Wednesday, May 20, 2009

No Evidence That Jaheem Herrera was Targeted for Bullying


This is so ridiculous to hear! I can't believe this crap!

You may remember my post on Jaheem Herrera, the young boy who killed himself because of bullying at his school. Well today, an internal DeKalb school district reviewed this incident and found no evidence that Jaheem was targeted for bullying.

His mother, Masika Bermudez, broke down crying 13 minutes into the press conference. Bermudez has insisted her son killed himself after being constantly bullied at Dunaire and that she had complained to school officials several times.

“My conclusion is there is no evidence of bullying at Dunaire,” said Moore, whom the school district brought in to oversee an internal review. “There is name-calling and teasing, but it is almost always done outside of any adult [being present]. There is a code of silence among the students.”

More than a dozen people showed up to hear the findings at the school district’s headquarters on North Decatur Road near Clarkston, and reaction was swift and harsh.

One man was forcibly removed from the building after he started shouting, “Shame!”

DeKalb County school police reported two arrests: former Atlanta City Councilman Derrick Boazman, and Abdullah Jihad, whose relationship to the family was not clear. The charges were not immediately disclosed.

A friend of Jaheem’s family, Monique McMiller, said four of her children attend Dunaire, including her son, whom she said was bullied in March 2008. McMiller said the principal was unresponsive and that the same kids then are causing problems now. McMiller said she was interviewed by Moore for the judge’s report, as was her son, who McMiller said broke down in tears during the session.

The judge’s conclusion “makes her [Moore] a liar,” McMiller said. “To come to a conclusion there’s no bullying, to drag that family underneath like that, is embarrassing.”

The day after Jaheem died, his mother wrote a note to his teacher, complaining about the constant bullying. Despite the note’s April 17 date, Bermudez insists her complaints started much earlier.

Jaheem’s teachers said they did not see or hear bullying or harassment directed at the child and that he appeared well-liked by classmates.


This is a mess! I can't believe that there was no evidence, nothing to support this tragic loss. I hope someone speaks up! This case can not go down like this.

Source

1 comment:

Unknown said...

so the young man took his life because?

The Stuff

My photo
Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.