Violent bullying sparks outrage

Parents at Hogan Middle School in Vallejo are rightfully concerned for the safety of their children after recent incidents of violent bullying were caught on video and posted on the Internet.

Ladonna Williams was outraged after watching footage of her 11-year-old daughter being brutally beaten by another Hogan Middle School student. Other students watched and cheered the fight, which occurred on campus more than a month ago.

Williams’ sixth-grade daughter suffered bruises, a swollen eye, pulled-out hair and numerous scrapes – and she has yet to return to school. Williams told KTVU:

“It sickens me that my daughter could not go to school and feel safe while she is being educated.”

Victim Briana Kim says she was also beaten up and harassed by students at Hogan last year, and was nearly driven to suicide. She admitted:

“I couldn’t handle it no more. I just ended up shutting down and going to a mental hospital. I just wanted to kill myself.”

Kim is now being home schooled through a special program.

School administrator Alanna Shackelford said that the students responsible for the attack on Williams’ daughter have been suspended, and that Hogan has an anti-bullying positive intervention team. She said that she “…wouldn’t say Hogan has a problem with bullying.”

But Jaylene Schweizer, who started attending Hogan in January of this year, said that, on the second day of school, she was also violently attacked by other students. The attack on Schweizer was also caught on video. And because of the violence, she refuses to set foot on Hogan campus ever again, saying:

“They just want to fight somebody to prove they can beat somebody up. … I feel mad about it. It irritates me.”

Ladonna Williams is irritated as well. When she saw the video of her daughter being attacked popping up on social networking websites, she decided to post it to change.org, along with a petition that describes the attack in detail, exposes the bully, and calls for change.

Williams also has plans to meet with the district attorney to discuss pressing criminal charges against her daughter’s 14-year-old attacker.