<p>Has anyone seen the story of the autistic boy in Cleveland who was told by his classmates that he was to participate in the ALS Ice Bucket challenge and they threw a bucket of urine / feces / spit / cigarette butts on him, filmed it and put it online? I saw it in my newsfeed because I’ve hit “like” to Drew Carey and so I saw he is offering a $10K reward. </p>
<p>Honestly, I put my head down and cried. How can people be so awful? And this is not a “prank.” A prank is toilet-papering someone’s house. I want these kids punished and made examples out of, big time. </p>
<p>Unbelievable. The callous cruelty of youth. I’m sure they will catch them, and I’m sure they will pay a high price. I think we’ve always had a large number of youth happy to do evil in the world (currently take a look at ISIS), in particular, young men. This kind of behavior is inconceivable to the majority of us. I don’t know how people live with themselves, treating a kid in this way.</p>
<p>Yes, teenagers can be cruel and unthinking. But this was clearly a well-thought out, intentional plan to humiliate this boy. I keep asking myself, why?</p>
<p>The perpetrators should be made examples of…and have names publicized so adcoms/employers can decide for themselves whether they want the company of such ■■■■■■■■. </p>
<p>Perhaps 3 months in JV. I’ve had teens do far less and receive this punishment. When HS girls were verbally abusive to a disabled child, they were court-ordered into counseling.</p>
<p>I hadn’t heard the story, but it really makes me hang my head in shame, that somehow, these “kids” are learning that this type of behavior is “ok” - what the…</p>
<p>Why would you hang your head in shame, justamom? These aren’t your kids or their friends. I’ll bet your kids are compassionate and just as horrified as you. The fact that there are vicious people that exist in the world does not reflect upon you.</p>
<p>I agree with it being prosecuted as a hate crime. If this isn’t a hate crime, I don’t know what is.</p>
<p>The only thing new about this kind of abuse is putting it on Youtube. Vile children and teenagers have been abusing their disabled classmates for as long as school has been around.</p>
<p>I hope these repulsive specimens are caught and punished to the full extent of the law.</p>
<p>I am not trying to pit anyone against anyone, I guess I should have taken the time to say <insert name="" of="" far="" more="" protected="" group="" here="">. I live near NYC and I believe that advocacy for African-Americans, especially disenfranchised African-Americans, has done amazing positive things.</insert></p>
<p>I guess I am hypersensitive, because in my state, a woman choked her 9 year old to death (when my son was also 9) because he got an epilepsy diagnosis. Apparently, her diagnosis of being depressed because of <em>his</em> diagnosis led to a few years in a psych ward then community living with visits home after his murder, while his diagnosis of having epilepsy earned him the death penalty.</p>
<p>I am multiracial, and even multiracial folks get more protections than disabled people and are less marginalized. I have several friends who “play fully abled” though have MS or another debilitating condition. It’s actually easier for women to “get away with it” if the boss is understanding about “I need to stay home for my kids”. </p>
<p>So frustrating. I hope the investigation finds the culprits. </p>
<p>I find that in my town the children are generally kind to the kids that are obviously disabled. It is sometimes the kids who are marginally disabled (Asberger, maybe) who can sometimes have a hard time with their peers. My guess is that kids don’t identify those kids as disabled because they are ignorant about spectrum disorders etc. Not that this excuses any form of bullying but I do think that education is key. Schools hesitate to educate students about other students issues because of privacy laws, etc and kids are left to draw their own conclusions. </p>