wrong to think that my boy had the right to protect himself when he was being told that they were going to beat him up and had him surrounded? Did I make the right choice because I couldn't imagine a court actually charging my son after seeing this video which clearly shows all the facts.
I know this was lengthy but I am heartbroken at the fact that my son is being taught again that it is all his fault and they want him to go up in front of community members and tell them that he was at least half at fault!

