Lauderhill sixth-grader turns knife on 2 bullies

A victim of school bullies at Lauderhill Middle used a knife on Wednesday to fight back. All three boys face criminal charges.
BY JENNIFER MOONEY PIEDRA AND KATHLEEN McGRORY
Miami Herald
Feb. 10, 2007

After hearing stories about repeated violence at Lauderhill Middle, Jenella Oliphant planned to withdraw her 13-year-old niece from the school on Wednesday.

When she arrived at the campus, she saw paramedics and several police officers responding to a fight that broke out out among three boys, leaving one of them hospitalized with minor cuts from a paring knife.

''You hear about fighting and stuff, but not a stabbing -- not at a middle school,'' Oliphant said. ``I am glad I am pulling her out.''

Three Lauderhill Middle students are facing criminal charges after the fight that broke out shortly before the school day began at 8:30 a.m.

Two eighth-grade boys, both 15, attacked a sixth-grade boy by punching him outside of the school cafeteria at 1901 NW 49th Ave., said BSO spokeswoman Keyla Concepción.

The 13-year-old sixth-grader, who was attacked by the same eighth-graders in a fight off the school campus in October, carried the knife in his backpack to protect himself, BSO said.

On Wednesday, he pulled out the knife and used it to cut one of the eighth-graders three times -- twice on his side and once on his arm, said Marsy Smith, a Broward Schools spokeswoman.

School officials were standing near the scene of the dispute, and were able to break it up quickly, BSO said.

The injured boy was taken to Plantation General Hospital, where he was treated and released for minor cuts.

The knife-wielding sixth-grader is facing one charge of felony possession of a knife on school grounds, while the two older boys are facing misdemeanor battery charges.

The boys' names have not been released because of their ages.

Immediately after the fight, the school was placed on lockdown. During that time, principal Leo Nesmith issued a stern message to students over the public address system: This is not where you bring your foolishness from your neighborhood. You are here to learn. I do not run a crazy house.''

News of the fight angered Brenda High, founder and co-director of Bully Police USA, a national watchdog organization that advocates anti-bullying laws.

Adults who were aware of the ongoing dispute between the two eighth-graders and the sixth-grader should have done something to stop the bullying, she said.

''I hate hearing stories like that because it could have been prevented,'' High said. ``Shame on those adults for not stopping the bullying.''

Wednesday's fight was another example of bullying in Broward schools that has led to violence.

In November 2005, Camille Burke, then 17, boarded her school bus in Miramar and shot a classmate who had been teasing her about her hair.

A year later, Burke agreed to serve 10 years in prison along with 10 years probation in exchange for her guilty plea on charges of attempted murder and possession of a firearm on school property.

State legislators are expected to consider anti-bullying legislation during this year's 60-day legislative session in Tallahassee, which begins March 6.

State Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, a Fort Lauderdale Republican, has said that she plans to introduce a bill that would require school districts to create and enforce anti-bullying policies. A similar measure filed last year by Bogdanoff won support in the House, but stalled in the Senate.

Michelle Oliphant, the Lauderhill Middle student whose aunt withdrew her from the school Wednesday, said she is ready for a change.

Last week, Michelle saw a student throw a textbook at a teacher's head.

Enough is enough, she said.

''We come to school for an education, not for violence,'' she said. ``I'm glad I'm leaving.''