The Advocate reported yesterday about an incident that put a wide and ugly spotlight on Newark Ohio. It concerns the mistreatment of one of our children and you can read the story at this link and see the WBNS TV report at this link.
That incident would never have occurred if our village hadn’t failed so miserably, including ...
1 - Every driver who passed without stopping - especially the school bus driver. More than 50 drivers passed. I can’t believe all of them failed to call the police; did anyone call and, if so, did the police show up?
2 - Every resident who lived along the street, saw what was happening and did nothing.
3 - The Newark Police Department for not patrolling the streets near schools.
3 - The Newark Police Department for not getting serious about this crime until it received media attention and worldwide exposure on the Internet.
4 - The Newark City Schools for not preparing students for bullies, for not teaching this victim how to react.
5 - The Newark City Schools for maintaining the attitude: It happened off our official property, so we are helpless and we can’t get involved. Not true. Administrators and teachers could maintain a presence along neighboring streets (the principal and teachers at Lincoln did so many years ago when my kids attended that school). They above all, should get involved - personally and professionally.
6 - The Newark City Schools for failing to follow up on this incident; that video tape was surely available to administrators, had they cared enough to ask.
7 - The parents of the bully, of course, who failed to supervise their child.
8 - The parents of the victim who should have known their child could be endangered on her way home and acted to protect her with whatever it takes.
There is a proverb: It takes a village to raise a child.
Only one person did not fail the bully’s victim. That was the person who held a video camera and recorded Newark as it failed one of its children.
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