Teen Student Against Illegal Immigration Jumped in School
A 13 yr. old girl taking part in a class project on political activism was jumped by students protesting her ‘Stop Illegal Immigration’ sign:
DALLAS — A teenager who took a sign reading “If you love our nation, stop illegal immigration” to school said she was hurt after being swarmed by angry classmates, and administrators said Tuesday they have suspended three students involved in the scuffle.
Hayes said she was showing the sign in the hallway when a group of students tried wresting it away.
J.R. Bowers, the girl’s father, said Melanie suffered scratch marks along her neck, face and arms. He said she also had a swollen jaw.
Bowers said as many as 20 students surrounded his daughter in the hallway, and Hayes said others may have hurled verbal insults. The poster was ultimately destroyed by other students.
Who were the attackers and what happened to them?
The three students given in-school suspension are Hispanic, Hayes said. Bowers is white. Although the school has video surveillance, Hayes said the incident occurred in a blind spot out of camera range but no punches were thrown.
Hayes said that since local media first reported the story in Athens, a city of 12,000 about 70 miles south of Dallas, the district has received e-mails from far away.
Won’t be doing this class project again:
Bowers agreed that the project shouldn’t have been given to an eighth-grade class.
“The night before she had this due, she started telling me about this assignment,” Bowers said. “I looked at her and said, ‘This is a bad idea. This is going to go south real quick.’”
Hayes said the class project was not appropriate for middle school students. He said the immigration issue has become so politicized and polarizing that “it’s much more than illegal now. It just becomes sinister and evil.”
As opposed to teaching elementary students about alternative lifestyles and abortion, those issues aren’t polarized, I guess.
– ‘The Commish’ A.J. Sparxx