The problem is, this is ceasing to be the exception

The thoughtful debate on the war continues

On April 2, Larson was reading "Great Expectations" after school in the high school commons when he was surrounded by a different group of students. They got in his face.

"This time, their position was I hate America, and I should get out," Larson said. "One of them started strangling me. He had his hands pretty firmly around my neck. I couldn't breathe for a minute or so. Then he hit me with his belt, twice on the legs.

"The only thing he said was, 'George Bush is your daddy,' which seemed delightfully random."

Only one student, a friend of Larson's, tried to intervene. Two more groups of kids swung by to badger him before he escaped the commons, but no one else touched him. While all this happened 40 feet from the school office, no administrators were on the scene.

They've since gotten involved. "There was an altercation. It was unfortunate. There was an immediate suspension," Musser said. Confidentiality laws, he added, prevented further comment.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 4/11/2003 10:56:26 AM |