Parents of kids who committed suicide hold schools responsible for bullying

The mother of a 13-year-old boy who took his own life after being bullied for being gay is demanding that the Tehachapi Unified School District show her that administrators have a plan in place to prevent future harassment.

Wendy Walsh also filed a complaint with the Department of Education's civil rights department, asking that its officials determine why the California school district didn't take action when Walsh complained that her son, Seth, was being harassed for being gay.

"I want to keep another child from feeling helpless and hopeless and prevent another family from heartbreak," Walsh told Tehachapi News reporter Tina Forde. She may yet file a lawsuit through her American Civil Liberties Union lawyer if the school doesn't answer her demand for a written anti-harassment plan.

The DOE confirmed that the agency is investigating the incident, in the first public sign that department officials are making good on the DOE's October warning to school administrators that they will face federal scrutiny and even sanctions if they do not prevent harassment. Education Secretary Arne Duncan also told schools that anti-gay bullying is a civil rights issue, because it can be considered gender-based harassment. (Sexual orientation is not explicitly covered by existing civil rights laws.)

Walsh says that administrators had twice told her son that he could be home-schooled based on his mother's complaints that he was being bullied and called anti-gay names. It's unclear if the accused bullies were punished.

At least seven teenagers committed suicide within the space of a month this fall after facing bullying for being gay or being perceived as gay. The deaths prompted a media firestorm that sparked demands for stricter policies against anti-gay bullying in the country's schools. Some in the education community, however, have cautioned that the result could be distracting and frivolous lawsuits, not safer schools.

The National School Board Association, which represents 3,000 school districts, wrote in a letter (PDF) to the DOE earlier this month that the department's definition of the law will lead to "misguided litigation" that will drain schools of money and time. The DOE says a school is responsible for stopping harassment they "reasonably" should know about, while a Supreme Court precedent says a school is only responsible for harassment it does know about, the letter states.

Ken Trump, an Ohio-based schools safety expert, says parents already have the tools in place at the local level to fight harassment, whether anti-gay or of another nature. But, he adds, home-schooling should never be the first option presented to someone who is being bullied, as it places the effective onus of punishment on the victim. "We want to see the threat-makers feel the consequences, not the victim," he said.

Schools are bound by federal privacy laws and thus are often unable to tell their side of the story, Trump adds.

Meanwhile, the parents of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University student who committed suicide after his roommate allegedly videotaped him in a personal encounter with another man, filed papers to reserve their right to sue the school. They must wait six months before bringing suit.

"Subject to further investigation, it appears that Rutgers University failed to act, failed to put in place, and/or failed to implement, and enforce policies and practices that would have prevented or deterred such acts, and that Rutgers University failed to act timely and appropriately," the parents' notice said, according to the Star Ledger.

Rutgers says that the university was not liable for for his death.

(Photo of vigil for Clementi in October: AP)