An 11-year-old boy has been placed in a medically induced coma after what his dad says was a bullying attack at his school.

Bailey O'Neil is a sixth grader at Darby Township School, in a working-class suburb outside Philadelphia, and according to his father, four weeks ago, he got into a fight with a classmate, who had been bullying him along with some other kids. He struck Bailey in the face over and over again. He wound up on the ground with a fractured nose and a concussion.

Bailey was checked out at a hospital and released, but his parents noticed right away that he didn't seem quite like himself.

Via:

"He was sleeping. He was moody. He wasn't himself. He was angry a little bit. He wasn't really eating," O'Neill said.

A few days later, Bailey took a turn for the worse and started having violent seizures.

Doctors at A.I. duPont Hospital for Children were forced to put Bailey into a medically induced coma almost two weeks ago.

"Every day I'm trying to stay strong for him, but when you get into that hospital room and you're looking at him, I would trade places in a heartbeat. It's my buddy, you know," O'Neill said.

Bailey is an honor student, an athlete, and a big brother.

The bully received a two-day suspension from the school, and police have not yet filed any charges in the case. A police investigation is ongoing.

Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old schoolgirl from Pakistan shot by the Taliban in October because she believed girls should have the right to go to school, released her first video statement following the attempt on her life in October as she rode a bus to school.

In the video, which was taped before she underwent two major surgeries on Saturday to repair her skull and restore her hearing, Malala said she would continue to fight for girls' education. "Today you can see that I'm alive."

"I can speak, I can see you, I can see everyone and today I can speak and I'm getting better day by day. It's just because of the prayers of people, and because of these prayers, God has given me this new life, and this is a second life. This is the new life and I want to serve the people."

"I want every girl, every child to be educated," she said in her video statement. "And for that reason, we have organized the Malala Fund."

Vital Voices – a global non-governmental organization advancing girls' and women's leadership through training and mentoring – established the fund on behalf of Malala and her family.

The group worked together with supporters of the cause including The United Nations Foundation, Girl Up, and several other organizations and individuals, and the fund is intended to provide grants to organizations and individuals focused on education.

Malala and her father are on the board of the Malala Fund and she will help guide and direct projects the fund supports.

A message on the organization's website said: "We established the Malala Fund on behalf of Malala and her family, working together with supporters of the cause, including the United Nations Foundation and Girl Up, and within a community of supportive organizations and individuals, to realize Malala's vision of education for all girls."

In a perfect world, all children would have at least one teacher this special. Jeffrey Wright uses wacky experiments to teach children about the universe, but it is his own personal story that teaches them the true meaning of life.

A now yearly tradition, Mr. Wright gives a lecture on his experiences as a parent of a special needs child. His son, Adam, now 12, has a rare disorder called Joubert syndrome, in which the part of the brain related to balance and movement fails to develop properly. Visually impaired and unable to control his movements, Adam breathes rapidly and doesn’t speak.

This annual lecture about Adam, and the meaning of life, love and family is what leaves the greatest impression on Jeffrey Wright's students.

NYT:

“When you start talking about physics, you start to wonder, ‘What is the purpose of it all?’ ” he said in an interview. “Kids started coming to me and asking me those ultimate questions. I wanted them to look at their life in a little different way — as opposed to just through the laws of physics — and give themselves more purpose in life.”

Mr. Wright starts his lecture by talking about the hopes and dreams he had for Adam and his daughter, Abbie, now 15. He recalls the day Adam was born, and the sadness he felt when he learned of his condition.

“All those dreams about ever watching my son knock a home run over the fence went away,” he tells the class. “The whole thing about where the universe came from? I didn’t care. … I started asking myself, what was the point of it?”

All that changed one day when Mr. Wright saw Abbie, about 4 at the time, playing with dolls on the floor next to Adam. At that moment he realized that his son could see and play — that the little boy had an inner life. He and his wife, Nancy, began teaching Adam simple sign language. One day, his son signed “I love you.”

In the lecture, Mr. Wright signs it for the class: “Daddy, I love you.” “There is nothing more incredible than the day you see this,” he says, and continues: “There is something a lot greater than energy. There’s something a lot greater than entropy. What’s the greatest thing?”

“Love,” his students whisper.

“Wright’s Law” recently won a gold medal in multimedia in the national College Photographer of the Year competition, run by the University of Missouri. The filmmaker, Zack Conkle, 22, a photojournalism graduate of Western Kentucky University is also a former student of Mr. Wright’s. He says that he made the film because he would get frustrated trying to describe Mr. Wright’s teaching style.

Yet another instance in which a gun was a really bad idea.

Via:

A Denver mother who believed her daughter was being bullied at school drove into the school's parking lot and threatened four girls with a gun, according to an arrest document.

Monica Avila, 34, was charged Tuesday with four counts of felony menacing and one count of possession of a weapon on school grounds, also a felony. According to the probable cause statement accompanying her arrest paperwork, Avila drove into the parking lot at Lake Middle School on Thursday afternoon and confronted four girls, ages 13 and 14.

The statement says Avila began arguing with the girls about bullying. She then, while still sitting in her car, pulled out a black semi-automatic handgun and said, "Look what I have," the document states.

Now Monica is in jail in lieu of $50k bail, and with those felony charges, it could be a long while before she isn't behind bars. The "bullies" will still be at school with Monica's daughter, and there will no doubt be a "special" grudge there that could potentially last a lifetime. A gun in your face isn't something anyone would likely soon forget.

Even without firing a single bullet, this case of poor judgement with a gun will affect many more lives than just Monica's for years to come. It may only have been dumb luck that no one was killed this time.

A 10-year-old girl, Sophia Bailey Klugh, wrote to President Barack Obama recently to praise him for his stance on marriage equality, and to ask his advice about what she should do when teased at school because she had two dads.

What a surprise that during the hectic final days of campaigning, the President took the time to respond to Sophia's letter, and share his advice on how to deal with teasing at school:

Dear Sophia,

Thank you for writing me such a thoughtful letter about your family. Reading it made me proud to be your president and even more hopeful about the future of our nation.

In America, no two families look the same. We celebrate this diversity. And we recognize that whether you have two dads or one mom what matters above all is the love we show one another. You are very fortunate to have two parents who care deeply for you. They are lucky to have such an exceptional daughter in you.

Our differences unite us. You and I are blessed to live in a country where we are born equal no matter what we look like on the outside, where we grow up, or who our parents are. A good rule is to treat others the way you hope they will treat you. Remind your friends at school about this rule if they say something that hurts your feelings.

Thanks again for taking the time to write me. I'm honored to have your support and inspired by your compassion. I'm sorry I couldn't make it to dinner, but I'll be sure to tell Sasha and Malia you say hello.

Sincerely,
Barack Obama

Does anyone have an extra tissue handy? *Sniff*

A student at Perry Hall High School in Maryland was shot on campus this morning, the first day of the new academic year, Baltimore County Police say, and another student was taken into custody.

The injured student, whose identity and extent of injury was not revealed, was taken by Medevac to an area hospital, authorities said. Students are being escorted to the nearby Perry Hall Shopping Center at the corner of Ebenezer Road and Belair Road, where parents can meet them, police said.

Hundreds of visibly shaken parents and others gathered at the Perry Hall Shopping Center at the corner of Ebenezer Road and Belair Road as police helicopters hovered overhead.

Reportedly, the shooting took place in the cafeteria of the school, and sent students diving for cover under the tables as "We are in Code Red" was announced over the intercoms just as the school went into lockdown.

You can see in the livestream as parents begin reuiniting with their children now.

More as information becomes available.

This story struck a nerve with me today, as a friend recently told me of her daughter being bullied on her school bus, and the bullies had posted a video on Facebook to continue their taunts online. She contacted the mother of child with the Facebook account, and asked that she please have the video removed, only to have the woman refuse and say her child deserved it because "she's so fat."

What drives a child to be so cruel to another human being?

Via:

Greece. N.Y. - Karen Klein says she heard students on the school bus call her fat, but she tried to ignore it.

She didn't realize how bad the taunting was until she watched the YouTube video that has sparked outrage.

Cell phone video shot on a school bus Monday shows a small group of Greece Athena middle school students bullying Klein about her weight and threatening to come over to her home and steal from her.

Klein, 68, spoke to 13WHAM's Patrice Walsh at home about how much the comments have hurt her.

"I tried to ignore it...I didn't hear some stuff and tried to shut them out," Klein said.

She was horrified and hurt and she wishes she would have done more to stop the students, but felt helpless.

Klein did tell the bus driver and co-workers about the incident but she didn't think much would come of it.

One comment from a boy on the bus was especially hurtful because he said Klein "didn't have a family because they all killed themselves because they didn't want to be near you."

Klein's oldest son took his own life ten years ago.

The video prompted an outpouring of support and a fundraiser by an international crowd funding site that had gathered more than $100,000 by early Thursday.

"Let's give Karen a vacation of a lifetime. Let's show her the power of the internets and how kind and generous people can be," the fundraiser's organizer said on the website.