Three Middle Schoolers Charged With Felony Assault Face Five Years In Juvie After Posting Bullying Video To YouTube

Well, I watched both videos. The one video said they were following up yesterday because none of the children were apologetic and there was a shocking comment made by one of the boys while leaving court. I couldn’t find that article or video. I would like to hear more before I go running off at the mouth about who was right and who was wrong. I was a victim of bullying when I was in school. Part of the reason I am still in therapy today 14 years after graduating. Just because they’re juveniles doesn’t mean what they did was any less wrong. Instigated or not. Until I see the cold hard facts that Jacob was bullying them first, which is unlikely, I am not going to say that their punishment is too steep. You have to think about what your actions. Do wrong and pay the price.

Ohhho Goodness. Felony? NO! These kids are very young. They should all have to sit in mediation like I did, when I acted like an asshole. The only thing that sets this apart from 10 years ago is that there was a video.
They do deserve to be punished but not like that.
This is bullshit.

I think when my son was 14 he wouldve kicked my ass if I had him wearing those shirts.

i know that i will get flamed so bad for this, but i would bet money that the only reason they are going this far is because the child is “autistic”. seriously, im not being mean but if this were a regular kid, we wouldnt hear about this at all.
that aside, bullies do suck..my middle schooler is bullied relentlessly, and the school wont do a damn thing, so he gave the little bastard a taste of his own medicine.

The problem is, we don’t PUNISH they repeat. Stop it now. Make an example out of them and they will grow up to be productive children. JMO

Kids can be so damn mean at this age in particular and bullying seems to be getting a lot of press at the moment because of some recent teen suicides. What else can be done to thwart kids from bullying each other? Threaten to tell their parents? Tell their parents? Threaten the kid?

I personally like taking the bully aside and letting them know in no uncertain terms, that if their behavior persists, I will sneak into their house in the middle of the night and kill their family and it will be all their fault – This is said in a low, quiet but certain voice – Make sure you smile the entire time you say it and it helps to have an axe in visual proximity (but not in your possession) – It seems to work for me and none of my kids have been bullied ever since =) Perhaps the fact that I was wearing clown make-up at the time helped a bit too – but the timing of that was really mere coincidence and unintended .

i think that they should make a HUGE deal on those lil S@*ts. to harrass any child is wrong and they need punishments. to make them realize that their actions are wrong & we should not accept them in anyway. will actually make people think twice about bullying somebody if they actually have to pay for it. so i think the max punishment is exactly what they need, and for their parents better parenting skills. who cares what the mom dresses him in, not everyone has the same taste or maybe the kid likes it, who are you to judge??? im sure you have always just dressed so perfect and been so perfect, haha! those kids & parents need to learn whats wrong is wrong & yes you will have to pay dumba@@!

The fact that the little turd baits filmed it to be put on you tube is chilling and does say a lot about both their character and the world we live in today. They need to be punished and to be punished harshly. I think a summer of community service in an appropriate setting might straighten them up. Maybe they should have to clean toilets at a facility for the developmentally disabled. Perhaps an anger management class in tandem, and a good old scared straight tour of a prison would do the trick. I’m not sure if they should go to juvie either, but I do know that they need more then a slap on the wrist. They need to be made an example of for the next up and coming you tube “star.”

Unless the kid has a tyroid problem in which they can eat & excerise regularly & still look obese…

Fuck ‘m. Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. Where I went to school you would catch an ass whooping from your peers if you got caught picking on the special kids.

Not all records can be expunged. It depends on the laws in that state. The degree of the unavailability also varies. For example, maybe an employer doing a background check won’t be able to see the conviction, but if one of the kids wants to join the Air Force, the military will be able to see the conviction and he’ll be denied.

Unless the victim sustained significant injury, I feel felony assault is too dramatic a charge and is indicative of the stigma developing around bullying. Bullying is terrible, but the solution is not to overreact to it. Then you’re just ruining the lives of more children.

I understand that the charges are a bit harsh, but I don’t have a tolerance for bullying, especially not against an autistic child. I’m more concerned for the victim than those other three kids, so I’m just glad charges are being filed.

ok, I have a teenage autistic son, who is autistic to the point he can not communicate and is basically in his own world, I worry constantly that he will be bullied, and he won’t be able to tell me about it… he has a shadow (adult) that goes around with him all day and there is only three children in his special needs class this year which gives me some comfort and is the reason I haven’t quit my job and tried some homeschooling… BUT it is scary, if you don’t make an example you are going to give the green light for kids to do stupid shit like beat up the homeless that we are seeing more and more of…. my son can not tell me if someone bullys him so yes if a video like this ever came to light about him being bullied, i would pray to God there would be REAL punishment for attacking someone in such a vulnerable state of mind.
OK, now I am going to have to go to school tomorrow with my kindergartners tomorrow and scope out the playground for any bullys to see if there is anyone who needs the “hand that rocks the cradle” playground treatment………………..ugh! I also have a very normal 14 year old and 18 year old step son and would not tolerate my teenage sons being bullys either… there would be serious punishment at home as well for this type of behavior.

Studies show that bullying has more to do with social aptitude than anything. Researchers found that bullies targeted kids who were socially awkward and had difficulty picking up on and interpreting social cues like body language. That’s why autistic kids are prime targets. By definition, they have difficulty with social cues.

This is also why smart kids are targeted. Smart kids often have parents who neglect to socialize their children sufficiently, instead making them focus on their studies. As a result, they lack social skills, and it makes them a target.

In light of this information, we might actually see bullying increase as more and more parents over-protect their children. Kids need unsupervised play with other children to learn social skills, just like young animals in the wild spar with each other to learn the fighting skills they’ll need when they get older. You don’t see a mommy lion standing over her cubs, pulling them apart when they start roughhousing because one of them might get hurt. Similarly, parents are stunting their children and setting them up for disaster by not letting them outside unless a parent is present.

…but I digress.

Studies show that bullying has more to do with social aptitude than anything. Researchers found that bullies targeted kids who were socially awkward and had difficulty picking up on and interpreting social cues like body language. That’s why autistic kids are prime targets. By definition, they have difficulty with social cues.

This is also why smart kids are targeted. Smart kids often have parents who neglect to socialize their children sufficiently, instead making them focus on their studies. As a result, they lack social skills, and it makes them a target.

In light of this information, we might actually see bullying increase as more and more parents over-protect their children. Kids need unsupervised play with other children to learn social skills, just like young animals in the wild spar with each other to learn the fighting skills they’ll need when they get older. You don’t see a mommy lion standing over her cubs, pulling them apart when they start roughhousing because one of them might get hurt. Similarly, parents are stunting their children and setting them up for disaster by not letting them outside unless a parent is present.

…but I digress.

Agreed. That Zelda shirt is awesome!

He was kicked in the friggin stomach and it could have preforated [sp]. That is enough for me. Hell, the kid shouldn’t have to be clinging to life by a thread before we take this seriously.

His mom and the police chief were on HLN just now but I didn’t get to see much of it. Seems the school board, principle and LE are making sure this kid will be safe at school.

Those are great points Atthena, but do you really think there’s any bullying going on at that school right now? I seriously doubt it. I think murder rates are probably not a direct parallel to bullying rates as most bullies are still afraid of being sent to prison. And also, people sit in death row for years and years and years… Maybe the death penalty itself could be seen as a release to spending the rest of your life in a cell thinking about stuff…
I’m sure you’re right if we did have YouTube 50 years ago, we would have seen the same stuff, but I think the technology and kids knowing that other kids could possibly be seeing their acts and “like” it or “favorite” it or something could potentially egg them on more and magnify the intensity of the act. Just like a kid on a bike will try a stupider stunt if he’s on tape than if it’s just him and his friend at the creek.
Sure, it may ruin these kids lives, but how many kids lives have they already ruined by bullying? And how many more were they going to ruin? And how many kids are going to think twice before doing this kind of stuff? It may not be as many as hoped, but I think we can safely say more than three people will learn from this incident.

dangit.. I just read the first sentence of my post. That sounds so dumb. I’m sure there’s LESS bullying, not zero…

Good for you ha! Had me scared for a minute

One parent to another (I can say that, now!), Bob, there’s a concept called comparative liability. It means that two parties can contribute to the same incident. Maybe blame is 50%-50%. Maybe it’s 80%-20%. Either way, both parties share some percentage of responsibility.

I’ll use a really simple, crude analogy to illustrate the concept. Let’s say a woman walks into the room wearing a provokatively low-cut top. If you steal a glance, whose fault is that, yours or hers? I would argue that the two of you share responsibility. That woman wore that top intending to illicit a response (or at least aware of the kind of response it would get), and you fell for it. So, while it’s primarily your responsibility for looking, she contributed to your motivation by wearing the top.

You assert that the bully’s parents might be liable for their kid’s behavior. Yeah, I buy that. Maybe mom and dad are assholes and that’s all the kid knows. Mom and dad should feel some responsibility for that, right?

Similarly, if you name your son Diane, he’s probably going to get made fun of. Why shouldn’t you feel some responsibility for that? It works the same way if you raise your child to be socially awkward, and I don’t care what your motivation is. If you overprotect your child even though you know it might stunt his social aptitute because you want him to be “safe”, that’s the gamble YOU took. So if kids target him because he doesn’t know how to act, you should feel some responsibility for that.

Now, of course this doesn’t apply to all bullied kids. An autistic kid is GOING to be socially awkward, no matter what his parents do. Obviously, that’s not their fault. But now that we know that bullies target socially awkward kids, it’s only prudent for parents to focus a bit on making sure their kids are properly socialized… and that means letting them run around with other kids – WITHOUT a parent hanging over their shoulder the entire time.

The paranoia is YOURS and, as Morbid pointed out, it’s largely unfounded. Don’t punish your kids because you’re still afraid of the boogeyman.

Autisic children do not understand the world around them. My son is just a year older overweight like the victom and likes chracter t-shirts because its familar. If you don’t know autism look it up, you are on the internet. My son could easily be in the same situation, and although he is very strong and tollerant of pain he is lost in social situations positive or negitive, he would be lost as how to react. To comment on his weight? My son was thin he was put on powerful mood controlling meds so he doesn’t slam his teachers and other students. The meds caused his weight to go up fast so don’t blame him without knowing.

REALLY??? First of all you didnt see the entire video! I DID!!! You saw a small portion and it was premeditated and malicious! The same boy that kicked Jacob in the video has bullied my son since kindergarten! He has an issue with bullying kids that are smaller than him or dont have the mental capacity he does!

You are a moron!!! Jacob has been to MANY doctors and is DIAGNOSED autistic. He was born not breathing and had to be taken to a larger,more equipped hospital by helicopter! I guess you will ask how I know. Because I know him,moron!!! These little bullies deserve EVERYTHING they get!!!

Congrats Athena on being a new Mom! Anyways, yeah I see what you mean there. I hope I don’t do that to my kids…

Agreed, some people really can be clueless. Unfortunately this sort of bullies don’t grow out of this stuff in Jr. High.

You’re a reasonable guy, Bob. And, thanks!

Sorry, but the students need to be punished. Thoroughly. This was more than just bullying. This became PUBLIC RIDICULE. If this was done to a person because of a religious group, people would be talking about it being a hate crime. Even if it makes these two kids bitter, it’ll send a strong message to all the other brats.

As to your first comment, just thought I’d say: comparitive liablity doesn’t exist in my state. . . I had reason to be glad about this when a woman ran a red light and we had a serious accident with totaled cars and some serious injuries to people in her vehicle. The fact is, I was going a bit over the speed limit. But she was more at fault than I was, even though if I hadn’t been speeding perhaps it wouldn’t have happened. She ran the red, and the liability was all hers as far as the court was concerned.

As to your first comment, just thought I’d say: comparitive liablity doesn’t exist in my state. . . I had reason to be glad about this when a woman ran a red light and we had a serious accident with totaled cars and some serious injuries to people in her vehicle. The fact is, I was going a bit over the speed limit. But she was more at fault than I was, even though if I hadn’t been speeding perhaps it wouldn’t have happened. She ran the red, and the liability was all hers as far as the court was concerned.

Okay, let me requote; I think when my son was 12 he wouldve kicked my ass if I had him wearing those shirts. Oh, and I do volunteer, I’m also a girl welder,and I have a daughter who’s become seriously disabled, and I’m raising her daughter.Oh, and I get child support of 8 dollars a month for the little one. I know how to shop, and I always had my kids looking fly. Its called thrift stores, discount stores, trading clothes w/ others (hopefully rich), and incredibly, a sewing machine! And if I feel that I want to get on this site and either laugh my ass off, or bust a tear,and write about it, well I am entitled to that more than anyone. And another thing that will piss you off, I’m way sexy. Have a nice day babycakes.

Michelle, people on here have senses of humor and tend to joke around at times. And, at other times, people speculate and question the details. But please realize that people ARE sympathetic toward this boy, and no one on here condones whatsoever the mistreatment he receieved.

My goodness, thank you again. You have clearly and articulately composed this issue and I agree with them whole heartedly. I just wish I could have done the same.

the big kid is autistic.autistic children can have problems with either hyper activity or inactivity caused by the autism.he looks like the inactive type.no it is not simply because he eats to much.i have a 2 yr old foster child that has many problems including autism and this was one of the things they look at to help make the diagnosis and the only reason i know this lol

that’s some bullshit there. the news is always full of this kind of thing and most of the time the kids aren’t autistic.they just had 1 on headline news yesterday that was posted to youtube with 2 girls fighting and the mother and grandmother egging it on

We live in an age where children are being arrested, tried, and even convicted as adults would be for similarly committed crimes.
While I don’t agree with many cases of children being tried as adults for crimes such as murder, being that they are too young to fully comprehend the finality of death and the societal anathema of their actions, I do think that bullying, in various forms, is something that most, if not all, children of schooling ages do understand.
Not necessarily to any type of in-depth psychological analyzing degree, but more so in an empathic fashion, as almost all children are bullied or ridiculed by peers (and sadly, some by adults also) at some point in their early school years, and realize/empathize from their own experiences how badly they felt when bullied.
This serves as a deterrence for many children, but there are some who cannot, for whatever reasons, achieve empathic or sympathetic emotions towards others, and some of these children would escalate to a “Lord of the Flies” mentality if they were permitted free reign to continue their egregious efforts to the fullest extent.

Now I don’t think that little Jimmy should receive any legal punishment for teasing little Susie on the playground, aside from perhaps detention from recess, nor do I feel that any child should be charged with simple assault for merely touching another child on the arm; however, when it evolves into aggravated assaults, IMO, it is time for legal intervention. I must also clarify that in most cases, sentencing one to juvenile detention facilities should always be the last resort of the juror, to be used on repeat offenders when all else has failed, and that many of these children would better be benefited by community service projects, behavioral management classes, followed by lengthy probative supervision.

That being said, it is also my opinion that there will always be some angry, mean, malignant and destructive little fuckers that will only realize the consequences of their own actions when the front desk rings for their wake-up call, saying their cell is ready for immediate long-term occupancy.

You got bullied in school 14 years ago, and it’s part of your problems now? I don’t mean to sound harsh, but you should try to get past it. I got bullied in school some. Now if anyone messes with me, I just kick their ass. Makes me feel a lot better, you should give it a try. Guess what, people don’t mess with me anymore.

: – (

Yeah, like a lifetime. I had a molestor neighbor myself. And got bullied a good bit as well. I can relate.

When I read your post, my immediate thought was: well, that all sounds familiar. Figuring out how to be stronger than your past–it does take time, and it’s not about “figuruing it out,” anyway. It’s not mechanical at all, but is instead a recursive process rather than a linear one.

Thanks, doll. You will remain in my prayers. <3

they were probably going to be bad for the rest of their life anyway. i believe people can change, just not what’s on the inside

Hey Beatlechick and Sugarglider1 I’m with you there. Every fucking day it was something new, My eyes were too blue, I had crappy clothes, didnt like my smile, was poor, foster kid, ate free lunch…dirty for being molested..ect ect.. my 2 faves: wouldnt share panties(!!!WTF?) and my appendix scar was actually for an abortion because of my dad. Whew! That and more resulted in a group fight every day. I realized I was dealing with stupid kids w/ stupid parents. I fought back as viciously I could muster and carried around “Poor Mans James Bond” ( I really miss that book!) would tell theV.P. to fuck off and other really crazy stuff. It worked. I was certifiable.Started to leave me alone. Later, as a grownup, I made sure that my kids would not go through that. Hang in there. You’ll get a warped sense of humor, have a better outlook on life, and it may take awhile. But honestly, if that shit did not happen to me, I dont know how I would be able to deal with the shit Ive been dealt with now. You will be ok.

I may have been a bit sarcastic. Anyways, I never said anything about that other stuff that happened to you. I’ve been through a lot of shit too. Things have gotten better for me over time. I have parents who went from being free loving hippies to fundamental Christians when I was growing up, I was molested once, it was more than being molested actually, but that had nothing to do with my family. I don’t like to talk about that, but I was 10 and will never forget. I’ve been in prison when I was young. Recently, my ex-wife was raped by a so called friend and his wife really rubbed the salt in the wound, so I have real anger problems with that. They pleabargained and he ended up with six months probation-misdemeaner sexual assault. What a joke! Anyways, I meant no insult. We all have our problems. Also, I never said you should get over it as you quoted me. Getting past something and getting over it is different.

LMAO…sorry I couldn’t help it that was too funny…I feel horrible now….

Threaten to sue the school, that’s how my mom got the school to do something about me being bullied when they weren’t doing anything about it.

Try having an autistic child who has no fear what so ever of almost ANYTHING! Especially strangers and would probably leave with anyone if the opportunity arrives. It’s hard not to keep yourself out of you child’s life especially with them having autism and being like this. I know not all children with autism are like this but I prefer not to take the risk. I would love my son to have friends he can play with outside of school and stuff to do but because of this risk I have to be with him until I feel it is safe for him to be out and about on his own. He is also six years old so this maybe the reason and six year olds shouldn’t be out running about without parental supervision to begin with.

It’s cool, honey. I had a bad day and then I saw that and was all like… WTF?! GGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRR I should just let some things slide. Sometimes I hate typing on the computer, because you lose the true emotions. Sorry, I was a beeyotch and I am sorry all that shit happened to you too. Life sucks for more people than just me and I should get off of my soapbox every once in awhile and lighten the fuck up. I ain’t mad atcha. <3

i will say this though….autism is WAY over diagnosed these days. maybe this kid is autistic, but seriously..everyone and their brother is on the “spectrum” these days. i think that a good 70-85 percent of these children have what i call “brat-itus”
i know my two oldest suffer from it, for sure.

Its also along the lines of the over diagnosis of ADD and ADHD. Most of that is an excuse for a kid being an asshole. And the meds they give these kids is way out of line. Especially the diagnosed “bipolar, manic depressed” 2-10 year olds.

exactly!! we need to realize that sometimes..kids are just shitheads and there really is no magic pill to shut them the hell up, unfortunately. also, and i know this because i know idiots who have done this, some people get their children diagnosed with autism because if you are low income , its an instant ticket to ssi for your child.

exactly!! we need to realize that sometimes..kids are just shitheads and there really is no magic pill to shut them the hell up, unfortunately. also, and i know this because i know idiots who have done this, some people get their children diagnosed with autism because if you are low income , its an instant ticket to ssi for your child.

Seems a lot of people on here allow their ability to have tact take a back seat to their awesome “humor”. It’s not like some of the jokes that get passed around here are exotic, original or incredibly funny, so why make them? What’s even worse is that you’ve got other’s making excuses for some of these idiots adding to the already growing issue. Get over his shirt, get over your expert diagnosis on whether he’s autistic or not. This child was attacked, and its a growing problem in our schools this day. Some of the same people pissing and moaning on here about the punishment being too severe are the same ones one here clamoring about the state’s, parent’s, teacher’s and anyone else under the sun’s failer when someone in the end winds up dead, either by their own hand or an assailant.

Seems a lot of people on here allow their ability to have tact take a back seat to their awesome “humor”. It’s not like some of the jokes that get passed around here are exotic, original or incredibly funny, so why make them? What’s even worse is that you’ve got other’s making excuses for some of these idiots adding to the already growing issue. Get over his shirt, get over your expert diagnosis on whether he’s autistic or not. This child was attacked, and its a growing problem in our schools this day. Some of the same people pissing and moaning on here about the punishment being too severe are the same ones one here clamoring about the state’s, parent’s, teacher’s and anyone else under the sun’s failer when someone in the end winds up dead, either by their own hand or an assailant.

Just another of the MANY reasons I opted for home-school…and I have to say this I like the nintendo shirts (maybe cuz I grew up playing those games) but figure a 12 year old would like them!

No shit? Really? I would have never guessed except for the fact that it was mentioned in the article, the video and throughout the comments. But thanks for informing us again. You’re a gem.

Where are the parents of the bullies? they need to get involved in some way.
I feel for Jacob Jones. I hope he gets some type of counseling.
I grew up being bullied myself. I was quiet and shy. a good target for bullies. but older I got. More angry I got. started to fight back. after awhile they stop. by the time in my teens. I didn’t get bullied like I did.
Glad the bullies did get punishment but hopefuly they get some type of therapy while they are lock up. They need too!

if you ever read the story about Cody Michael. That is a sad story. He was a young teen age boy that was beaten to death by two other teen age boys. They both were tried as juveniles. It was brought out in the trial the numerous problems and issues they had with prior violence of the same nature.

There are other victims of bullies. Parents need to step up and take responseability for there children and there actions. they need to be involved with there children lives. If they sit back and don’t teach there children anything. They end up being bullies or running with the wrong crowd.

Where are the parents of the bullies? they need to get involved in some way.
I feel for Jacob Jones. I hope he gets some type of counseling.
I grew up being bullied myself. I was quiet and shy. a good target for bullies. but older I got. More angry I got. started to fight back. after awhile they stop. by the time in my teens. I didn’t get bullied like I did.
Glad the bullies did get punishment but hopefuly they get some type of therapy while they are lock up. They need too!

if you ever read the story about Cody Michael. That is a sad story. He was a young teen age boy that was beaten to death by two other teen age boys. They both were tried as juveniles. It was brought out in the trial the numerous problems and issues they had with prior violence of the same nature.

There are other victims of bullies. Parents need to step up and take responseability for there children and there actions. they need to be involved with there children lives. If they sit back and don’t teach there children anything. They end up being bullies or running with the wrong crowd.

When mommy dresses him like a pussy, it makes him a target! Hey the world isn’t perfect. Get him some Jenny Craig and men’s clothes!