Olympia bullying victim: ‘It’s constant, everyday harassment’

OLYMPIA, Wash. — An Olympia teenager claims he’s the victim of continuous bullying and said the school system is doing nothing about it.

Richard Crane’s mother has filed a civil rights complaint with the United States Department of Education. It’s the third complaint she’s filed with the department’s Office of Civil Rights, and she said she won’t settle for anything less than action.

Richard, who is a sophomore at Olympia High School, said the bullying has been going on for some time.

“I ended up in the hospital that day, the last day of my eighth grade year,” he said. “I’ve had some pretty depressing thoughts and I don’t know what to do. It’s constant, everyday harassment.

Richard’s mom, Tamara, said the bullying has been both physical and psychological.

“It’s not just name calling or whispering or pointing,” she said. “It sometimes goes into actual threats of bodily harm, and for him it’s not a hypothetical that someone might beat him up. He’s been beaten up, so you can’t really brush aside a threat like that.”

But Tamara claims the Olympia School District has brushed the abuse aside.

“There just doesn’t seem to be much response,” she said.

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