High School Student Files Lawsuit due to Bullying

An Olympia, Washington high school student, Richard Crane has filed a civil rights complaint to the United States Department of Education after being severely abused on campus by his peers.

The sophomore has been bullied for years—physically, verbally and mentally. He has gone to the school officials many times with complaints; however, they are not doing enough to prevent this. Because of that, the bullies continue to torment him because they know that nothing will happen as a consequence.

The abuse has been so unbearable for the teenager that he has had to miss months of school. He is physically beaten by others and is sent threatening texts and tweets frequently, and has now developed a post-traumatic stress disorder.

He explains how one day it got so bad that he had a panic attack in the middle of the hallway and simply left right then. He did not return after that.

When Richard attempted to solve the problem himself against the bullies, he was dismissed from school.

His complaint to the Board has come about because his schools have never done anything to help him. He’s hoping that this will allow him to go back to school to continue his education and to prevent future occurrences like this for other students.

The principal, Matt Grant did not state anything regarding Richard’s case specifically; however, he did explain that the school always encourages students to report bullying so that he can stop it. Unless Richard is lying about the many times that he has gone to him for help, it seems that Grant is not being completely honest.

Bullying has hit headlines far too often recently. Teenagers are being abused at school as well as at home with social media and text messages. There are currently lawsuits pending that present bullies with murder and wrongful death charges because their harassment led others to commit suicide.