How to Stop a Bully: Tips on Reporting a School Bully

Being bullied in school is one of the most demoralizing experiences your child can face.  Bullying can include any number of behaviors, but is most commonly exhibited through teasing or excluding, name-calling, threatening or hazing, stealing or demanding money, or sexually harassing another student.

As a parent, we want to protect our children from all harms, especially from ones as severe as bullying.  School bullying can lead to injuries, including low-self esteem.  The two main reasons children are bullied is for their appearance or social status.  Bullies pick on people who do not conform to “the norm,” maybe because of how they act, look, or their sexual orientation.  This causes the victimized child to feel bad about him or herself.  Sadly, many children believe that the reason they are bullied means that something’s wrong with them.  Some children become increasingly withdrawn and some even attempt suicide.

So, what can you do when your child is being bullied?

Ignoring the bully is bad advice.  A bully feeds off of reactions.  If the victimized child reacts adversely to the bullying, the bully will see this as a “victory” and continue the behavior.  If the victimized child doesn’t react at all, the bully will treat this as an invitation to continue the aggressive behavior.

Here is better advice.  First, report the behavior to teachers and the school principal immediately.  Make sure to document times, witnesses, and places where your child was bullied.  You will want to report the instance(s) both verbally as well as send a written report (for your personal records) to the teacher and the principal.  If your child has suffered any physical injuries from the bullying, take pictures as evidence and shortly after you notice the injury, have your child write a detailed description of how he or she got it to insure accuracy.

School bullying is against the law in California.  After the notorious shooting at Columbine High School in 1999, which was believed to have been the result of schoolyard bullying, forty-four states expressly banned it.  So, if your child’s teacher and principal do not take action against the bully within a reasonable time, report the bullying to the school district superintendent in writing.  In your letter, outline all instances of bullying and include any other documentation (such as photos) to help prove the bullying exists.  If the school district fails to act, they can be liable for your child’s injury as a result of the school bullying.

Of course, if your child has been physically assaulted, call the police right away.  Depending on the severity of the physical assault, the bully may end up in juvenile detention for inflicting harm on your child.  The police also have the power to mitigate the chances that this will happen again by administering a restraining order against the bully so he or she must keep a safe distance away from your child.

If your child has been physically or sexually assaulted by a bully, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at York Law Firm.  We will help you obtain justice and protect your child against future instances of bullying.

York Law Corporation
Sacramento, California
www.yorklawcorp.com
Call today: (800) 939-1832
Local: (916) 643-2200

Brain Injuries from Car Crashes

The brain is involved in everything we think, everything we do, and everything we feel.  It acts as an information highway, delivering messages from the brain to different parts of your body.  When someone experiences a brain injury, however, the brain functions are disrupted.  What someone used to be able to perform with ease may now be more difficult or even impossible to carry out.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is sudden physical damage to the brain.  In TBIs, some force causes the brain to collide with the skull.  A coup or contracoup injury is a common injury among motor vehicle accident patients, and they are both considered TBIs.  A coup injury occurs when there is a sudden, violent stop that causes the brain to hit the side of the skull.  Countracoup injuries also occurs when there’s an unexpected stop that causes the brain to hit off one side of the skull, and then bounce off the other side of the skull.  Brain damage occurs in both cases because the brain rubs against the inner ridges of the skull.

When two or more large, heavy metal objects strike each other, the risk of brain injury is always a concern.  The interior of a car has many hard surfaces that can be deadly if your head hits any of them.  Coup or contracoup injuries can result from an individual’s head striking the interior door frame or seatbelt anchor, dashboard, or any other hard object within the interior of the car.  Contracoup injuries may also result in brain contusions, where the trauma causes bleeding into the brain.  A contusion is a bruise to the brain tissue.

The attorneys at York Law Firm know how serious brain injuries resulting form motor vehicle accidents can be.  We also realize the financial, emotional, and physical toll it can take on the injured person and his or her loved ones.  This is why we are so passionate about protecting the rights of an injured party.  Contact York Law Firm to find out how we can protect your legal claim and help you obtain just compensation.

York Law Corporation
Sacramento, California
www.yorklawcorp.com
Call today: (800) 939-1832
Local: (916) 643-2200