Father Pickets School Where Son Was Kicked Out For Fighting Back Against a Bully

You hear schools all the time talking about their “zero tolerance” policies and their efforts to stop bullying. So why is it that schools continue to do nothing when they're actually confronted with bullying?

In Victoria, Texas, a boy was suspended and kicked out of school just for defending himself against a bully. Now, the boy’s father has taken to picketing in front of the school.

Randy Duke of Victoria, Texas, walks for a couple of hours each day in front of Cade Middle School carrying a sign that reads "Bullying victims are punished here," reports KHOU.

Duke's 14-year-old son, Max, was disciplined for allegedly fighting with a student who had been bullying him, Duke said.

"He's at the point where [he said], 'Dad, I couldn't walk away, 'cause he just follows me and beats up on me all the time,'" Duke told KHOU. "Then when he finally has to take matters into his own hands, he gets punished."

Duke said what set Max off was when the eighth-grader who had been bullying him for several years stomped on a paper airplane Max had made in art class for a special-needs child.

"So Max just looked up and said, 'What the hell?' The kid shoved Max. Max had had enough. And that just snapped him, and he shoved back, and they started into it," Duke said.

Max, who is also in eighth grade, served a two-day suspension and was sent to an alternative school in the district.

The way our schools are now makes it impossible to stop bullying. Telling the teachers does no good, because even if the teachers actually do something about it, the bully will more than likely continue beating up on the kid when no one else is around. And now, the kids can’t even stand up for themselves without being punished just as badly, if not worse, than the one doing the actual bullying.

This whole anti-bullying “system” the schools have is completely broken. The only way you can really stop a bully is by doing it the old-fashioned way: standing up for yourself and fighting back. I will never fault a kid who’s trying to defend himself or someone else.