Boy bullied in Gig Harbor as teacher watches

BY Chris Sullivan  on August 29, 2012 @ 5:20 am (Updated: 8:32 am - 8/30/12 )

The parents of a Gig Harbor boy have asked for a criminal investigation after their son was terrorized in a bullying attack in his classroom at Kopachuck Middle School.

The incident happened in February and was captured on video. The then-eighth grade boy was held down and put under chairs while classmates drew on his feet and stuffed his socks in his mouth, all while the teacher was watching.

The teacher, John Rosi, even joined in by poking the boy in the stomach.

The school district said when they learned of the incident, they immediately put the teacher on administrative leave.

Officials watched the video in its entirety, and talked to students in the classroom, the victim and his parents to understand the full scope of the story.

"The teacher lost control of his classroom," said Peninsula School District Acting Superintendent Charles Cuzzetto.

In school records obtained by The News Tribune, Rosi said he considered the actions normal horseplay and kids blowing off steam.

Rosi was reportedly suspended for 10 days and shipped to another school, but he did not lose his job.

The boy's parents say that's not good enough, and have asked police to look into the case.

The Pierce County sheriff's office is now investigating.

Chris Sullivan, KIRO Radio Reporter
Chris loves the rush of covering breaking news and works hard to try to make sense of it all while telling stories about real people in extraordinary circumstances.
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Comments (46)


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  • Citizen of Krazy Town wrote...
    Even if it was rough housing
    August 29, 2012 10:11 am
    Its not appropriate for class.

    To another poster's point that the kid didn't complain, MOST kids that are bully targets don't complain for fear of retribution. The state can concoct all the bully laws it wants but the kids have to live the reality of the school social dynamic. They aren't just going to all-of-a-sudden trust a system that has systematically supported their persecution in the past.

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  • Oly80 wrote...
    one of the main ways to first combat bullying...
    August 29, 2012 11:19 am
    is for the bullied kid to tell the bully to STOP. that's the new teaching. trust me, i've been to a training recently.

    however, again. i've never seen bullying that all the class participates in like that. i want to hear the story from the other kids in the class. what did THEY see? what else is on that video?

    we don't know anything about the kid, other than some chairs and one kid "held" him down. he didn't tell anyone to stop, and he didn't complain about the initial action, but his parents are sure going after the school.

    let's wait to get all the facts before we all start lamenting our bully expericences.

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  • GH stay at home mom wrote...
    Rosi should have been terminated
    August 29, 2012 10:44 am
    This morning’s news read, Boy bullied in Gig Harbor as teacher watches. My heart was immediately broken. As I read the article reporting that in February an eighth grade boy was held down and put under chairs while classmates drew on his feet and stuffed his socks in his mouth, all while the teacher, John Rosi, was watching and even joined in by poking the boy in the stomach. As a mother of children who attend school I am angry, saddened and confused. Questions began to dwell in my mind… Why is this okay? Why did Rosi receive a 10 day suspension? Why was his license to teach not revoked? Why were the children allowed to do this in the classroom? Why is this now being investigated by the Pierce County sheriff's office when it should have been completed during the time he was suspended? With so many good teachers without jobs, why does he get to teach? more.... http://www.examiner.com/article/the-truth-hurts-rosi-should-have-been-terminated
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  • 1999thelastgoodyear wrote...
    Inappropriate behavior...
    August 29, 2012 11:00 am
    regardless of whether the kid who was the "victim" of this was enjoying it or not, it seems clear to me that this was inappropriate behavior for the classroom. Kids are there to learn, it's not recess. They should not be allowed to get so wound up in the classroom anyway. I hope the kid involved really was enjoying it rather than feeling terrorized.
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  • GH stay at home mom wrote...
    how about the kids??
    August 29, 2012 11:50 am
    were the kids disciplined for their actions in the Rosi classroom? Seems to me that they were also involved in this situation. Are the children aware that this is bullying? are the children aware that bullying is prohibited? What do the parents of these children say about this?
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  • O-town listener wrote...
    Oly80..
    August 29, 2012 12:30 pm
    You tell everyone to research their facts - are you even watching the 35 second video? You say, "other than some chairs and one kid "held" him down" - Freeze the video 6 seconds in - one girl has a foot on the chairs, one kid kneeling on the ground is holding the chairs, a third kid near the bullied kid is bouncing on the chairs. That's 3 kids at that one point involved in keeping the kid down - which wouldn't be necessary if the kid was just lying under some chairs. Also, listening to the audio it sure sounds like a kid screams right when that third kid bounces on the chair - best guess would be that it was coming from the kid under the chairs. What on earth is making you defend this? Apparantly you didn't learn much from your training...
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  • Oly80 wrote...
    if you think...
    August 30, 2012 7:00 am
    that that girl who just SET her foot on the chair was REALLY trying to hold him down, there's no use trying to reason with you. you've made up your mind and clearly haven't seen the other video released.
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  • Oly80 wrote...
    oh...
    August 30, 2012 7:03 am
    and ONE kid SITTING and holding the chairs isn't enough to keep a person down. basic leverage knowledge alone could tell you that.

    i didn't see a kid "bouncing" on the chairs. i'll go have another look.

    but, while i do, you go look and see that same little boy try and tackle and roughouse with the teacher, smiling the whole time.

    yeah, that was videoed too.

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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    This video
    August 29, 2012 1:51 pm
    Where can I find it?
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  • O-town listener wrote...
    Ha ha..
    August 29, 2012 2:11 pm
    Follow the link to the News Tribune site and you can find it there.
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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Thank you, Sir!
    August 29, 2012 3:25 pm
    /
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  • Snout wrote...
    This is not "bullying"
    August 29, 2012 2:02 pm
    unless we've so expanded the definition of that word as to include nonsense. It looks just like horseplay. However, it is still inappropriate behavior in a classroom and the teacher should have put a stop to it.
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  • GetReal4me wrote...
    Just Pass This Teacher Along Like The Catholics Did
    August 29, 2012 2:28 pm
    Is it just me or does this have a reminesent flavor of how the Catholics handled their priests when misconduct with children arose. This gives me the feeling that this isn't the first time they've passed teachers to another district when some misconduct happened and if something isn't done, it won't be the last time. Also, someone said something about this teacher could face being sued if he started pulling these kids off of him. That is so rediculous!! For one, a teacher should have many ways of deciplining and controlling the class without laying a physical hand on any of them and also he participated by poking the boy -- he is a participant!!! People get a grip -- these teachers should know better and if they don't, they need to be let go from teaching.
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  • BigDog71 wrote...
    Remember revenge is a dish served cold....
    August 29, 2012 2:44 pm
    Think about it? The kid might.
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  • GH stay at home mom wrote...
    John Rosi teacher at Harbor Ridge ??
    August 29, 2012 3:15 pm
    John Rosi to the best of my knowledge is teaching this year at Harbor Ridge Middle School. I suggested to acting superintendent Chuck Cuzzetto that their be a town meeting regarding bullying, harassment the situation at KMS, the employment of John Rosi. If you agree please join me in this effort by sending your concerns cuzzettoc@psd401.net
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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Oh! Boy. I don't know?
    August 29, 2012 3:42 pm
    First of all let me back up my following statement with this by saying that, "back in my day that stuff went on a lot". We were just screwing with kids we like to mess with. Hazing was not to pleasant for some and Heaven help someone if the group I hung out with didn't like you or just wanted to mess with you for whatever reason! I doubt that I would last 5 minutes in a school today! Is he trying to get up? In that clip, it don't look like it. But I hear there is more to that vid than is shown here.

    I do think the teacher should be in trouble. That would not have flown even back in my day. Back then teachers broke that kind of stuff up. The KILLJOYS!

    If I were the parent of this student, I would get to the bottom of this. If this was just screwing around, okay! It's in bad taste. Nothing worse. But if that child were struggling to get away and they and the teacher were not stopping it, then all involved and ME would have a big problem!

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  • GH stay at home mom wrote...
    back in the day
    August 29, 2012 3:48 pm
    it is because of issues in the past that we have policies against prohibition of harassment and bullying today. This is a situation of harassment and bullying by definition in Policy 3207 and should be taken care of accordingly.
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  • Oly80 wrote...
    they posted a bit more of it, ha ha...
    August 30, 2012 7:06 am
    and it looks pretty tame compared to some of the horseplay that went on in my jr. high and high school.

    this kid was laughing and smiling, and even tried to tackle and wrestle with the teacher.

    it's not nearly as "damaging" as the kid's parents are saying.

    IN FACT, i'd go so far as to say that the parents making a big deal of this are the ones doing the most damage.

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