ERMA – The mother of a 13-year-old who was attacked by another student at the Richard M. Teitelman Middle School, April 19, said the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office had set up mediation regarding the alleged assault.
Stephanie George contacted the Herald the day after the assault. She said her daughter had a problem with the other girl during the school day, and the girl went looking for her daughter that day, even asking her last-period teacher about her.
According to the mother, the teacher advised the daughter that he was worried about her but allowed her to leave the room. She said when her daughter was approaching the doors to leave the school, she was approached by the other girl who punched her twice with her fist, striking her in the face and head.
George said she is upset that some people are characterizing the incident as “bullying” when it was actually an assault.
George said she filed a complaint with law enforcement but was told the Prosecutor’s Office handles such cases. The Lower Township Police Department declined to provide a copy of the incident report, citing an exemption from the Open Public Records Act due to the persons involved being juveniles.
George reached out to the Herald again and said the Prosecutor’s Office was taking up the case and had scheduled a mediation appointment for May 19.
“I never called this bullying. This is a school assault. My daughter did not fight. This was an assault and I had to make everyone treat it as such,” George said. “What has happened to my daughter after this (attack) is bullying.”
In the video George supplied to the Herald, a student’s phone camera is running on “video” before her daughter arrives. The video then shows the attacking girl punching the woman’s daughter twice, and the daughter trying to get away and avoid being struck. After the two blows, the daughter’s friend intervenes and begins to fight with the attacker. The fight continues for five to seven seconds before the girls are separated by adults.
According to George, teachers are supposed to be posted at the doorway where students exit the building at the end of the day. Lower Cape May Regional School District Superintendent Joe Castellucci said teachers are posted in various areas, including at the doors.
Castellucci could not comment on a specific student’s situation but did say the district does not condone fighting. He said the action the school takes depends on various factors, such as the severity of the incident, who instigated it, and the disciplinary records of the students involved.
He said typically there is an out-of-school suspension, but it might go beyond that, again, depending on the circumstances.
Castellucci said “bullying” is becoming a catchphrase, but it doesn’t really apply to students fighting or being assaulted.
George said the girl who initiated the attack was given a 10-day suspension. She said she is disappointed about the punishment considering the attack was premeditated, as evidenced by the video.
“A 10-day suspension is nothing. It’s a vacation,” George said.
Regarding students getting into physical altercations, Castellucci said sometimes two students might have a conflict that gets out of control, especially when they had a friendship and it went awry.
George said the April 19 incident was preceded by what she called “teenage girl school drama” that did not need to turn into something physical. She said there are text messages on the day of the assault that tell what the assault is about. The assault, she said, is the subject of the mediation.
What George would like to happen now is to have some assurance that her daughter is going to be protected in the way she would like her to be protected.
She said she met with the principal and vice principal the day after the attack and cried to them, saying, “I don’t think my daughter is safe in this school.”
George said since the April 19 attack, her daughter, in addition to being bullied at Teitelman, was threatened by a youth who attends school in Middle Township.
When she attempted to report the threat to the Lower Township Police Department (LTPD), she said, she was told it would have to be reported to the Middle Township Police Department (MTPD).
She said the MTPD told her it was already an LTPD investigation, and any new reports should be forwarded to them.
Preventive Measures
Castellucci said, at the end of each school day, teachers are stationed at various locations in the school buildings, in most cases by the doors. Other teachers are assigned to the area where buses pick up students. The school resource officer is generally in front of the school, helping with traffic.
Castellucci said the Lower Cape May Regional (LCMR) School District had a school resource officer (SRO) before he arrived in 1996. He believes having the SRO in the schools is a very constructive thing to have, and this is the first school district he has worked in where there was an officer in both buildings. He said LCMR has been a model for other districts.
“They do so many constructive things,” Castellucci said of the SROs. “They develop a rapport and relationship with the students, they are specially trained, they are good not only for security.”
Castellucci said the school district is also proactive in trying to handle these types of problems, having programs for parents regarding bias crimes, social media, maintaining a Peer Leadership program, and meetings with advisors.
The schools also inform students and parents about the STOPit app, which is an app for anonymously reporting incidents, and the school can communicate back to the student.
“There are all sorts of ways kids and parents can communicate with us,” Castellucci said.
Getting the Message Out
George said she is also concerned about bullying and how children are using video and social media to harass other students. She said that since the attack, her daughter continues to be harassed, embarrassed, and bullied. She said students continue to share the video despite one person being punished.
Castellucci said there might or might not be a connection with state HIB (harassment, intimidation, bullying) regulations. HIB, Castellucci said, is a very complex law. It is used where a student, parent or teacher observes verbal, written or physical action, or through social media or electronic devices.
There is a process in place where the school can be alerted to HIB incidents, and it kicks off a timeline where the process must be completed.
HIB regulations are normally applied where “protected classes” of students are involved, like minorities, those with disabilities, and LGBTQ, for example.
“That would be an automatic determination, but those are not the only cases of bullying,” Castellucci said.
All HIB cases are reported to the board of education each month along with the outcome. Castellucci said the process could result in the offending student being made to apologize, attending a workshop or sensitivity training, anger management training, or even serving a suspension.
He said once a student is put out of school, it is up to the parents to handle the matter. Students who are thought to be a threat to themselves or others are subject to a “fit to return” evaluation.
Legislation
George is still concerned about the video aspect of the assault. She cited a case in Lacey Township where a 14-year-old girl committed suicide after she was attacked by a group of students in the school hallway and a video recording was posted on social media.
George said she was concerned that violence was being glamorized through these video recordings being posted on social media.
She said Assemblyman Erik Simonsen (R-1st), who was formerly the vice principal at Teitelman, was working on legislation to make it illegal to video record an assault.
Simonsen confirmed that he was indeed working on such legislation, which was yet to be introduced. He said the Office of Legislative Services (OLS) was drawing up the bill for introduction. Once back from the OLS, he would try to get the bill into committee.
“I anticipate it coming back very soon,” Simonsen said.
Simonsen said he was the Teitelman vice principal five years ago and his responsibilities included handling all HIB incidents. He said he received training to handle HIB investigations, saying the school has 10 days to complete an investigation. Simonsen said as vice principal, he would take the full 10 days and collect a large volume of documents.
Simonsen, who is still a district employee, said the district is fortunate to have an SRO in each of its buildings. He also said there were cameras installed that cover virtually every part of the school building.
George said she had emailed Simonsen and said she would like to get behind the bill.
“This has been quite a ride. I have learned a lot. I have learned that kids are getting away with more than they should. That is why we have to go to mediation first – to come to some sort of resolution,” she said.
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
