Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Eric Martin: Bullied and Beaten By Gang Of Students ... And Charged With Assault

A couple of things about yours truly: I know what it’s like to be bullied. I was bullied for being gay — or at least perceived as being gay — all through junior high and high school. I cannot remember a day going by that I wasn’t called “faggot” or “queer.” But luckily for me, if you could consider it luck, the bullying was mostly name-calling and, maybe, the occasional shove in the hallway’ I didn’t have to live with the threat of physical harm, just the still painful verbal taunts which make me shudder even today, decades later.

Another thing about me? I am not a violent person. I have never been in a physical fight in my life; the closest I ever came was one day when my sister was so irate—that girl had a temper—that she tried to slug me; I grabbed both her wrists and basically set her down on the kitchen floor. I don’t fight.

So, I cannot begin to imagine what Eric Martin went through, after years of being called “faggot” and “queer;” years of shoves and taunts and harassment, until, one day, he’d had enough and decided to fight back against those who bullied him.

He fought back against several, several, of his classmates called him names and then beat him into unconsciousness; Eric spent nearly two weeks in the hospital with a traumatic brain injury, multiple contusions and a broken arm.

And finally the school has decided to press charges … against Eric.

Yes, the kid who has been bullied and taunted and name-called since he was a child is being charged as a criminal because he finally stood up for himself.

When are we going to stop letting this happen? When are we, as a community of parents, of bullied students, of allies, going to demand that the schools do something? How many students have to die, have to be beaten, have to be arrested before it’s enough?

We go to school to learn, not berate and abuse those students who seem different; we go to school to study, not to gang up on someone who acts in a way we don’t understand, we don’t like.

The bullies are winning; LGBTQ youth are being harassed to death, unless they fight back, and then they are being charged as criminals.

There is a GoFundMe page set up to help Eric pay his legal bills; bills he’ll have to pay because he was the victim of gang violence and fought back — keep in mind not one of his attackers was hospitalized or hurt during the fight, but Eric himself was in the hospital for six weeks.

There is also a place to send Eric letters of support, to let him know that while his own school, his own teachers, principal and administrators stood by and did nothing for him, that we can stand by him, and support him, and let him know that he is not alone.

We are all Eric Martin.
sources:
ISBL: Two Cases of Bullying ... Two Ridiculous Outcomes

Letters for Eric
P.O.Box 993
Sandston, Va. 23150

7 comments:

  1. argh! Time to take the school to court.

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  2. Unbelievable; TDM has it right

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  3. Sickening. My heart aches.

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  4. I've had a child in exactly this situation, except he isnt gay. He was bullied thru school for being different, he is very smart, but socially inept and didnt mesh well with the other students. He was chased down and cornered in the shower area of the locker room and hit so hard it broke his nose, chipped a front tooth and had a mild concussion from hitting his head on the shower floor. My son also doesnt fight, he is extremely non-violent. The boy got off scott free, and our son had 2 week detention for fighting, not allowed to take gym and was given a fail for that period.

    We called the police, who after an investigation deemed our son innocent of any wrong doings, and wanted to arrest the boy who hit him. The courts let us down, and refused to carry the case forward.

    Bottom line? Schools and the courts often let down the very kids that need the most protection. I feel for this boy and his family. Payday I'll give some money to help them out.

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  5. Thanks for reporting this. It's a horrible shame that Eric has had to endure this abuse, first at the hands of his so-called "peers" (actually his inferiors) and then at the hands of the school bureaucracy.

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  6. Anonymous5:27 PM

    Please take your children out of public schools! It’s not the same as it use to be ! What do parents expect to gain sending them there. I’m speaking to every parent out there! It’s only getting worse!

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  7. Anonymous5:29 PM

    And Ms. Martin , I’m so upset about what has happened to your beautiful son , praying for quick healing .

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