School ignored Death threat - 16 year old gay student says

School ignored Death threat - 16 year old gay student says

It is happening all around us. We know Gay kids in school are at increased risk of being the targets of violence and assault. It is time authorities in our schools in Canada and the United States started taking assults and threats against gay students seriously.

Teachers, administrators and others in positions of authority have for too long tried to keep gay kids quiet. The story below highlights this specifically.


From: NBC Cincinati Police Pick Up Investigation at Beechwood High

POSTED: 4:45 pm EST December 17, 2004
UPDATED: 7:26 pm EST December 17, 2004

FORT MITCHELL, Ky. -- A gay high school student who found a death threat in his locker says he's scared, but more than that, he's upset that the assistant principal he showed the note to told him to just forget about it.

Scott is just like any other junior at Beechwood High School, News 5's Juliette Vara reports.

The 16-year-old likes to write and hang out with friends. The only difference, he says, is he's gay.

"I came out in 8th grade when I was 13," Scott says.

Scott says he's been harassed and had to deal with slurs about his sexuality.

But he says what happened to him last Friday, when he found a death threat on a piece of paper in his locker, crossed the line.

So did assistant principal's reaction when he reported it.

"He told me I should throw note away and act as if I didn't see it," Scott says.

So Scott went to the police, who are now investigating this crime.

"In light of things that happen in other schools across the United States, you' can't discount any of these," said Fort Mitchell Police Chief Steve Hensely.

That's Scott's point exactly.

Now he wonders, what if this happened to a female classmate? Would the school react the same?

"If a note got in her locker that said, 'I'm gonna rape you,' that would've been handled differently," Scott says.

All he wants is to be taken seriously.

The Beechwood superintendent said he was unaware of the conversation Scott had with the assistant principal.

But the superintendent assured News 5 that the school is working with police and that they are trying to determine who wrote the note.

If that person is found, he could be charged with terroristic threatening.