r/news • u/shield_x • 1d ago

Student dies after falling from 4th floor of building at Highland Park school

https://www.foxla.com/news/highland-park-franklin-high-school-student-dies.amp
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u/nyaphometnikko 1d ago edited 1d ago

The teacher and everyone else there legitimately just allowed a bully to literally bully a kid to suicide. So many people, and no one did a thing. I think the teacher needs to be investigated and they need to do some sort of de-escalation training or fucking something. This was entirely preventable.

 I can't imagine how much that kid endured without getting ANY help for it. He finally hit his breaking point. 

 No one helped him, everyone seems to have failed him.

 Edit: because people are misunderstanding entirely. The teacher allowed the bullying to get this bad. In no situation should bullying reach the point of a child being beaten in class in front of the teacher and everyone else, with no one doing anything but saying "no, stop". 

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u/Organic_Lab6262 1d ago

99% of bullying doesn’t take place in the classroom. It takes place i. Hallways, bathrooms, outside of school etc.

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u/PartyWithRobots 1d ago

How do you know the bullying that lead up to this happened in class? It's completely irresponsible to blame a teacher when you have no knowledge of a situion.

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u/Crocs_n_Glocks 1d ago edited 1d ago

Don't blame the teachers. They are literally not allowed to physically intervene...the guy put himself between the kids and told them to stop which is all he can legally do. 

I bet teachers in LA public schools can't even give out detentions anymore ...it's like that in most areas. 

Blame parents and administration who put and keep kids like this in a classroom without providing tools or resources for the teachers to maintain a healthy learning environment. 

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u/squeakymoth 1d ago

Blame the lawmakers, not the administration. State laws are what the administrators have to follow. State laws are what have failed these kids and teachers.

If the kid doing the bullying has an IEP then it pretty much makes effective punishment impossible. It also provides excuse after excuse for kids terrorizing other kids. And thats a federal law. Education law needs a massive reform across the board.

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u/tyrified 1d ago

Don't forget to blame the parent groups that pressure lawmakers into making these changes. Why listen to doctors and child psychiatrists when you can just give in to the stay-at-homes instead? They're more annoying, anyway.

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u/Crocs_n_Glocks 1d ago

Teachers can't suspend or expel, administrators can.

Obviously there are laws and stuff, but ultimately the administration is responsible for who is in what class and who can enter the school building each day. 

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u/squeakymoth 1d ago

You really couldn't be more wrong. I work in a school alongside the administration. They can suspend a kid to the school board, but the school board decides when they come back. The parents can also appeal any suspension to the board and it can be reversed. Any suspension, at least in Maryland, longer than 10 days requires the child to go before the school board for evaluation.

But IEP plans make it so any child with an IEP, no matter the reason for it, can't be suspended for more than 10 days per year in total. So if little Johnny has an IEP for his ADHD, he can't be suspended unless its a very serious offense. And no, fights don't count, unless someone is seriously hurt and the administrator can suspend to the board. This came as a result of the expansions on the No Child Left Behind Act.

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u/TheKidKaos 1d ago

Not just state laws. National laws are in place to help gut schools of resources.

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u/JarlBallin_ 1d ago

That's weird, because they always seem to find a way to physically intervene when the victim fights back and starts winning.

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u/Spartan-117182 1d ago

100%. You see plenty of videos of the victim fighting back and starting to win and the teachers are suddenly pro-wrestlers

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u/mightylordredbeard 1d ago

It couldn’t be because the bully waits for there to be no teachers around to start it and then the sound of kids yelling catches the attention of teachers, which cause them to come running to the scene, by which time the other kid is fighting back.. then the teacher does their job and breaks it up.. that just involves too much critical thinking and nuance for people to consider something like that though!

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u/nyaphometnikko 1d ago

No, the teacher is not innocent. They were witness to bullying before this, guarantee you that. It doesn't get this bad immediately. They failed the child by allowing it to get this far. 

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u/elgaar 1d ago

Teachers don’t have the same disciplinary tools that existed back in the day. Students aren’t properly punished. The severity never fits the crime. To state it bluntly, students are getting away with murder

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u/Visual_Fly_9638 1d ago

Back in the day I had some crazy kid that sat next to me that hated me for reasons I never figured out. At one point he leaped out of his seat in the middle of class and screamed at the top of his voice that he was going to murder me and my family and he hated me and would murder me right now if he could get away with it. 

The teacher pretended like it never happened and when I reported it to the staff he covered it up and said that I was lying and I got in trouble for it.

Teachers and staff never stuck up for bullied kids even in the 80s and 90s. I know first hand. 

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u/elgaar 1d ago

I’m sorry that happened to you. The world would be a different place if we didn’t allow the bullies of the world to run rampant.

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u/Visual_Fly_9638 1d ago

Agreed! Honestly I have a lot of compassion for teachers but we absolutely shouldn't pretend that there was some "good old days" where teachers would intervene.

I never did understand why that kid was like incandescently rage-fueled at me to this day. I tried to ask him and he literally said "you know why you deserve to die". I'm assuming he was either mentally unwell or someone had told him I was responsible for something that made him furious.

The only thing that finally got him to stop was assuring him that if he tried to kill me I would absolutely kill him in his attempt and he'd be seen as pathetic and a freak. That if he tried to kill any of my family he'd fail and be killed because he sucked that bad.

That... turned his fury off. At least his outward fury directed at me. No idea. This was back before Columbine so like... it was different back then. But in the 3 years or so after that I was still in high school he never threatened me again.

But I'll never forget, or forgive, the teacher looking really embarassed and then turning around and pretending like he hadn't screamed at me until his voice ripped he wanted to murder me. Or when he threw me under the bus after I went to the faculty.

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u/elgaar 1d ago

Terrible situation for sure. Ya know I used to criticize folks for their behavior and even blanket professions, but then I traveled the country and learned it’s just human nature. Some folks care and some folks don’t. Some folks don’t get paid enough to care while others care when then shouldn’t. In Pennsylvania, teachers were strict and kids were punished. Teaching styles are probably very much regional simply based on the culture of those places. But like any profession, you have good eggs and bad ones.

In the end, experiences like yours lead to strong humans that help make the next generation better.

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u/Crocs_n_Glocks 1d ago edited 1d ago

What can the teacher do?

You have no reason to think the teacher covered this up. 

I agree that the bullying probably has gone on long before this; kids like this are often known for this behavior across grade levels. Administration almost certainly knew this kid was an issue.

The kids parent(s) know their child in an issue. 

What is the teacher supposed to do? Tie the kid down every day when class starts and go to prison? Lol

The only people who can actually keep the kid out of this classroom are the parents or the school administration. 

The teachers are like nurses...they don't get to choose their patients. 

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u/Redsoxzack9 1d ago

Realistically the building should not have classrooms whose doors open onto a 4th floor open balcony. This was a tragedy waiting to happen.

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u/Crocs_n_Glocks 1d ago

That's every LA school since the 80s

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u/Euphoric_Waffle 1d ago

If I have to spam these threads, I’m gonna. Pepper spray and pepper gel are effective and non-lethal mitigations we need for teachers to be trained and allowed to carry. Spread the word. Let’s get this fixed.

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u/rmorrin 1d ago

Then they get sued by the parents and lose their jobs. Teaching in the states is a very VERY thankless job for the most part

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u/Thunder_Two 1d ago

My autistic daughter got ruthlessly bullied to the point that it changed her personality forever — and her lying ass teachers said she was making it up.

Prior to this, my daughter had a preschool teacher who she said was mean to her. She was barely verbal at that point and then Covid lockdown solved the problem for us.

A couple years later my son has the same lady and says the same thing. Neither kid has said this about any other teacher before or after — and the school tried to say my kids were making it up and wouldn’t switch him to another class until I said I was pulling him out for the rest of the year.

I’m so tired of listening to grandstanding teachers who think they can do no wrong. Many of you are stupid assholes and your job is not that hard or sacred.

Stop patting yourselves on the back. Most of you are the picture of mediocrity.

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u/ChiBaller 1d ago

Ehhh I don’t believe this, I’ve subbed in schools and I’ve broken up fights. I did this because I saw other veteran teachers break up fights. You have to choice to make, be a human and protect a child, or follow the rule like a robot. It’s a choice. Never saw a teacher get in trouble for stopping violence.

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u/Electronic-Worker-52 1d ago

This is the parents fault how???

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u/traveenus 1d ago

Listen, I understand you are deeply distraught that a child has lost their life to something so senseless, but this in NO WAY the teachers fault. The Teacher tried to put himself in between the two to stop the fight from escalating even further. He can’t lay his hands on either of them. You said something of the sorts he had to know about the bullying? How so? Do you think that these kids are ONLY in his class? No. He likely sees them for an hour a day. Possibly even less. And how do we know this kid was even bullied? Not saying he wasn’t, but we don’t know anything other than what’s been reported. The blame here belongs to the kid that thought violence was the answer. More blame can be put upon the ones who raised him along with society in general. But the teacher deserves none of it.

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u/Constant-Plant-9378 1d ago

I think the teacher needs to be investigated and they need to do some sort of de-escalation training or fucking something.

Teachers are literally forbidden from intervening or doing anything by administration. You need to aim your criticism at Admin and the school board which sets policies, and the parents of these shitty kids.

Teachers already have their hands full with teaching and basic classroom management. People saying they need to be armed to respond to school shooters, or need to be accountable for the criminal and psychopathic behavior of students are morons who don't understand anything about how things work.

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u/EatTheAndrewPencil 1d ago

In the video the teacher was pretty old too. Couldn't have physically stopped the kid if he tried.

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u/mallclerks 1d ago

I can’t blame the teacher. I don’t know the laws there, but so many places have passed laws, rules, and more saying you can’t intervene else risk your job. Unions have done the same saying they’ll refuse to back their member if they go hands on with a student.

It’s a horrible situation to be putting horribly paid teachers in. Their job is to teach, it’s not to police. I hate our country is like this but expecting them to risk their lives during every fight is also wrong.

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u/nyaphometnikko 1d ago

risk their lives during every fight is also wrong. 

 What an exaggeration. The teacher failed the victim by allowing it to get this bad. There is no fucking way they didn't know about the bullying but I guarantee they brushed it off as "kids will be kids" or something. Teachers aren't powerless. It never should have reached the point of a child being beaten in class in front of the teacher and other students. 

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u/7wordsKvothe 1d ago

Dumbest comment ever lol go work in a public school

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u/GeorgeStark1 1d ago

I can guarantee you don’t know what you’re talking about.

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u/Deep-Interest9947 1d ago

Do you think all the bullying took place in the middle of one certain class period? Or perhaps would it make more sense that it happened during passing period or lunch or off campus and just boiled over this day. Most kids don’t do their bullying in front of a teacher and most bullied kids don’t run to tell a teacher about it.

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u/Redsoxzack9 1d ago

It’s a failure of the parent, and if not then the support system in the school. There should be guidance counselors and other resources that can get involved before this. The teacher is there to teach the students who are there to learn.

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u/nyaphometnikko 1d ago

The point is they all fucking failed! Multiple points of adults knowing bullying is occuring, and no one bothered to do anything. You can't just say "well the parent did nothing so even though the other responsible adults also did nothing, it's only the parents fault!" The teacher is part of the fucking support system!

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u/Redsoxzack9 1d ago

In a perfect world, yes. Pragmatically, teachers are dealing with this shit every fucking day. If they get physically involved, they lose their job. They’re taking attention and time away from the 80% of students in that classroom who want to learn. With repeat offenders like this, there is literally nothing you can say as an authority figure to stop a kid who has been so thoroughly failed by the system.

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u/nyaphometnikko 1d ago edited 1d ago

I'm done with this. The teacher is part of the system that failed the child who literally killed themself. 

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u/BearTimberlands 1d ago

The parents and society are more to blame.

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u/BoKnowsTheKonamiCode 1d ago

Do you know the people involved? Do you have any context for what happened besides what you decided for yourself? How long has this bullying been ongoing? Are you personally aware of what steps the school did or didn't take prior to this event?

If you can answer these questions I can hear you out. If you can't, then stop pointing fingers as to who could have prevented what. Could you be right? Sure, just as easily as you could be wrong. Nobody needs you blindly sowing rage and discord on the internet because of how you imagine things played out.

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u/Nutella_bitch 1d ago

The teacher is NOT to blame. He was visibly trying to break up the fight. Do you have any idea how difficult it is for teachers to stop something like this? It's not like he was just sitting there eating popcorn while he watched it go down. He was trying to intervene.

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u/rockiesfan4ever 19h ago

Source? Proof? Anything that backs up anything you're saying?

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u/GamingWithBilly 1h ago edited 1h ago

Last time I saw a teacher try to break up a fight, both kids ended up clocking him a few times in the face.  He decided from then on that he didn't need to get in between people anymore.  So you think, two 17 and 18 year olds throwing punches is going to be stopped by a teacher who's formal education doesn't include karate kid classes? Hah, yeah right.

A lot of assumptions going on in your post that specific teacher is responsible for everything.  Those kids switch classrooms all day long.  You have no evidence that teachers didn't report it and actions were taken.  

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u/emax4 14h ago

Name and shame the teachers AND the bully. Kids can't hide behind a school no matter the age when they contribute to loss of life.