What should I do if my child was mugged afterschool?

Yesterday my 14 year old son was walking home from school, he passed by a group of kids from the same school waiting at the bus stop. 5 of these kids followed him and one punched him in his face twice from behind and told him "to get out everything he had."

I filed a police report (online because the police department was closed). I called the school to file a report. Today my son sees the same kids at the bus stop. I took the day off work to make sure that he wasn't harrassed again today so when he called me to tell me they were there I rushed to the school bus stop and there's the kid that hit my son, looking at me straight in the eyes no fear,no remorse. So now we know who he is. My fear.....if I report him he will retaliate and do something worst to my son.

These kids are from the bad area of the city that we live in but because of the over population of the schools in their area they are what the School District call "overflows" and they are going to the school that is in our district. I spent the day talking to the school district and talking to other parents finding a safe means of transportation for my son home after school (I'm at work when he gets off school) and some parents told me that boys from the school are typically targeted by these "overflow" students. Usually harrassed and beat up for no reason but just simply to rob them.

I honestly feel helpless. I want to report the kid and press charges. Even thought of reasoning with the parents, but if they are the way they are, it crossed my mind of how receptive the parents will be. The school has zero tolence of violence but if I tell them who this student is and he is repremended what will they do to ensure that my son is safe from retaliation.

Any advice or opinions will be greatly appreciate.....

Parent Comments on "What should I do if my child was mugged afterschool?"

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i haven't had that happen to me but i can say as a parent that all h*ll would break loose! I would get all the law enforcement involved and prosecuteTO THE FULLESTwithout any fear of retaliation.This would send a message to the next kid who touches my child.ALL WOULD BE PUT ON NOTICE: PRINCIPLES,ADMINISTRATION,SCHOOL BOARD,ETC.

Mugging is still against the law if its perpetrated BY a kid UPON a kid, no? Then why not report it to the police? AND the school District office since the principal probably can't/won't do much. And get your child out of that place. If you wouldn't leave your car unlocked in that neighborhood...you shouldn't be leaving your kid unattended there either.

Believeinyou08...I have nothing to add. You said it all and you said it well. THANK YOU for confirming my faith that there ARE other people in this world with common sense. I have long wanted to provide such a service in my communities. But the problem I run into is that the elderly folks don't want to support it because they are afraid of large numbers of young people gathering in their "backyards"...Parents of these kids are apathetic or feel they don't have the money to invest in it and since I have to work for a living and don't have the resources to fund and staff a place on my own I have had to (temporarily) shelve this dream. I'd love to find a group of like minded parents to work on promoting the idea of a place where kids too old for daycare and too young to work can go and be supervised while they do homework, socialize, wait for parents to get home. I'd like to provide snacks and social workers on staff for those that may need someone to talk to. I need fresh ideas for a business plan or other way of gaining acceptance of the need for this. I'm tired of seeing kids walking around town with no where to go being harassed by shopkeepers and cops because no one wants them hanging around...

Our community needs to take this seriously. Bullying has been going on for years and research shows that the child whom has been bullied carries this throughout their life. Parents need to report and school officials and police need to be alerted when someone does report bullies. The bullies must be warned and thrown out if needed. It is time to stop being quiet when something bad is happening. No more fear factors. I am 52 and just went back to school to be able to one day get into school systems and have protection and counseling for our children. Report to police and Principal but get a promise that they will be responsible if it continues. The problem seems to be that too many families need both parents to work. They are stressed and the kids are affected by this. They take their anger out on other kids. It is possible these parents have no Idea what their kids are doing. There are those that do though and it is these parents who need to be responsible. Parents join together and fight until you win this issue. We need to get help for our children. We need to find and open places up where our kids can go when parents are at work. Children home alone most of the time will in most cases get into trouble out of boredom and lonliness.

If this occurred on the way to the school bus stop, then of course the school must be notified. The school goes so far as to say it has a zero tolerance of violence policy and violence has occurred. How can the school enact its zero tolerance of violence policy unless you tell them of this violence?

And you say this is happened before - where are the other parents of the other students who've experienced the same?

Perhaps this is only happening at one bus stop, perhaps not. But the school can take no action until it knows this is happening. It may be that ultimately the circumstances will force you to find another way home for your son - some parent who doesn't work outside the home might be persuaded or even paid something to run a carpool service. Or your son might need an afterschool program until you can come for him.

But the school can do nothing until it knows something.
Good luck and I hope you'll post back and let us know what transpires.

beautifull. this is the kind of response that need to be done. yes the school is still at fault beacuse the child is at the school bus stop. like said no one is untouchable. they will and be dealt with. I LIVE IN A NEIBERHOOD WHERE THE CHILDREN HAVE NO PARENTS TO GUIDE THEM, JUST THERE GRANDPARENTS AND WHO EVER CARES ABOUT THE WELL BEING. THERE IS A TRIBE IN AFRICA THAT HAS A DADDIO SYSTEM. That is all Aduts living in the village are responsible for the well being of the child in there village. I BELIVE THAT IT IS TRUE WE ARE . SO I WILL DO MY BEST TO SET THE CHILDREN RIGHT NO MATTER WHAT THE COST. RONALD KEITH MINTY.

I think that you should report the kids who did this to your son becuase what if it happens to some else kid do you really think that it is going to stop with your son i dont think so that was not right do something i know that you are4 worried but i know that you worrie even more not knowing when its going to happen again talk with your son and ask him how does he really feel. GOOD LUCK..

PERSUSE THESE KIDS AND GET THE POLICE ON THEM. LET THEM KNOW YOU MEAN BUSINESS. ONCE YOU LET THEM KNOW. DONT BACKED DOWN FROM THEM . ONCE THEY SEE YOU MEAN BUSINESS. THEY WILL BACK DOWN. NO ONE LIKE TO GET IN TROUBLE WITH LAW. NO MATTER HOW BAD THEY ARE. I HAVE PLENTY OF EXSPERINCE IN THIS. I KNOW SOME OF THE WORSE CRIMNAL IN THE WORLD. NO ONE IS UNTOUCHABLE. RONALD KEITH MINTY.

What would you do if you were mugged? Say you had gotten the mugger's license plate so you were able to identify them. Would you call the police and press charges, expecting the police to protect you from retaliation, or would you be concerned that something worse might happen to you?

Whatever your reaction would be, I would encourage you to do the same thing here. Just because the muggers in this case are juveniles, they should not be treated any differently than an adult offender for committing a mugging. If you choose to press charges, I would expect the police to deal with this rather than the school district because the legal system can hand out more stiff punishments and protection than a school district. Since this was off school grounds, the police should be able to step in. I would still report this to the school and district as they presumably have anti-bullying rules. Maybe the breaking of these rules would be grounds to revoke the bullys' overflow status or to overflow them to another school. If it is not, I would explain your concerns about retialiation and work with the school to impliment a plan to keep your son safe. Personally, I would not bother trying to deal with the children's parents either. If the boys wasn't raised better than to mug another student, I wouldn't expect the parents to be much help. Good luck to you and your son. It sounds like he is in an extremely difficult environment. Please let us know how everything works out for him.

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