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With ALL due respect to each of you and your opinions... I guess my points are:
Overreacting and/or acting out of emotion rather than common sense only complicates the issue. First, the kid's a jerk, his actions are inexcusable - no question about that. The school has a legal duty to handle it, including removing the boy from the bus, possible suspension, and conferencing with the parents including nailing down specific repercussions for any future "assaults". At age 15 he certainly knows better, and, at age 15, he's intentionally being a jerk. It's doubtful that his intent was "sexual assault"; more likely, his intention was to illicit a reaction from the girl. Which he clearly got.
Unless this kid has a history of this kind of behavior, many of you are being quite judgmental by assuming he's a serial masturbator or pervert in the making and is going to take this to the next step. Likely, he was being a jerk, under peer pressure, nothing more.
Second, it's my impression that this girl may have some underlying psychological issues that need to be addressed ASAP if she let this upset her THAT much - so much, in fact, that she needs counseling. I'm getting the impression that she is quite immature, sheltered, and emotionally and socially stunted.
Hey, when I was 7, I had a little boy my age forcefully enter a bedroom to look at me nekkid and try to touch my little booty. I was upset for 5 minutes. I told the appropriate authority figures (not cops) about it and trusted them to handle it. When I was 15, I had a boy trap me in a seat and forcefully kiss me and feel my ta-tas on the bus. I slapped the crap out of the boy and if I could have kicked him in the cajones, I would have (I settled for his shin). If I would have cried like a helpless little girl, no doubt he would have continued to mess with me. But I stood up to him, and he never bothered me again.
Neither incident scarred me for life. Again, I'll reinforce what i stated earlier about this girl not being so goddam helpless and maybe taking a self-defense class - nobody on here thinks that's - even remotely - a good idea?????
Not to be cliche, but to be cliche anyway: you get more with honey than you do with vinegar. Approaching the school and the parents is clearly appropriate. Going to the cops without giving the school and parents a chance to correct the problem is unjust and, IMHO, just plain vindictive.
This kid is screaming for attention which is why he did what he did. Making a huge deal out of it is only going to give either a good kid who made a mistake a bad rap, or a bad kid the negative attention and rep he wants. It will also have repercussions on the girl - kids see a weakness and they go after it (see Darwin) - that I don't think she wants or, given her fragile state, can handle.[/list]
I have a 7 year old daughter. I also had a 14 year old stepson who couldn't keep himself under control or out of jail. I believe I have, at least somewhat, seen both sides of the fence - from the perspective of a parent attempting to safeguard their child from the acts/influences of another child, to a parent struggling with a rebellious, violent, criminal youth.
No doubt, I would not be happy if someone rubbed their weiner on my daughter. And I'll admit my initial *thought* would be "Where is this kid so I can give him a firm foot in his a$$?" But I'm raising my girl to understand that she will have to deal with certain unpretty things in life. And I'm teaching her to be strong - not weak - and deal with it and get over it. You don't let something like this - something relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things - handicap you. The last thing anyone in our society needs is another excuse for someone (mommy/daddy/therapist) or something (drugs, illicit or otherwise) to "solve" their problems.
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