Police investigate death of 12-year-old Ronin Shimizu in Sacramento

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zwiebel

zwiebel

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The 'non-suspicious', sudden death of a 12-year-old boy in Sacramento on Wednesday, is being investigated by Folsom police following allegations he was bullied.

'Ronin, who turned 12 in June, was enrolled at Folsom Cordova Community Charter School. Students there study independently at home and pursue the curriculum from the district...Some students posting on the social media site Instagram said Ronin had been bullied and said they saw that as a link to his death.'

Principal John Bliss wrote to parents that all the circumstances of Ronin's death are not yet known, but the school will “continue our work to maintain a safe, caring and positive school environment free from bullying and harassment."

'Daniel Thigpen, spokesman for the Folsom Cordova Unified School District, said instances of bullying against Ronin had been reported in recent years. “I can tell you we looked into each one of them and investigated them fully and took appropriate action for each instance.”

“We don’t know if there was a connection between bullying and his death,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we want all of our students to be protected from any form of harassment at school.” '

http://www.sacbee.com/community/folsom-el-dorado/article4288714.html
 
I hope that they investigate the Bullying angle with a fine tooth comb.
No child deserves the devastation that Bullies ply on their target - let alone for a child to take their own life because of a Bully.
Bullies destroy their victims slowly and relentlessly from the inside out.
If Bullying has been a part of this child's life - then it needs looking into and considered seriously as a contributing factor - if not the base cause.


Folsom Cordova School District added that they have a comprehensive anti-bullying campaign.
'I heard that somebody called the bullies and told them that he passed away and they were like shocked,' another child, Riley Coleman, said. They 'learned their lesson on how words can hurt.'
Daniel Thigpen with the Folsom Cordova School District said that officials were looking into the complaints made by the boy's family.
Click to expand...
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2862375/Boy-12-kills-bullied-cheerleader.html#ixzz3L7j6ZOGl

Prayers and love for the family and supportive friends of Ronin Shimizu.
I hope they get the answers they need.
 
Deborah Bettencourt of the Cordova Unified School District has issued a letter. You can read it in full at the link.

I'm really not sure about it. It seems to be putting all the onus on non-bullying children and victims, to solve the issue of bullying themselves, and is a little vague about what procedures the responsible adults have put in place. It also skirts the issue of whether there were specific incidents of bullying of Ronin, in a slightly insensitive way? I don't know. I just don't think I'd feel reassured if I were the parent of a child there - I'd want more straightforward, confident communications.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article4316365.html
 
The response is in the form of a Picture file - a jpeg.
I am attaching the Jpeg below for comment.
 

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zwiebel said:
Deborah Bettencourt of the Cordova Unified School District has issued a letter. You can read it in full at the link.

I'm really not sure about it. It seems to be putting all the onus on non-bullying children and victims, to solve the issue of bullying themselves, and is a little vague about what procedures the responsible adults have put in place. It also skirts the issue of whether there were specific incidents of bullying of Ronin, in a slightly insensitive way? I don't know. I just don't think I'd feel reassured if I were the parent of a child there - I'd want more straightforward, confident communications.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article4316365.html
Click to expand...

Hopefully there is further follow-up which provides more insight and honest communication & dialogue between parents and the school representatives related to this matter.
The letter seems fairly standard - and seems to more defend the schools position of Bullying on a broad scale than it does to address the very specifics of the tragedy they are dealing with.
It will be interesting to see if there are any further developments.
Though often cases like this seem to disappear unless someone keeps the heat on to get answers out there to the Public.
 
The problem with bullying is that kids today are taught to resolve problems in a non-violent manner. Hence, the bullies prosper and those who play by the rules suffer. Parents think they are doing right by allowing the school system to resolve the issue, again playing by the rules. The sad part about it is that teachers and counselors focus on encouraging the victim to cope and understand, rather than punishing the perpetrator.

When a child pays the ultimate price for bullying, such as Ronin. Parents sit and home and cry while school leaders offer their sympathies.

The answer to bullying is actually quite simple.
Parents of children suffering from bullying must go on the offensive.
Start at the teacher/counselor level and meet with them discussing the problem. Chances area at that level you would get a sympathetic nod and little more. Next, go to the principal and again, discuss the problem. If the principal were to agree to mete out punishment to the bully, its a start, but chances are nothing will be done at that level either.

The next step requires a little courage.
Go to the monthly school board meeting and tell them you are not getting any resolution at the school level to the bullying problem.
You may find a willing ally if anyone on that board was bullied as a child, but chances are..again, a cursory nod of sympathy and little else.

Here is where you should be angry, especially if the bullying is ongoing and nothing is being done.
Now you take to the media.
Start a letter writing campaign to the State school administration and begin writing letters to your newspapers. You need not give names, just the facts of your struggle with the school system.

School Boards in many areas have taken on a demigod-like role thinking they know what's best for all kids.

They do not, and if you let it be known that you will not stand for their indifference and attempts to sweep this under the rug or hope it goes away, you may get action.

As a last resort, you could either remove your child from that school or start a campaign to replace members of the school board with yourself, and like-minded people.

Something similar was accomplished where I was living several years ago, although it was an issue not related to bullying...two seperate factions were running for school board at the next election and the old board was ousted..

Remember, this is your child, someone who looks to you for protection.
When you relinquish that protection to someone else (i.e. the school system) your child may see the situation as hopeless if nothing is done.
 
Gunther Toody said:
The problem with bullying is that kids today are taught to resolve problems in a non-violent manner. Hence, the bullies prosper and those who play by the rules suffer. Parents think they are doing right by allowing the school system to resolve the issue, again playing by the rules. The sad part about it is that teachers and counselors focus on encouraging the victim to cope and understand, rather than punishing the perpetrator.

When a child pays the ultimate price for bullying, such as Ronin. Parents sit and home and cry while school leaders offer their sympathies.

The answer to bullying is actually quite simple.
Parents of children suffering from bullying must go on the offensive.
Start at the teacher/counselor level and meet with them discussing the problem. Chances area at that level you would get a sympathetic nod and little more. Next, go to the principal and again, discuss the problem. If the principal were to agree to mete out punishment to the bully, its a start, but chances are nothing will be done at that level either.

The next step requires a little courage.
Go to the monthly school board meeting and tell them you are not getting any resolution at the school level to the bullying problem.
You may find a willing ally if anyone on that board was bullied as a child, but chances are..again, a cursory nod of sympathy and little else.

Here is where you should be angry, especially if the bullying is ongoing and nothing is being done.
Now you take to the media.
Start a letter writing campaign to the State school administration and begin writing letters to your newspapers. You need not give names, just the facts of your struggle with the school system.

School Boards in many areas have taken on a demigod-like role thinking they know what's best for all kids.

They do not, and if you let it be known that you will not stand for their indifference and attempts to sweep this under the rug or hope it goes away, you may get action.

As a last resort, you could either remove your child from that school or start a campaign to replace members of the school board with yourself, and like-minded people.

Something similar was accomplished where I was living several years ago, although it was an issue not related to bullying...two seperate factions were running for school board at the next election and the old board was ousted..

Remember, this is your child, someone who looks to you for protection.
When you relinquish that protection to someone else (i.e. the school system) your child may see the situation as hopeless if nothing is done.
Click to expand...

Yes, I do agree with you Gunther Toody.
Some great points there - and some stark realities.
Bullying goes way beyond 'systems in place'.
Bullying behaviour often skims the perimeter of these systems and due to bullying being an often evasive, sneaky, continuous and ongoing offence - it takes more than one incident to determine what is happening to a point of where there is a true identification of the a) the Bully and those involved, b) the behaviour being inflicted 3) the incidents 4) the cause and the effect to the target. It is time consuming and as some institutions see it, resource heavy. Often there is no one dedicated authority monitoring the situation, and therefore the onus (as you say) is on the target to report and deal with the many aspects of what is happening to them. The burden of this alone (on a young person especially) is insurmountable and totally unrealistic. Even with support of family and/or friends the target may have to endure months of the bully/s behaviour until any of the 'structures & protocols' are initiated.

Action is the key (as you say) - serious courageous action.
Damage is being done to Targets from day one - the cost can be painful, take years to resolve all the many issues Bullying produces, and end in disaster if left unattended.
But if the authorities (bodies overseeing) realized the actual time, resources and costs (to them) for not attending to the problem immediately - they might see things startling different and get their act together and do something which takes Courage.
And they need to realize that it will take time, it will take resources, and it will cost money from their budgets - but it is necessary and vital to do for a strong and healthy system if they want it to evolve and be basically free of such a debilitation. They need to make allowances for this in their budgets if they are serious about stamping out - especially in schools where it is rife.
Peace meal placating band-aids do more damage in the long term than any swift decisive solution based action.
I say 'dont give the bully/s any more time to craft their skill' -
Attend actively and decisively to the problem at hand as soon as its reported.
 
Many, if not most of today's families live in a vacuum, self-absorbed in their own little worlds.
Racing through life with their faces buried in smart phones, continually texting other self absorbed entities with meaningless gibberish.
There is little doubt that there are those who would destroy the family unit and this affects both sides of the issue of bullying.

Parental indifference, or calling it a school issue leaves the bullied child in limbo with nowhere to turn. Many take to injuring themselves, others suffer from low self-esteem and begin thinking that maybe others are right about them.
Inability to cope also leads to drug and alcohol abuse and in the end, some of them take their own lives.

Even family members are not immune from bullying siblings.
Whether it be dad screaming at a child for some meaningless infraction or an older brother calling a younger, *advertiser censored*, or some similar epithet.
It is very difficult to be a child in todays world, because all the cards are stacked against them.
 
Unfortunately, bullying is not confined to peer groups or parents.
How would you feel if this was your child?

How far would you be willing to go to protect your child from this outrageous behavior by school officials?

School punishes blind child by taking away cane and replacing it with a pool noodle
http://fox2now.com/2014/12/17/schoo...way-cane-and-replacing-it-with-a-pool-noodle/

KANSAS CITY, MO — Parents are outraged after they say an elementary school punished their blind child by replacing his cane with a pool noodle.

Dakota Nafzinger attends Gracemor Elementary School in Kansas City. The 8-year-old was born without eyes — something in the medical world known as Bilateral Anopthalmia.

School District Spokeswoman Michelle Cronk tells FOX 4 in Kansas City that Dakota hit somebody with his cane on while riding the bus. She says they took away his cane and gave him a pool noodle because he needed something to hold. Cronk said Dakota fidgets without his cane.

Dakota’s father, Donald Nafzinger, said his son lifts his cane sometimes and the bus driver thought he was using it violently.

“They said they were going to give me this for the next two weeks,” Dakota said.
 
Gunther Toody said:
Unfortunately, bullying is not confined to peer groups or parents.
How would you feel if this was your child?

How far would you be willing to go to protect your child from this outrageous behavior by school officials?

School punishes blind child by taking away cane and replacing it with a pool noodle
http://fox2now.com/2014/12/17/schoo...way-cane-and-replacing-it-with-a-pool-noodle/

KANSAS CITY, MO — Parents are outraged after they say an elementary school punished their blind child by replacing his cane with a pool noodle.

Dakota Nafzinger attends Gracemor Elementary School in Kansas City. The 8-year-old was born without eyes — something in the medical world known as Bilateral Anopthalmia.

School District Spokeswoman Michelle Cronk tells FOX 4 in Kansas City that Dakota hit somebody with his cane on while riding the bus. She says they took away his cane and gave him a pool noodle because he needed something to hold. Cronk said Dakota fidgets without his cane.

Dakota’s father, Donald Nafzinger, said his son lifts his cane sometimes and the bus driver thought he was using it violently.

“They said they were going to give me this for the next two weeks,” Dakota said.
Click to expand...

:gaah:

What they did do was place this child in danger!
There is nothing that justifies that 'punishment' or justifies that decision to take away an 8 year old child's cane as a solution to attempt to control the child's behaviour in this instance.
Cannot adults be trusted to do the right thing any more and make safe, wise, responsible decisions towards children?
Not in this case.

And what was the Schools reasoning...

Source MSM. Read more...School officials in North Kansas City, Missouri, admit the driver confiscated the cane, reported WDAF-TV, but they claim it was school property that was given to 8-year-old Dakota Nafziger when he enrolled.
Click to expand...

Sounds to me as if they are frightened of some form of Legal Action as the school owns the cane :facepalm:

Dakota was written up for the incident, but his father thinks the driver went too far by confiscating the cane.
-----
The boy attended his sister’s concert using the pool noodle to guide him, but he said the floatation device didn’t work as well.
-----
A viewer offered to buy a permanent replacement cane for Dakota after his story aired on TV news.
Click to expand...

There is an interview with Dakota, his mother and father at the video - the school refused an interview.

[video=youtube;EQ9WRm7Sr68]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ9WRm7Sr68[/video]
 
The article below in the link relates to another Bullying case which is in the Courts, but mentions Ronins plight as well...

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article4507715.html

The public focus on the problem of bullying has intensified since the Dec. 3 suicide of Ronin Shimizu, 12, of Folsom. Ronin’s family and friends say the seventh-grader was the target of bullying in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District starting in his elementary years. Last week, Folsom Cordova Superintendent Deborah Bettencourt called for a tougher, earlier response to the problem and sought to create a district-community task force to drive the effort.
-----
A new state anti-bullying statute, known as Seth’s Law, took effect on July 1, 2012. It expanded schools’ duty to protect students who are bullied and intimidated. The law is named after a 13-year-old California student who committed suicide after being bullied at school.
-----
Click to expand...


Ronin.JPG

Nonie Reyes-Small, 16, president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness club signed a pledge to stand up against bullying before she gave out yellow ribbons for suicide prevention before a balloon release for Ronin Shimizu on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014 at Folsom High School in Folsom, Calif. Shimizu,12, committed suicide Dec. 3rd. RENEE C. BYER RBYER@SACBEE.COM
 
FigTree said:
The article below in the link relates to another Bullying case which is in the Courts, but mentions Ronins plight as well...

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article4507715.html




View attachment 65870

Nonie Reyes-Small, 16, president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness club signed a pledge to stand up against bullying before she gave out yellow ribbons for suicide prevention before a balloon release for Ronin Shimizu on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014 at Folsom High School in Folsom, Calif. Shimizu,12, committed suicide Dec. 3rd. RENEE C. BYER RBYER@SACBEE.COM
Click to expand...

Another sad case of bullying.
It would be nice if legislation was passed that actually had some teeth to it like mandatory prosecution, or at the very least expulsion.

Unfortunately, Seth's law does not fill the bill. It is just more empty doublespeak.
Here is a copy
https://www.aclusocal.org/seths-law-ab9-handout/
 
But the school stated that the cane was their property- he is blind and his parents have never purchased him a cane?
There used to be a charity for the blind that would give them a cane for free. That just sounded odd that he didn't have one of his own.



There is an interview with Dakota, his mother and father at the video - the school refused an interview.

[video=youtube;EQ9WRm7Sr68]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ9WRm7Sr68[/video][/QUOTE]
 
:( This is so heartbreaking.. What the hello is wrong with kids and parents these days.
If I ever found out my kids were bullying other kids it wouldn't be a pretty sight, they'd lose everything important to them immediately, and then I'd go from there. They would be wishing the thought never crossed their mind..
 
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