Jamie Nabozny and His mother Carol Rosin request a meeting with Ashland High School principal, Mr. Davis, and his homeroom and home economics teacher Ms. Nina Buxbaum to discuss issues of harassment that have been occurring at Ashland High. Mrs. Podlesny Jamie's former Middle School Principal also attends the meeting. At the meeting, Jamie reports that he has been harassed and assaulted by students at Ashland High. He shared that on one occasion in the hallway right next to a teacher one student called out "Hey, homo". Jamie said he looked directly at Mr. Wash (a teacher in the hallway standing outside his classroom door), who looked at Jamie and just shrugged his shoulders. Jamie goes on to say: "I just know that it hurt a lot to hear those words on a daily basis—people calling me queer, fag, homo ... saying really disgusting things about ... sex ..." In response to what Jamie said, Nina Buxbaum, home economics teacher at Ashland High replies: "Kids get harassed for all kinds of reasons. They're too fat. They're too thin. They're too tall. They are too smart. They're too dumb. Gays and lesbians are picked on." Carol Rosin, Jamie's mother looked directly at Mr. Davis, Ashland High's principal, however received no response. Jamie went on and explained: "When I was walking down the hallway I'd have things thrown at me ... I'd be kicked, tripped, spit on, kicked." Mrs. Podlesny looked directly at Jamie and then to his mother and said: "'Boys will be boys,' and if Jamie was going to act so openly gay he has to expect this stuff to happen to him." Jamie's mother frowned and asked Jamie to share what happened one-day in class. He would not and lowered his head. Carol Rosin stated, "One day Jamie's science teacher stepped out of the classroom." She paused. Jamie looked up and added, "And the two boys started harassing me. And they had started touching my legs and telling me, you know, that 'you like it' and stuff, and I kept pushing them away. And then eventually I tried to get away from them and they pushed me to the ground. One of them got on top of me and were just continuing to—to touch me and being vulgar, I guess." Jamie silently lowered his head and said nothing else, nor did his Mother. Mr. Davis unsettled by the silence thanks Carol Rosin, Jamie's mother, and Jamie for bringing these issues to his attention. He thanks Ms. Buxbaum and Mrs. Podlesny for their attendance at the meeting and remarks "I will look into these matters." Mr. Davis nor Ashland High do very little to stop the harassment. Five years latter Jamie sues the School District's Educational Leaders.

1. What are the legal and/or policy issues that you need to be aware of in terms of this situation?
2. What are the ethical and moral issues that arise in this situation?
3. What should be the focus of your immediate attention, and why? What would you do?
4. What long-term solution/policy should be implemented, and what should be your role in making this happen?
5. What is the greatest professional challenge for you in this situation as presented, and how would you plan to address this challenge?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

1 Legal andor policy issues The main legal issue in this case revolves around educational ... View the full answer