High School Bullies Laugh Into Open Casket
Sladjana Vidovic fled her war torn home in Bosnia for the safety of America. What she found instead was taunting classmates who called her names, threw food at her and in one instance pushed her down a flight of stairs. The administration at Mentor High School did nothing to stop the torment.
Now as a lawsuit on behalf of Sladjana Vidovic inches forward, a shocking detail emerges that brings into clear focus the brazenness of Sladjana’s tormentors. Some of them actually came to the funeral not as a belated show of contrition, but to make fun of the deceased teen one last time in front of her grieving family. AOL News reports as follows.
If there has been soul-searching among the bullies in Mentor – a pleasant beachfront community that was voted one of the “100 Best Places to Live” by CNN and Money magazine this year – Sladjana’s family saw too little of it at her wake in October 2008.
Suzana Vidovic found her sister’s body hanging over the front lawn. The family watched, she said, as the girls who had tormented Sladjana for months walked up to the casket – and laughed.
“They were laughing at the way she looked,” Suzana says, crying. “Even though she died.”
Now, the Vidovic family is joining the family of Eric Mohat, bullied and tormented based upon the mistaken assumption that he was homosexual, have joined in a lawsuit to wipe the sneer off the face of their children’s tormentors, and to call to task the complacent administration of the Mentor schools.
Not all Mentor High school kids are bad. Drew Juratovic came to the defense of Eric Mohat. When someone called Mohat a “homo”, Juratovac came to his defense. He told the bully to leave Mohat alone. When the bully persisted in his tormenting behavior, he got a punch in the face from Juratovic.
The administration was also capable of strict and decisive action. Juratovic was suspended for coming to the defense of Mohat. The one who accosted Eric Mohat was, however never punished. The administration of Mentor High is a bit like the fierce watchdog that bites the baby and licks the hand of the burglar.
There are some high schools that are welcoming to immigrants, where little social support is needed. It is apparent that Mentor High School falls far beneath that standard, tolerating as child’s play acts that would be criminal for an adult. It is a pity that Sladjana’s family found themselves in a town with such cruelty linking beneath its neatly landscaped surface.
The greatest pity is that there are towns in Ohio with significant Croatian populations and fraternal organizations as well. Cleveland itself has 2 Croatian catholic churches. With situations like Sladjana’s, fellow immigrants can be of support. It’s a pity that such support should even be necessary, but we are talking about cruel kids in a school that is clueless.
Back in Bosnia during the strife that the Vidovic family fled, you had to live with your own kind to feel safe at night. A Croat in a Serb enclave, or a Bosnian Muslim among Serbs would always have to look behind them for someone with hostile intentions. That is the reality Sladjana Vidovic fled. It’s a lot like Mentor, Ohio, isn’t it?
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This story touches me personally. As an American of Croatian ancestry who has experience with bullying and depression, as a father, the story touches me. The song below is dedicated to the Vidovic family. Its title, “Prokletog Me B-g Stvorio” , translates as “G-d Created Me Damned” and reminds me of the intense feelings of abandonment that come with high school loneliness and torment. My heart goes out to you
