let’s get to the point and not delay.
on January 13, a black autistic kid at La Follette high school was bullied for months before being brutally attacked by a group of kids. school administrators broke up the fight but did not call medical services to help J (I call him that for confidentiality) or the police to arrest the kids who did this horrendous thing.
instead, his mom stopped what she was doing and drove to school so that she could take him to the ER. when she got there, it was discovered that he got beaten up so badly that his teeth got jammed up his gums, and he would require extensive oral surgery. even after this happened, it took nearly three weeks for the kids to get arrested for substantial battery, and the school and school district refused to transfer J to a new school until days later.
when a student receives injuries this bad, you call 911. but the school refused to.
once he got to his new school, it happened again. less than 45 minutes into being at his new school and he started getting flashbacks of him being beaten up. while he was processing his feelings with a teacher, a kid just came up and decided to strike him in the jaw! luckily, the school called the police and sent him home, as any responsible school would do.
this has not been covered in the media as much as it should have. J has PSTD, ADHD, depression, anxiety, is on the low end of the autism spectrum, and these beatings will only cause more trauma for years to come. because of this incident, he can barely smile and revealed that he thinks about suicide constantly. he is scared of going to school because of the beatings and is struggling both physically, mentally, and emotionally. his mother fears for his life now that two beatings have happened in one month, saying “I’m afraid of one day not hearing his voice and that would devastate me.” and because they are a poor disabled family, they almost 100% rely on our support.
now, I use to know J. he was a classmate of mine, and we weren't exactly friends. he would make inappropriate jokes in class and would often get asked to leave. sometimes, he would verbally bully me and try to antagonize me. but I do not blame him. he was also getting bullied worse than he was bullying me, and probably did not know how else to cope with his harsh school life.
but what makes me the most upset is that I cannot donate. I am unfortunately flat out broke and my allowance from dad is frozen because he needs to pay off his bills. I wish I could donate, and share some words of encouragement, tell them that I’m with him and that he is loved, no matter how he looks. but unfortunately, I cannot, because I was not born in a rich household. that’s why I need your help.
I would like all of you, if you can, to donate any amount of money to his gofundme and share it online. right now, J’s mother is $3000 away from her goal, and if you were to share it online or to donate yourself, J’s family would greatly appreciate it. also, if you do talk about this online, please spread the hashtag #JusticeForJ so that we can direct more attention to the GoFundMe and the issue that is plaguing my school district and this country.
Finally, I put contacts to la Follette and MMSD below. I want all of you to speak out against this atrocity because my school has a moral duty to protect us, students, to make sure that we feel safe learning there yet my principal and school refused to enforce that duty by turning him away. some people are scared to come here because of what happened, so please, call them and demand that they pay J’s family reparations for what happened and apologize for the incident. also, don’t just swing insults at them during the call. it gets nothing done.
I hope you do the right thing, because now, more than ever, J and his family need our support.
gofund.me/…
La follette contact information:
principal email: mailto: methompson@madison.k12.wi.us
la Follette phone number: (608) 204-3600
you can also contact them through their social media accounts:
La Follette high school feedback form: lafollette.madison.k12.wi.us/...
