What recourse do I have against the bullies that punched my son?

My son is in fourth grade. He is a good, quiet kid and has never gotten in trouble at school before; He makes good grades and is often awarded by both his teacher and principal for his good behavior and for setting such a good example for others. There are 4 kids in his class that are siblings and are quite a bit bigger than he is because they have failed the grade several times each.
Yesterday, one of them chased after my son during recess, pushed him down, leaped on his back and punched him several times in the back. He managed to get up and started to run towards the school building yelling the teacher's name, hoping for help as the boy ran after him. The other three siblings who were watching this happen, ran towards him and blocked him in, surrounding him and pushing him around while cursing in his face. That is when the teacher finally stepped in and stopped the abuse. This is only one incident among many that have happened, but this is the only one that left physical evidence, a large purple bruise just below his ribs.

The principal called me to pick my son up that day, just telling me there was an "incident" and I need to pick my son up instead of him riding the bus. I find out about the incident when I get to the school. The principal tells me that, since there wasn't an adult who witnessed the attack, that they couldn't do anything because it's one child's word against another's. Also, the parents of the children who abused my son were never called in, and their children got to take the bus home.

I drove my children to school this morning because I fear for their safety since the bullies ride that bus. I bring my son into the principal's office and show her the bruise. She still says there is nothing they can do, because if the other children get in trouble for fighting, then my son will get in trouble, too. She tells me that one of the bullies told her that my son threatened to shoot him, and this supposedly occurred while they were shoving him around and cursing at him.
So, first the school's excuse not to punish the bullies is because there was no proof as to what happened, then I show them the bruise as proof, and they still won't do anything.
What should I do? I've spoke several times to the principal, the teacher, the bus driver(since most of the abuse occurs on the bus), and I even spoke to the transportation office when the bus driver ignored the problem. I've done everything I can think of, and still no one in authority will step in to deal with this. My son is afraid of going to school now, and has anxiety because of it that is so bad that he is on medicine for it. Do I have any legal recourse in any of this?
Additional Details
To Jennifer T:
I already have my son enrolled in taekwondo, but he did not fight back because he did not want to get in trouble at school. He knows how important his education is, and getting suspended for fighting will make him loose his straight A average and will go on his permanant record.
For the record, he is NOT coddled. Why must boys fight to be considered "man enought" for others? My son knows that fighting is not something someone does in polite society, and above all, my children have manners. Also, both my husband and myself work from home, and we both take a very active role in our children's lives.

Mithaniel Marr

Document it. Take photos, write down names and times of people you have spoken to. Record conversations with school staff (In open, make sure they are aware they are being recorded). Call a lawyer. Yo can sue the school, and possibly look into getting the DA to prosecute for criminal negligance. If anything just mentioning that to the school will get them to act.

Ben Dover

Find out what the school district's policy is concerning bullying (if they even have one). You may need to take this up with the superintendent.
If the matter can't be settled with the school district and the other boys' family, then consult an attorney. You might have legal recourse.

killakatnow

Arrest warrant for assault.

stars11229

you have to get the police involved, the principal is NOT doing her job either, she should have them suspended, That's bullcrap that no one saw it, honestly, the principal is probably sleeping with the bullies father.

che_obama

Press charges.In today's environment, it is a crime and you have legal recourse. If the school is complacent, then they have created liability for themselves.

You have many solid and aggressive choices here.

Good luck to you!

Fighting4Freedom

For a week, follow the school bus to their stop, and then when they get off, follow them very slowly in your car with your child in the car, and when they finally get to their house, drive by really slowly, staring at them the whole way.

Natasha B

Go to the police. If the school and the parents do not want to reign them in the police will...

take a picture of the bruise

Amy C

most buses now a days have cameras on them. I'd go down to the court house and make a criminal complaint against the parents of these children. The courts will subpoena the tapes on the bus. This is crap and you and your child should not have to deal with this. Shame on the school for not helping you and him either.

lil southern girl

Take pictures of the injuries NOW while they are still there. Document everything in a journal from now on. Take your son to his doctor immediately so that there is a medical record of these injuries. Your son has been assaulted, and it is a crime. Press charges, and consult an attorney if the school is going to continue to be complacent.

Four brothers who have failed the same grade numerous times and assault children smaller them means somebody, such as a social worker or youth court judge, needs to step and put the smack-down on them AND their lame parents. It's a lot different than one kid his same size and age that just has a personality conflict with him and picks on him.

Ready for Summer

You can file charges. I learned this with something that happened at my son's school. His school has these special " contracts' with bad kids so the bad kids get away with anything so the district was unable to punish the child for what he did but I was told that i could file a police report and charges would be placed on the child for assault. And the parents and the child would have to appear in court.

Snowblind

From a legal standpoint it is unfortuante for you that the princpal is right in what he says about one child's word versus another.

The silly person here who said to get a warrent for his arrest is wrong. It would be a complete waste of time. Firstly because of the above reason and secondly because minors can only be tried in juvenile courts. Not to mention that the police will not want to waste time with what is in the grand scheme of things a 'trivial incident' compared with the other jobs they have to do (I'm saying this objectively here, not as an insult to you or your child).

The bruise, again, isn't really proof of anything. Obviously it was caused by the bullies in question however in practical terms it could be a bruise caused by anything.

If I were you I would get a group of parents together and encourage the principal to try and get a member of the local law enforcement to come in and talk to the school about bullying and the consequences of such. Hopefully this may deter the bullies in question.

As other people have said getting your son to learn a martial art is not a bad idea. As well as being an excellent source of fitness a bit of self defence training is always a useful thing to have. Having practiced it for a few years I would recommend a kind of Karate. As I'm sure you know a good hard thump in the face of one of the bullies by your son and they will most likely leave him alone.

Hope this helps.

somethingelse

I am so sorry! I don't really think there is anything you can do at this point. Teachers and the other people who work in this field seem to just want to get through the day doing as little as possible. I recommend finding a GOOD martial arts school for your son. I'm not encouraging that he fight but if he feels confident that he can deal with things he will be less likely to be picked on. Also there is a mythology around the martial arts that boys respect and they are less likely to pick on another boy if he does a martial art. There are many places that teach children. Look into some and trust your instincts and don't fall for a big talker.

I wish I could help you deal with the school system but all I can suggest there is to keep a clear record of events (who you talk to and when, what was said etc.) and if things continue to happen then you may have a case.

Sixfeettall

Most schools these days have stringent policies against bullying. Don't know why yours isn't up to speed and it sounds as if your principal is wimping out.

There may be no legal recourse, but you could try. If that fails, maybe you need to take illegal recourse. Get those little bastids aside with no witnesses and let them know what you will do to them if they don't leave your kid alone.

Lov4nzyx2

Is there a school resource officer assigned to your child's school? I would talk to him/her. Sometimes the school feels like it was a mutual fight and therefore they won't punish either of them, or will punish both of them. The problem I see is that someone saying something ("I'll shoot you") doesn't warrant a physical assault, so I am wondering if there is something else in this story that you either haven't told us or the principal can't tell you because of juvenile privacy. If it happened the way you say it did in my school, I would be writing a police report for assault (and taking pics of the bruise as evidence) and sending it into the Family Court for review. If the other kids say that your son threatened them, I would also be putting that in the report as well. I'm sure that there were other kids there who saw this incident, I would be talking to all of them too and entering their statements in the report. I do understand that if there are no other witnesses at all that it is hard to say the bruise didn't come from a fall or something. Talk to the SRO (if you aren't aware of them, they are police officers that are assigned by their department to the school in a copperative effort between them and the school district).

aka King Kong

I would call speak to the parents, and advice them that you will get the police involved if any such further actions recur. Another course of action would be to determine how many of the other students present witnessed the attack, and should you be able to establish enough witnessed the attack, pursue police action now.

Also, consider speaking at a town hall meeting or approach the school board. Write your mayor. Talk to a lawyer. Clearly, the principal is in part complicit in that he refused to take any action. That is totally unacceptable.

The sad part is, the parents who raise children who act like idiots are too often the source of such idiocy.

Art Vandelay

Martial arts or boxing lessons.

justin m

I personaly think you should talk to bullys parent or talk to him move if possible take your son to the gym lllooolll

angel94

TOO LONG COUNLDNT READ IT ALL BUT BEST PAYBACK GET UR SON TO LEAR MARTIAL ARTS AND KICK THERE SORRY ASSES THEY WILL NEVER BUG HIM AGAIN

Jennifer T

teach your kid to stand up for himself. the reason why he's picked on is b/c he's an easy target to be picked on. He needs to be more aggressive...especailly as a 4th grade boy. By you coddling him you're just gonna teach him to hide behind your skirts for rest of his life and never really become a man. Men / boys fight...that's just how they make friends. Seriously...if he stood up to those kids instead running like a scared rabbit to the teacher those kids would have respected...granted he may have gotten his butt kicked...but that's just what boys do...they fight. It's natural. It's unnatural and cowardly of your son to run. He's gonna be a puss if you don't man that boy up some.

Men / boys love to fight and rough house...hence why male sports are so physical. they love it. *shrug* i personally wouldn't find boxing or wrestling or even football fun b/c they beat the hell out of each other and come up smiling .....but that's b/c i'm a girl.

You NEED to tell you son to fight back. No matter the consequences. I can guarantee you that if he stands up for himself and doesn't act like a scared rabbit (a prey, a beta male) he'll end up being friends those kids.

I take it you're a single parent or divorced and the father doesn't play a large role in his.....so you have the to act like the father and mother in order to raise your boy right. And a father would tell him to start swinging and not take crap from those boys.

Whatever you do don't fight his battles...you need to raise him into a man...if he knows his "mommy" will always fight his battles he will be one of those dead beat loser of guys that are momma's boys. And there is nothing more unattractive than a momma's boy.

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