The Jeremiah Lasater tragedy
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press Friday, October 24, 2008. By DAISY RATZLAFF Valley Press Staff Writer
ACTON - While Vasquez High School officials say bullying incidents are rare and taken seriously when they do occur at the school, parents and students came forward to disagree. After officials said Tuesday they knew of no indications that a 14-year-old boy who fatally shot himself Monday in a school restroom had been bullied by other students, two parents and a student told the Valley Press that teasing and being picked on were not uncommon.
"It simply isn't true what they are saying," said Alison Faulconer, a mother of a former Vasquez High School student. Faulconer said she pulled her daughter Ariel out of Vasquez High last year because "the picking and teasing was tearing her emotionally apart." "People would throw rocks at me and trash at lunch and on campus. I even got jumped in the bathroom one time," said Ariel Faulconer, now 18. "When I got jumped in the bathroom, I told the school who it was and what happened. Nothing happened." Ariel Faulconer, who said she knows the 14-year-old's older brother, said the death did not come as a surprise. "To be honest, I am not in shock," she said. "I am surprised that it took that long. I know it is a sad thing to say, but it is the truth."
Principal Rosemary Oppenheim did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
Ariel Faulconer - who, like the 14-year-old, was also a special-needs student - said the worst was when teachers wouldn't help her. "I was sitting in class and they would pick on me and the teacher did nothing to help," she said. Ariel Faulconer said she was in numerous meetings with the principal and other school officials, but felt so scared of other students that her mother would spend lunch breaks with her. "She would walk around campus with me, but even then people would make comments. But I was scared," she said. Ariel Faulconer admitted to bringing a knife to school one time, saying she wanted it for protection. She said she saw other people with weapons on campus. Because of the bullying, her daughter began behaving differently, Alison Faulconer said. She said she became quiet and withdrawn and began cutting herself. Alison Faulconer said she saw no alternative other than changing schools. Ariel Faulconer now attends the Opportunities For Learning charter school and said she now enjoys going to school. "They were breaking her spirit over and over again," Alison Faulconer said. "I was afraid that I will lose her. And I can tell you right now, Ariel was not the only person that was picked on." Ariel Faulconer said she saw several incidents in which other students were thrown into garbage cans.
A mother whose son, like the 14-year-old, is a junior varsity football player said her son watched the boy get bullied and teased. "My son was there every day. (He) was a big kid and teased so much," said the mother, who asked not to be named. "And it left the field and went over to campus." The woman said she knew of another football player who got picked on. In one incident, she said, team members were angry with the 14-year-old when they were punished for a comment the boy had allegedly made to the team doctor. "The doctor called the head coach and (the coach) made the kids run like crazy, and when the kids asked why they had to run, the head coach pointed at (the 14-year-old)," the mother said. "I remember my son coming home and being angry with (him).