Cherry Creek teen may face bully in court
Adrian Ulm took the abuse for two years, and then it escalated.
By Joey Bunch
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 02/19/2008 08:38:28 AM MST
CENTENNIAL — Adrian Ulm is the kind of kid whom school staff say they have to keep an eye on — a little heavy, a little different, the kind bullies will circle like coyotes, a security officer at West Middle School said.
But for two years, Adrian kept a secret from every adult he knew, even his father: The verbal abuse he says was heaped on him from other students. Bullies called him "Nazi," because he is from Germany, and "gay," because he is a musical-theater prodigy who stars in professional plays.
And despite what Cherry Creek Schools calls a proactive effort to curb bullying, including classroom discussions, plenty of kids knew Adrian was a target and nearly a dozen watched him get beaten up at a school-bus stop
Bullied, Beaten
in November. Adrian had bruises and a broken collarbone.
"They didn't lift a finger to help him," Heinz Ulm said of his 14-year- old son. "I can't understand that."
His attacker won't face criminal charges, because Adrian voluntarily took part in the fight, the Ulms were told. But a 2-year-old amendment to Colorado's hate-crime laws could make Adrian's assailant the first youth in Colorado to be sued for punitive damages on the basis of school bullying.
"I would definitely describe this as a hate crime," said Adrian's lawyer, Gregg McReynolds, who has not made a decision about a suit.
Adrian said Monday he had taken all the name-calling he could last fall. On the school bus, the other boy made fun of his dad's paunchy stomach, asking when the baby was due, and said his father has yellow teeth.
"They found my weak point," Adrian recalled. "My dad is great."
The boy was expelled and has not applied for reinstatement, according to Cherry Creek Schools. But last week, three of his friends told Adrian the boy intended to deal him a worse beating when he returns.
As a result, those three were required to sign "contracts" that would lead to their expulsion if they harass Adrian again, said Cherry Creek Schools
Adrian Ulm is photographed in his home recording studio. Students called him "gay" because he is a theater prodigy and "Nazi" because he's from Germany. The school is providing extra security, but his assailant has allegedly threatened an even worse beating. (Brian Brainerd, The Denver Post )
spokeswoman Tustin Amole.
In addition to extra attention from school security officers, a teacher checks in with Adrian daily, Amole said. Students in the district are taught from kindergarten how to respond to bullies, she said.
"The first we knew of this problem was after the fight," Amole said. "... We don't take bullying lightly. We take it very, very seriously."
David Finkelhor, director of the University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center, agrees it's important for schools to take bullying seriously.
"You need lots of options," he said Monday. "But first, you need a criminal-justice system and a school system that takes it serious."
But turning to lawsuits seems counterproductive, he said: "You aren't able to negotiate resolutions in good faith if you've got both sides governed by lawyers who are concerned with damages."
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
Kids and crimes
• Five percent of students ages 12 to 18 report being bullied at school in the prior six months.
• Juveniles make up 23 percent of all individual hate-crime victims, compared with 11 percent of all other crimes.
• Eighty-one percent of the juvenile victims of hate crimes are ages 12 to 17.
• Boys make up 69 percent of all juvenile hate-crime victims.
• Sixty-three percent of hate crimes against juveniles involve violent assaults, compared with 39 percent of hate crimes against adults.
• Twenty-one percent of hate crimes against juveniles occur at school.
• Sixty-four percent of those who commit hate crimes against juveniles are younger than 18.
• Fifty-six percent of juveniles who commit hate crimes know their victims, compared with 39 percent of adults who commit hate crimes.
Article Comments (89 comments)
* I wish those punks lived by me!!! Punks who are such losers have to pick on someone who is weaker! Come to my bus stop boys!!!!!
Mike
* The problem with these mentally degenerate children is that they grow into adults with the same anti-social traits.
gino
* those punks DO live by me... Cherry Creek Schools are a disgrace regarding this bullying activity! My step-son has been bullied at the shcool bus stop, at school, and even in class for months. When we called the school, they said since it is happeneing on the way to/from the bus stop, or not during the actual class, they are not responsible and will not do ANYTHING!
My step-son goes to Heritage and step daughter to West! And yes, they have a major issue at both due to administrators turning a blind eye to the problem...its time for the Principals to be held responsible just like what happened to the principal in Air Academy District for refusing to help a 6th grade girl named Casey...she ended up dead....and the district paid multiple millions of dollars to her parents for her death.....when are these people going to have to wake up?
JR Ridings
* Bullies usually have crappy parents. Why don't we publish some parents' names and then I believe that much of this would stop.
Karl Spackler
* I'd support that....
KarlSpackler wrote:
Bullies usually have crappy parents. Why don't we publish some parents' names and then I believe that much of this would stop.
Sounds fair to me...
JR Ridings
* This Is A Hate Crime The Cherry Creek school district is using the excuse of "bullying" to avoid any further embarrassment of its so called student diversity policies.
John
* Bullying at Cherry Creek Schools If you read this, Adrian, please hang in there! Communicate with your parents and teachers. Try your best to be who you are. Confidence scares bullies. Show them that you are strong in your belief in yourself and your family. Sing/act, study, play and ignore those who can't seem to accept anyone different from themselves. Best of luck.
Tim Gaudette
* We are a society of conquer first, question later..... This is the very reason my son takes martial arts classes and has for the last 6 years. Now at 17 he teaches the younger kids and I am so very proud of him. No one should be forced to be a victim of bullying or anything else.
K S
* psychosocial Wait one minute; children are born Innocent and those primitive thought patterns are a learned behavior from the adults. The disillusionment and depersonalization of our social behaviors is a psychosocial interpretation of the real problem. We justify evil in ourselves with the evil of others, and we teach this to our children, with "our" behaviors.
There are two children in a sandbox declaring my father is greater then yours, my religious belief is greater then yours, my skin color is greater then yours; and you declare war on your own brothers.
It is know more then the appeasement of the demons in all of us.
patrick
* And we wonder why some people go crazy and shoot up schools
Dude Man
* From One Parent to Another My heart goes out to Adrian's parents. No parent wants to learn that their child is being picked on, but to have it result in this kind of hatred and violence is even worse. Adrian is an adorable, talented little boy. I hope he and his family find resolution in this process.
Ironically, the boys calling him "Nazi" displayed the same hateful tactics the Nazis employed during the Hitler regime. They dehumanized millions of people based on their religion and/or ethnicity and physical attributes, and then convinced millions of compatriots that it would be OK to persecute, torture and kill them.
That is why we need to remember and learn from history because, as it has been said over and over again: If we forget what happened in the past, it is bound to happen again in the future. This month, people across the nation are marking Black History Month and National Holocaust Awareness Week. Perhaps now would be a good time for Cherry Creek Schools to implement some sort of program to enlighten their students.
* Adrian's final solution These kids should be packed into trains and sent to a camp where the can concentrate on not being bullies.
Cam Neely
driver wrote:
Wait one minute; children are born Innocent and those primitive thought patterns are a learned behavior from the adults. The disillusionment and depersonalization of our social behaviors is a psychosocial interpretation of the real problem. We justify evil in ourselves with the evil of others, and we teach this to our children, with "our" behaviors.
There are two children in a sandbox declaring my father is greater then yours, my religious belief is greater then yours, my skin color is greater then yours; and you declare war on your own brothers.
It is know more then the appeasement of the demons in all of us.
You will notice that its not history repeating itself but the same hate crimes are being brought up to promote and support specific agendas. In this case the media is shying away from calling this a hate crime. Their diversity policies are really agenda motivated, so this German kid was just being bullied. If this child was Hispanic it would have been a hate crime.
John
* Both at fault Looks to me like this "victim" took it to the next level by starting a fight. If you read between the lines of the article it is clear that this kid likely instigated the physical altercation. As a result, he likely has no legal claim nor should he. Bullying should not be tolerated but lets not make this kid out to be too much of a victim.
* school bullies This story reminds me of the Post's articles that said that the precursor to the Columbine shootings was the bullying of Dylan and Eric. I never read the names of the those bullies. In retrospect, I think it would have been justified to identify them. They should have faced some sort of accountability.
1 comments:
I find that really disgusting and unfortunate. Everybody has the right to be who they are and they shouldn't be beaten up or turn down upon based on sexually preference. That boy did nothing wrong to them and I think that is wrong. If i could speak to that boy I would tell him that it will be okay and that he should t let anybody get him down and he should love himself and be who he is because nobody has the right to take that away from you.
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