Response to the film Bullied Starting in seventh grade Jamie Nabozny was bullied almost daily. He was hit punched, kicked, and called names. He told the principle who said he would get help, but nothing changed. By the end of seventh grade Jamie tried to commit suicide by swallowing pills. Jamie returned to middle school for eighth grade and was cornered in the bathroom on the first day back. His mother immediately demanded a meeting with the bullies and their mothers to try to settle the bullying. The principle blamed Jamie for being openly gay and said boys will be boys.
None of the bullies were punished. Just weeks into high school and nothing had changed for Jamie. A bully peed on him. The school administration was largely ineffective. Some teachers tried to help; one teacher let Jamie eat lunch in her classroom. The bullying got so bad Jamie ran away to Minneapolis. Jamie ended up in a youth shelter. He tried homeschooling for a while but his parents could not afford to keep him on it and Jamie had to go back to school. While back at school a beating turned so bad that Jamie ended up in the hospital, had surgery, and stayed for five days.
Jamie ran away to Minneapolis again, at the youth shelter he met with a legal advocate who encouraged him to file charges. He also issued an ultimatum to his parents; either you let me go to school here or you will not see me until I turn 18. They let him finish his schooling in the cities. Jamie registered at Hastings high school and the counselor recommended Inver Hills Community College for PSEO classes. He was attending Inver Hills while the court case was going on. He sued his former school, but a trial court dismissed his lawsuit.
The Term Paper on School Bullying 2
Bullying is the use of force or coercion to abuse or intimidate others. The behavior can be habitual and involve an imbalance of social or physical power. It can include verbal harassment or threat, physical assault or coercion and may be directed repeatedly towards particular victims, perhaps on grounds of race, religion, gender, sexuality, or ability.[2][3] The victim of bullying is sometimes ...
Lambda Legal took over his case before a federal appeals court, which issued the first judicial opinion in the nation’s history finding that a public school could be held accountable for not stopping antigay abuse. The case went back to trial and a jury found the school officials liable for the harm they caused to Nabozny. The case then settled for $900,000. Jamie decided to fight to help prevent other students from going through what he went through. One of Jamie’s main bullies was Roy Grande, who testified truthfully at his trial.
Roy’s mother was diagnosed with cancer right before the trial. Roy’s mother was a witness for the defense, but because she was only given six months to live she made her son give a fully truthful testimony. Jamie said the physical pain is long gone but the verbal pain stays and continues to bother him. While attending Inver Hills Jamie sought a counselor and was diagnosed with PTSD from the bullying. This is very important to learn about Jamie’s case now because of the constitutional amendment for gay marriage on the ballot this year. The bullying in the schools will go up this year.
