By Stephanie F. Brown, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
The Dekalb County (Decatur) School Board – Georgia will review an anti-bullying policy following the suicide death of an 11 year old boy. Jareem Harrera hung himself on April 16. He told his parents that he was upset after being teased for “talking funny” and “being gay”. Tragically, Jareem was found by another family member after Jareem hung himself. The policy that was in place at the school required teachers to report instances of bullying and that three instances / incidents would be sufficient to get the violating student expelled.
Schools, teachers, and administrators in Georgia and other states should take a tough stance on bullying. It just should not be tolerated. As for Jareem, it is too little -too late to help this little boy; however, his death should not be forgotten and can serve as a teaching tool (a tragic teaching tool) as to the dangers and consequences of bullying. It will be interesting to know what complaints were made, the number of complaints, sources of the complaints, and actions taken by the teachers / schools. While we will never know sure, could the school have prevented this tragedy from taking place? Did Jareem feel alone and unprotected by the school? You can read about this story at Dekalb County To Review Anti Bullying Policy.