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Sexual Harassment and Assault in Middle School
10/11/2010
IconHere's a scenario:  some scummy high school boy pulls down your 13-year-old daughter's sweatpants in front of other students at a middle school in New Jersey.  The combination of harassment and assault is reported to the school.  What happens?  The school superintendent asks you, the mother, what kind of underwear your daughter wears in order to determine what was revealed, as though the punishment should fit the size of her drawers instead of the crime itself. You attend a school seminar on bullying where the principal does not discuss this assault.  You've had it with the school not taking the case seriously, so you follow him into the hall and curse him out.  You then calm down, apologize and go home. What does the school choose to do?  Why, file a complaint against the mother for disorderly conduct!  Can you believe the gall of the guys who run this school and school district?  I guess "boys will be boys," and if they assault a girl, well, it's all in fun - but if the mother gets mad enough to read you out, well,  that's unacceptable. The name of the school is Hasbrouck Heights Middle School. The superintendent with the lascivious question about the girl's underwear is Joseph Luongo. The principal is Edward Bocar. This incident happened last year, but the judge who had the good sense to dismiss the charges a few weeks ago is Bergen County Judge Roy F. McGeady, the good guy in all of this. By the way, mom is moving forward with a lawsuit against the school. I believe the boy in question should be brought up on charges of sexual harassment and sexual assault. I think the superintendent's mother should smack her son silly. The principal who can't handle a genuinely and appropriately upset mother should be forced to take sensitivity classes.
Tags: Abuse, Child Neglect, Education, Middle school, Morals, Ethics, Values, Parenting, Sex, Social Issues, Values
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