Bullied to Death? 16-Year-Old Girl's Family Sues Ohio School for Not Stopping "Lethal" Harassment

By: Barry Leibowitz
Topics: Daily Blotter

(AP/CBS)

CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) The family of a 16-year-old girl who committed suicide is suing her school, accusing officials of failing to stop relentless bullying by classmates prior to her death.

The lawsuit says Sladjana Vidovic was verbally harassed and on one occasion was pushed down a set of stairs at Mentor High School, about 20 miles northeast of Cleveland.

The family's attorney, Kenneth Myers, says Vidovic, whose parents are from Croatia, was teased about her heritage and accent. He said Vidovic became depressed over the bullying and hanged herself from her bedroom window on Oct. 2, 2008.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court seeks unspecified damages.

School superintendent Jacqueline Hoynes says the district will vigorously defend itself against the allegations.

9 Comments +

Add a Comment

by stuos August 25, 2010 2:21 PM EDT

bingbong:

I think the "bong" part of your name is telling. We don't have to do too much guessing about you, given your poor grammar and syntax. You hated school, didn't you? And most of all, you hated kids who did better than you did in school; who appeared to have bright futures? You hated kids who could write well and think well. So you called them names or beat them up, didn't you? My, how you must have enjoyed that.

You must have doubly enjoyed it when you could see the corrosive effect your abuse had on some of these kids' self esteem. They were hurting you by being more talented than you, and it felt good to hurt them back, didn't it?

Of course, there were those who shrugged you off, and you left them alone, because they were no fun to torture. You tortured only the vulnerable. If one of them hanged him/herself, so much the better, right? That's the bullying reinforcement loop, after all. Sadists enjoy inflicting pain, and there's no joy in trying to inflict pain and failing to do so. That's why the "depression" excuse is ridiculous. Of course bullies pick on the emotionally disabled, just as they assault the physically disabled at every opportunity.

I'm sure it surprises no one that you want this sort of thing to continue. After all, how will you and others get your kicks?

Reply to this comment


by bingbong22 August 26, 2010 4:52 AM EDT: Whaaaaaat.....sniff sniff...it it its like you have some sort of magic crystal ball. Dang it all anyway you hit the nail on the head, I must be a bad person.

Although if you want to get down to brass tacks you have just fallen into the trap of your argument. By attacking me on a personal level you have become what you decry in your post. Now is that because you were "diddled" as a child, or is it a deeper underlying cause. I can't even venture a guess as to the reason, maybe you should dump the crystal ball and look into a mirror for that answer.

I actually applaud you for "comming out" as a formerly abused(diddled)current bully....clap clap clap.....hypocrite.


by playa1165 August 26, 2010 5:20 AM EDT: Can we say cyber-bullying anyone? I hope you haven't caused bing to go hang himself.

by amerilatino August 23, 2010 10:59 AM EDT

juminate, the girl was a 16 year old MINOR who was REPEATEDLY harassed and even assaulted (she was pushed down the stairs) while under the obligatory custody of the school system, which failed to take action even after recieving complaints. I wonder how YOU would feel if a government agency forced you to be present in a place where your dignity, well-being and safety were being jeopardized to ever-increasing degrees by a number of hostile people who could easily overpower you, through no fault of your own, and nobody did anything about it, even though they were sworn to do so? What is with you, don't you know the difference between right and wrong?

Reply to this comment


by pak31 August 23, 2010 2:58 PM EDT: I would have to read the whole story somewhere to know the extent of the bullying and the school's reaction to it. That being said, when it comes to these bullying cases, it IS sad and it is horrible that kids bully and taunt others but bullying has been around since the dawn of time. Bullying is awful but parents really need to stress to their kids that names are just names and that the bullys are just cowards who have nothing better to do or say. I am not saying that parents DON'T do that either. I think most kids can handle the bullying, the ones that actually would kill themselves over it must have emotional issues to begin with because who would want to die like that over silly name calling? I guess I just can't see how a mentally stable kid would consider self inflicted death as an option.


by stuos August 24, 2010 11:24 AM EDT: Thank you for those deep insights into neuropsychology. If only you would speak to the psychological and neuropsychological communities, we could solve this problem right now. If only they had known! All it takes to deal with emotional illness is a few words!

Thank you for your brilliance.

by juminate August 23, 2010 9:14 AM EDT

My question is how do we know that the parent's weren't just diddling her and that is why she is "depressed". Why should we blame the school for something that the parents did not or maybe would not take care of. This sue first society is just crazy. Maybe the school should counter sue just because they are awful parents who could not reach their daugther resulting in her death.

Reply to this comment


by stuos August 24, 2010 11:29 AM EDT: As a child, I was, in fact, "diddled." Your use of such a comical word for what is, in fact, child rape tells me a lot about you.

As for depression somehow excusing the bullies, that's like saying that it's OK to beat up a kid in a wheelchair because, after all, he's crippled. Bullies don't prey on the strong; they prey on the weak. That's the whole point of being a bully. The more words clearly hurt a kid, the more the bullies will redouble their efforts to hurt him/her. They LOVE the reaction they get when they hurt someone. Sadism is their raison d'etre.

Suits are the only way to get through to people like you, who think child rape is funny. Common, human decency isn't persuasive to you. Losing money is. Money will cause this school to change. Clearly, nothing else will.


by bingbong22 August 25, 2010 5:53 AM EDT: stuos
"As a child, I was, in fact, "diddled." Your use of such a comical word for what is, in fact, child rape tells me a lot about you."

well first off...congratulations! you win, no no no there isn't a prize for you just you overblown ego and quite comical lack of comprehension. Secondly, nowhere I repeat, nowhere did he say depression excused bullies,never try to rush and post without understanding the post.Thirdly why is the school responsible for her depression? why should they be held accountable for her death? hundred of kids go through this every day and they're fine, this was just one weak willed little kid.