Girl was beat up in bus for having good grades
http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articl ... 14-ON.html
Associated Press
Jul. 14, 2006 01:01 PM
ROSEVILLE, Mich. - An 11-year-old girl was attacked by an elementary school classmate while riding a school bus because of her good grades in an assault that was caught on videotape, authorities said.
Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith said the classmate, also 11, had bullied the victim for several months at Alumni Memorial Elementary School in the Detroit suburb of Roseville. On June 8, as their bus was about to drop them off, the classmate jumped from her seat and began to strike the victim with both fists, Smith said.
"Eventually, the girl asked the mother if she could fail a test to avoid being beat up," Smith told The Detroit News for a Friday story.
The incident was caught by the school bus surveillance camera. Names of those involved weren't released.
"You can clearly see on the video the first few punches being thrown before the crowd of students stands up and blocks out the rest of it," said Jim Langtry, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office.
The classmate was charged Monday as a juvenile with assault, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in custody.
Joseph Steenland, president of the Roseville Community Schools Board of Education, told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens that one or both of the students was disciplined, but he was not aware of the details of the discipline.
"It's disturbing any time you see anyone pummel someone else like that," he said.
The victim would feign illness so she could be sent home from school to avoid being attacked, Langtry said. He said the mother talked with school administrators but the bullying only got worse.