Bullied Kid Brings Anti-Bullying Device To School, Gets Expelled + Sues

A young man by the named Dynasty Young sued Indianapolis Public Schools after officials failed to address relentless harassment he experienced at school because he is gay and does not conform to gender stereotypes.

Young and his mother Chelisa Grimes repeatedly turned to school officials for help. They say, though, that they were no help whatsoever, and instead of taking effective measures to address the bullying and harassment, school officials blamed Dynasty for being “too flamboyant.”

Than Grimes made a difficult decision -- to give Dynasty a “self-protection flashlight,” a small device that emits light, a loud noise and an electric charge, to carry with him while at school.

Last year, six students surrounded Dynasty to attack him. Afraid, Dynasty pulled the device out of his bag, held it in the air and turned it on, causing the kids to scatter without beating him up. A district employee witnessed the incident, but instead of trying to locate the students who threatened to attack Dynasty, school officials suspended and later expelled Dynasty for trying to protect himself.

He changed schools this year and filed a lawsuit against the school district, challenging the school administrators’ failure to address the harassment he experienced.

As part of the agreed judgment filed by the parties in the case, the school district will remove the expulsion from Dynasty’s school records. Dynasty will also receive $65,000 as compensation

I am glad that we were able to resolve this case and that IPS was willing to take the steps needed to help me get my life back on track. Things are starting to fall back into place for me. I am really looking forward to working with school districts to meet their obligations under Indiana’s new anti-bullying law and being a resource for students who have experienced bullying.

Was it right for him to sue? Should he have had that device? What do you think?