Education and Awareness can help protect our children from harm

There are very few things that get me upset, I'm a usually calm and collective type of guy in person.

But when I heard the story last night about a child with special needs being assaulted and beaten just feet away from his school, I was extremely upset.

For those that may not know, I have 2 children with special needs, including one with Autism, so this story hit close to home for me.

Here's a quick rundown of the story, a 13 year old eighth grader with Autism and ADHD was walking to his mother after school near Liberty Hill Middle School in Killeen. As he was walking, some other children began yelling racial slurs at him and a 16 year old began to assault him and beat him as others watched and did nothing to help, resulting in his wrist being broken. The whole incident was caught on tape.

His mother said, this isn't the first time her son was beaten, just the first time it was caught on tape. The mother called police and the school district asking for help, but the school district allegedly said they could not get involved because the incident happened 300 feet away from the school. Really? All those involved have one thing in common...the school!

The latest update I've heard is the school district has a strict policy against bullying, but this incident goes far beyond bullying. This is basically injury to a child, granted it was another child involved but it should be treated that severely.

But, the people that should be blamed the most are the parents of the children involved. Parents are the ones that should educate our children on bullying and awareness for children with special needs. If the parents would have done their job, this incident probably would not have happened.

Before I make this post into a book, let me just say as parents, teachers, schoold district officials, community leaders; we all need to educate our children about how to help those that cannot help themselves.

So I leave with links to help education and awareness to help protect ALL of our children.

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