Top Stories Milwaukee

After dousing himself with gasoline in a high school bathroom, a Waupun ninth-grader who claimed to be a victim of bullying could now face juvenile delinquency charges for bringing a hazardous liquid to school.

On April 25, the 15-year-old student brought a water bottle partially filled with gasoline to Waupun Area High School, walked into a bathroom and poured part of the fuel on himself, according to school officials. Instead of lighting himself on fire, the boy went to a counselor’s office to report what he had done.

The boy reportedly said he hadn’t planned to kill himself, only to hurt himself to make a statement because he was being bullied by other students.

“Once we got him to the hospital, I started talking to him and he said the reason he did this is he felt he was picked on made fun of at school,” Waupun Area School District Supt. Don Childs told The Sauk Prairie Eagle. “In his own words, he wanted to make a statement that that kind of stuff had to stop.”

Childs said school staff will meet with the boy after he returns to school. He could also be referred to the Dodge County Juvenile Court for charges related to “bringing a dangerous liquid to school,” according to Childs.

The superintendent said the school has an anti-bullying program, “but it’s a hard thing to stop.”

He told the Fond du Lac Reporter bullying is a society-wide concern: “We see a lot of adult behavior that’s built on incivility rather than trying to solve our differences. And as long as that’s the case, I’m afraid the kind of bullying that occurs is going to continue to be pretty damaging.”

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.