Mother: Son suffocated in class by another student
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CRESWELL, Ore. - It's the phone call no mother ever wants to hear.
"I got a call from the school, from the special education teacher, that another child had placed a plastic bag over my sons head, his face in the classroom," said Karen Woody.
Woody said that on Oct. 10, her 12-year old son was the victim of harassment at Creswell Middle School.
"I said, 'What happened with the plastic bag at school?' And he said, 'Mom, somebody tried to kill me.' He said, 'A kid came up from behind me and put a plastic bag over my nose and mouth, I could not breathe.' "
And, she said, it all happened in the middle of class.
"There was a teacher present in the classroom but she, and there was only eight kids in there, and she did not see it happen," said Woody.
Instead, she said, a teacher walking down the hallway eventually broke it up before her son passed out.
"As a parent I want my kid to be safe all the time, and one of the safe places I thought would be in school, in the classroom," said Woody, "but apparently bad things can happen there too."
She said she met with the principal, teacher and school administrators requesting that the two not be in the same classroom anymore.
"They had said we're gonna have the child be escorted down the hallways between classes, that they would have him play out in a different area than my child and he would be supervised."
But she said so far, nothing has been done other than suspending the student for four days.
"They're still in the same classroom, they still don't have more supervision," she said. "It's the same situation that the suffocation happened in beforehand."
The Creswell School District could not give specific information about this particular incident but did acknowledge an incident had occurred.
Creswell superintendent Todd Hamilton said they do have policies in place to address these types of issues.
"We work with the students and when discipline is necessary, we go ahead and impose discipline that's consistent with school policies," Hamilton said.
Hamilton also said it's the goal of the entire district to keep kids safe.
"If there is a situation where we have ongoing concerns, then we try to look at scenarios around the school that might need to be addressed and what kind of accommodations can be made," he said. "Whether it's changing students schedules or increasing supervision in a way that helps all kids feel safe at school."
But Woody said she still feels that her son and other students at the school aren't safe.
"I don't feel like they are making the accommodations that are necessary to provide for the safety of my child and others when he's at school," she said.
Woody also said she has also filed harassment charges against the student with the Lane County Sheriff's Office.
ATTEMPTED MURDER???
Public school in the U.S. is broken. Â You are playing Russian Roulette with your child's future if you choose to use this system. Â
Home school your child...don't allow this to continue. If your child needs extra help or protection...step up and make sure he gets it. My son was falling behind in public school. We have been home schooling for 4 years now and he is at an over all grade of 91%. It isn't the schools job to fix it, it was ours. He is enrolled in a at home public school and we love it!
Once again people have half the story, inaccurate information, rumors and here say to make their ill informed conclusions. School districts are bound by privacy laws, but crazy parents can lie and say whatever they want to the media.
@dontbenaiive, my info comes from 4 school employees that were in the school the day it took place and 1 was involved in the investigation. I have also spoken to the victim personally to get his side, as well as 2 other students that were in the room that confirm his version of the event. You must be on the school board.
OK sorry do the math, 8 kids in the class even if there were 30, teacher turns for 2 minutes to write on the black board, the kid has no breath because of a plastic bag (where did it come from). Â There is more going on here, the word Bully is WAY over used, it should be called right now Teachers pitching students against students. Â Bully is the most over used word there is now a days call it what it is, parents being jerks and teachers (a few) encouraging it
I am a parent of 3 kids that attend Creswell schools. I personally know at least a dozen employees of the school district as well.  2 of of my kids have gone through the middle school and both experienced mercilous bullying and physical assaults during school. Nothing was ever done besides a few days of suspension.  Eventhough they have a ZERO toelrance policy of bullying. I also personally know the young man that was attacked with the plastic. He is not retarded or diabled, he only needs a little extra help with math. The school apparently said that they don't have enough help to add more supervision to this class or others. Although, several witenesses stated that during this time of day, there are at least 4 or more teachers or aides that are wandering around or hanging in the office. And the fact that the school wants the victim to pay the price by not removing the offender from the class. What a violation of the rights of the victim. All of this just substantiates the reasoning behind multiple parents joining together seeking legal counsel to take action against the Creswell School District. All parents need to band together to get some results and tell the school that we have had ENOUGH. It does not take money to do what's right.
That kid needs to write a formal apology for his attack on another student. I guess if the school is ready to have the potential murderer escorted continuously and feel they can be liable from now on, then okay.
The victim has to feel safe at school.
My son goes to this school, and while ALL schools have issues with bullying, and dont end up on the evening news, this particular town and school district do NOT do anything when these issues come up. Â We had our own experience when my son and his friends were approached by the very well known "neighborhood bully". The same bully that was previously on the news when his buddy posted a video of him beating up a kid to youtube. The same boy assaulted my son, unprovoked, and while he was suspended by the school for 4 days (sensing a theme here?) they recommended we contact the sheriff. That sheriff told me he would "talk to the boy & his parents", but that they were good people, and good kids, who were just "acting out". Apparently the only choice we now have is to teach our kids self-defense, and enable them to fight back? There has to be another answer to this issue, and apparently we parents are the only ones who can do anything about it.
Nobody here knows how to read.These were both special needs kids.
 @RelaxThereIsNoGod  SPECIAL ED CLASS DOESN'T MEAN SPECIAL NEEDS/ MENTAL DISABLED!!!  My son has reading needs.  He doesn't read up to his level.  He's in one of these classes.  These kids are normal as any other kids.  EXCEPT for the kid that tried to kill this other kid in this article.  Now that isn't normal.  ATTEMPTED MURDER???
 @RelaxThereIsNoGod And this boy is my neighbor, he takes one remedial math class, which does not make him disabled!
 @RelaxThereIsNoGod So, that means they have full permission to assault other students? Or just a built in excuse? You obviously just enjoy creating conflict with your comments
The staff at our schools could careless about bullying. They pass it off as "no big deal" until someone dies. Oh, then they are just as sorry as ever. Let's NOT do a darn thing to stop it before a kid dies. When are things going to change? When? They talk all this crap about stopping bullying but when it comes down to actually putting those words in ACTION, they don't do a darn thing. They could careless if our kids die. These towns around us are so screwed up. It is PATHETIC!
 @takeiteazy It will all change if we outlaw collective bargaining for public employees. Or privatize the school industry. I prefer privatizing.
Sounds like there is more to this story than what we are reading. But of course everybody seems to be accepting moms story as the entire truth. I think there are omissions and exaggerations here. If she stood in font of me with this lame story, I would tell her so.
If the school is unwilling to do anything about the kid, press charges. If that doesn't work, sue the school and the child's parents.
I would have that kid arrest for attempted murder.
@Michael Michaels You would have a disabled child placed in jail? You did read the article,this classroom was disabled kids.
This sucks, but why didn't he just rip the bag with his hands?
That is not just bullying, that is attempted murder. Four days of suspension and that's all?? I don't care what the school's policies are..they aren't enough. I am NOT a person who believes in sueing for every little thing but when something like this happens, and no better remedy has been made...I'd be sueing the school. The mom shouldn't just have filed "harrasment charges" she should have filed "assault" or "attempted murder" charges against the offending student. If an adult did that to someone else you can bet that is what it would be called. They are not doing ANYONE any favors by allowing these juvenile offenders to believe that what they are doing is no-big-deal.
@eugene123 READ the story,it clearly says special education teacher,meaning the kids were special needs.
Pretty much tells me that schools in Oregon aren't working. We have one of the shortest academic years in the nation, we have school districts that are handing out laptops and having students look at computers, bullying, assaults, teaching to tests rather than learning. If parents and students don't make the effort to learn anything on their own, if they are nothing but passive lumps which make no effort to bring something to the classroom, then tell them to stay home. Enough of this crap, mandatory education for these kinds of idiots is useless and a waste of money.
@calmplexx you just called a special needs kid an idiot, stay classy.
I would get the police involved and take the school administration out of the equation.
@Ben Cox cops won't arrest special needs children.
Yup and teachers want more and more money to continue this nonsense. We pay through the nose for this crap. I just got my property tax bill today and the amount we pay for our "schools" is obscene. Now with the election looming all the candidates and measures deal with is the same old crap. More money for schools, tax kickers for schools, yap, yap, yap..and the kids still can't read. I'm sick of it.Â
@the buttcut Now Now. Education only gets 60% of your Property Taxes, 60% of the Lottery proceeds and 60% of the General Fund Taxes. The other 40% of each of these sources are obviously being wasted because they are not going to education. You don't really need Health and Social Services or Law Enforcement or Courts or Roads or any of those non-essentials. IT'S FOR THE CHILDREN!
@hewhoo But you see it really is all about the children and "education". I define "education" in Oregon as "Indoctrination" with a few dishonest facts thrown in. After all if you don't get the children started on the right path by the Progressive Liberals, how in the world are you going to maintain your voter base. The voter base, "Power" that is what it is all about. "All about the children", right.
 @souptonuts  @drinkmorewater  @hewhoo thanks for drift.
@drinkmorewater @hewhoo Check page 10 of your voters pamphlet. Peter D. Fazio is a Liberal Democrat Progressive. Most "educators" including a lot that I know label themselves as Progressives. I used to be a Blue Dog Democrat, but eventually got to the point I could no longer align with any Democrats, or Progressives or Republicans for the most part, so I felt the only choice left to me was Independent. If anything I align probably more with Libertarians than any other party at this point. I think Government is too big, I believe in tradition which is under attack all the time, I believe in God which is under attack most of the time. More than anything else I believe in individual responsibility, truth and honor, the hand shake. Call me a dinosar but there is a lot to be said for common sense, right and wrong. We need to get our schools back to basics, get politics out of schools, restore true history (hurtful or not), restore discipline and fairness. I could go on and on but I believe you can get my drift from what I have said. I try to be respectful of others, but some make it truly difficult.
   @hewhoo who are the progresive liberals you talk about? I respect your non- political views but I get lost with what you term progressive liberal. What are some of your solutions?Â
@RelaxThereIsNoGod #1 I am not your pal. #2 I believe in God, not evolution. #3 Our kids have been indoctrinated. #4 I am entitled to my opinion just like you are so don't tell me to can it. #5 I don't tell you to "can it" because I believe in our Constitution and it would be wrong for me to try and curtail your view. #6 I wish that Progressive Liberals were tolerant, but they are not and I will just have to live with that. Have a nice day. PS I have lived in this beautiful state for over 70 years, 5th Generation, so please don't ruin it now.
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Kids can be so cruel...and the teachers so blind