Ok so.. earlier today I saw a really heartbreaking court case on tv involving two young girls (and I never watched court tv shows until yesterday...). The show was called 'Justice For All' with Judge Cristina Perez..
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A 12yr old girl's mom was suing a 13 yr old girl's father for medical expenses after the 13 yr old allegedly bullying and causing injuries to the 12 yr old during gym class resulting in $3200 worth of stitches and dental work.. Both girls and their parents look and act like decent normal people. The 12 yr old victim is an honors student.
The 12 yr old victim was bullied and made fun of so much that she would eat her lunch in the bathroom instead of with the other kids... and the school did nothing about it even though the mom tried several times to get them to. They eventually made sure she was not in any of the 13 yr olds classes.. but they were still in the same gym class..
On the day it happened, the 12 yr old (April) said the 13 yr old (Madeleine) was acting nice towards her by talking to her so she was happy because she thought they would be friends finally and no more bullying, but it was a setup because when they played this game in gym class she ran towards Madeleine and this other girl who she thought was her friend and they were supposed to keep their hands locked together and keep her from going passed them... She thought they would do that because they were nice to her earlier.. Well the girls pulled their hands away at the last moment and April was running so fast towards them that she ran face first into the side of the bleachers and needed stitches and chipped her tooth..
The judge asked if anyone tried to help her, she said no.. everyone just stood there and some were laughing at her. The judge asked Madeleine if she tried to help her and she said no because she didn't know what to do but she swore she didn't laugh at her either... Then the father chimed in and said Madeliene had recently lost her mom to cancer and hasn't been the same since then..
The judge of course sympathized with Madeleine and her father and said that acting out is normal but is still not an excuse for bullying. The judge handled the whole thing sensitively and beautifully. Then the judge asked Madeleine what her mom was like and she said she was so kind and amazing and loved everyone... So the judge asked her how she would feel about what she did if she was still here. Madeliene said she would definitely be disappointed in her, and then she started to cry. Her dad tried to comfort her... The judge explained to her that what she's doing to April is making her feel about a third of what she feels from losing her mom. Then the judge asked her if she wanted to make her feel that way... she said no and you could tell she meant it...
At the very end, outside in the hall Madeleine, while crying said to April "What I did to you was horrible. I'm really really sorry."
April said, "Its okay. I can't even imagine what you're going through."