Gig Harbor teacher accused of bullying, taunting student
GIG HARBOR, Wash. -- An incident of classroom bullying was caught on tape inside a Gig Harbor middle school, but the shocking part is that the school district says a teacher was among those bullying the student.
The video, which was posted by the Tacoma News Tribune, shows a student screaming in pain as several kids taunt him and pin him underneath a number of chairs. Also involved was teacher John Rosi, who said the incident was nothing more than "horseplay."
That opinion is not shared by Peninsula School District Superintendent Chuck Cuzzetto, who called the episode "horrific" and suspended Rosi for 10 days.
The video was filmed in early February at Kopachuck Middle School. According to the Tacoma News Tribune, the child was taunted, socks were forced into his mouth and a pillow was placed over his face. The paper says Rosi mocked the student and feigned flatulating on him.
The boy's parents reported the bullying to the district and Rosi was immediately put on leave, Cuzzetto said.
"We've taken corrective action. We've taken appropriate steps.We would not expect that to ever happen again in his or anyone else's classroom. We wouldn't expect it to happen at all," he said.
In addition to his 10-day suspension, Rosi was also forced to undergo additional training and was reassigned to a new school this year.
Local parents said they were disturbed by the news.
"First of all, he shouldn't have let it happen. And then to participate in it is childish. I mean, that's going beyond. That's bullying by a teacher, I take it," said parent Lee Kemp.
Rosi's attorney refused to comment on the story, and in a letter released by the News Tribune, Rosi said the video shows "horseplay" and said it was a "boys will be boys" incident.
The district doesn't agree with that assessment, but did not feel Rosi should be fired. Beginning next week, Rosi will be teaching math at Harbor Ridge Middle School.
The Pierce County sheriff's department is also investigating the incident.
The video, which was posted by the Tacoma News Tribune, shows a student screaming in pain as several kids taunt him and pin him underneath a number of chairs. Also involved was teacher John Rosi, who said the incident was nothing more than "horseplay."
That opinion is not shared by Peninsula School District Superintendent Chuck Cuzzetto, who called the episode "horrific" and suspended Rosi for 10 days.
The video was filmed in early February at Kopachuck Middle School. According to the Tacoma News Tribune, the child was taunted, socks were forced into his mouth and a pillow was placed over his face. The paper says Rosi mocked the student and feigned flatulating on him.
The boy's parents reported the bullying to the district and Rosi was immediately put on leave, Cuzzetto said.
"We've taken corrective action. We've taken appropriate steps.We would not expect that to ever happen again in his or anyone else's classroom. We wouldn't expect it to happen at all," he said.
In addition to his 10-day suspension, Rosi was also forced to undergo additional training and was reassigned to a new school this year.
Local parents said they were disturbed by the news.
"First of all, he shouldn't have let it happen. And then to participate in it is childish. I mean, that's going beyond. That's bullying by a teacher, I take it," said parent Lee Kemp.
Rosi's attorney refused to comment on the story, and in a letter released by the News Tribune, Rosi said the video shows "horseplay" and said it was a "boys will be boys" incident.
The district doesn't agree with that assessment, but did not feel Rosi should be fired. Beginning next week, Rosi will be teaching math at Harbor Ridge Middle School.
The Pierce County sheriff's department is also investigating the incident.
Hmm, obviously if a student felt comfortable tackling a teacher, and the teacher "played along," this teacher has failed to establish appropriate boundaries with the teacher/student relationship. A good teacher would have let the student know, in no uncertain terms, that tackling a teacher, be it "horseplay" or not, is crossing the line. I thought teachers were supposed to be teaching. It doesn't seem to be the norm these days.
So it's not okay to bully a classmate. And it's not okay to cyber bully a classmate. And it's not okay to sexually harass your classmates. And it's not okay to racially harass your classmates. Â BUT...if your the teacher, it's excusable????? Not only should this teacher have his credentials revoked so he can never teach again, but he parents should sue him and the school district for not protecting their child!!!
this teacher should be fired NOW. My son wil start middle school in two years and if this teacher is still teaching , I will not let my son go to what ever school he is teaching at
This is no suprise to me, my son went to Kopachuck and suffered the same situation. Unfortunately, because he did not tape it the school just swept it under the carpet. In fact when he was being bullied he finally struck back at the people becasue it was more then four on one and the district suspended him saying "he can't defend himself, only protect himself" My husband and I asked what that meant and was told " when our son was receiving blows and kicks he should have protected his head and so forth, but never should have struck back." Good to see this was caught, now Peninsula school districts will have to stop allowing this.
 @Sarah Huntsinger Was a teacher involved in those incidents or did they, as so many do across the country, simply watch it happen or ignore it?
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I know what it's like to be picked on and have the officials, including at Kopachuck, simply ignore my pleas, and then get in trouble when I fought back, in my case a simple reply as my bullying was verbal and mental. It's made worse that this school claims a Zero Tolerance on Bullying, but it doesn't enforce that.
None of this should have ever, ever happened - whether it was innocent or not. The teacher was clearly in the wrong by allowing it to continue to happen and not stop it. I still have a few questions that I need answers to:
1) Why were none of the other kids involved with this diciplined?
2)Â This happened back in February - why is this just now, 6 months later being made public?
3)Â If video is to be shown, how come the whole, entire, unedited video is not shown?
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I have also heard that this child indured more fallout after what happened in the classroom by other students and that is where alot of the harrassment came from.
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I know that this teacher & coach is a very nice person and an extremely well liked and popular teacher with all of the kids. The kids couldn't say enough about him and all of the kids wanted him as a teacher. Both of my children were students there and absolutely loved him as a teacher. I also know from personal experience that he is a really nice and caring person as one of my children was seriously hurt while at school and he rode with my child in the ambulance all the way to the hospital to meet us.

I am completely heart broken for what this family has gone through and what they are going through, and feel for them. This was completely unacceptable. As I said, none of this should have never happened and I also believe that the other children involoved should have been disciplined as well. We have also have personally experienced bullying with a student and fortunately for us it was handled properly by the school at the time the situation happened. My children have seen this video clip that the news has released and they are also disappointed and sad that this took place and as much as they like this teacher but from the clip that news released, they say that this looks like bullying. It is unfortunate that there was a serious, serious, lack of judgement on the teachers part - he made an extremely bad decision but he is not a monster.
I don't understand why the teacher was not fired. Now some other student will be at this teachers will. I don't doubt this will happen again. This person should not be a teacher. Maybe a prison guard... but wait...even prison guards can't do that to people..
Sorry, but that excuse of "horseplay" just doesn't suffice. Schools are where we become educated and hopefully well rounded adults. From a distance, bullying may look like innocent horseplay or a gentle ribbing....but it often is not. Curiously, my friend's son was a victim of bullying. She complained and complained to school officials, including the principal and other highers ups. Her pleas for help went ignored and she eventually pulled her child out of that school for good. This was the Auburn school district.
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When a child becomes so fearful of going to school and has crying panic attacks, something is wrong.
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Educators for the most part know what they are doing and what signs to look for. But some, clearly DO NOT.
Boys may be boys, but grown men should know better, particularly with the current emphasis on bullying. Regardless of who or what started this, an adult teacher should always know better than to participate in this and pretend to fart on a kid. That's what dad's and older brothers do at home- not what anyone should do at their job. An adult teacher's job is to step in and stop this. Should there be any truth to the story that the boy started all of this by tackling the teacher, it is still the teacher's job to maintain a reasonable control in the classroom. Perhaps the kid needed to go to see the principal or just be told to sit down and quit with the monkey business.
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 @killer112312 Dude...don't post personal information on the guy no matter how much of a jerk he is.
I have already posted about the teacher but what about the other 'lil asses that had their feet ontop of the chairs holding them down??? They too bullied and what....the teacher did nothing??? How about the parents of those asses with big feet holding down the chairs and tickling the poor boy's feet. Do you reconize your assho** kids??? Shame on them too! Future JailBirds....LOL!
 @Dawn The other students were just doing what the teacher told them to do. For most people, when an authority figure tells them to do something, they just do it. I wouldn't place any blame on the kids in this case.
 @Dawn That's the problem with parents of bullies, that even when given this kind of proof, they want to argue their child couldn't do that. It also ties into the issue of a Zero Tolerant school, because parents still have the right to pull their child out or pitch a fit, including threatening to sue the district, and because there aren't the funds to battle that, the district caves, leaving the bully unpunished for their crimes.
@Rema Cyphers You need to give up your "Crusade" for Mr. Rossi. His classroom was obvisouly out of control and instead of handeling the situation he joined in......SHAME ON YOU for feeling differently!
 @Dawn Funny that you're taking everything I've said completely out of context. Never once have I said he was justified in his action.
@Rema Cyphers The bullies that created all the media from teasing the school bus monitor got suspended for I beleive atleat 1 year maybe 2. Give these brats back to their parents to deal with. If you watch the video, clealy many children are holding down the chairs covering his body with their feet.
@Dawn I never said he wasn't wrong, I'm just being realistic. The situation is not everything the media is making it out to be, the students involved seem to have been let off entirely, and all the blame is unfairly being dumped on Mr Rosi, which I find unfair, even with him in the wrong. He should have stopped the situation, and I've never said anything contradicting that. In fact, I feel he should have been fired, but I also feel he's not the only one who should be facing disciplinary action.
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As for my being on here for four hours, that's simply not true. I have, however, done other things, both on and off the computer, and come back to the page, but I'm not just sitting here, refreshing the page, just to harass the next commenter.
 @vickie That is a separate issue and not related to that of a Kopachuck Middle School teacher.
@Rema Cyphers @Dawn No one believed He said Strong had asked for a few weeks off to deal with personal issues and had not been at work since Monday. The Pierce County Sheriffâs Department, which investigated Tuesdayâs incident, said Strong is estranged from his wife. Attempts to reach Strong on Wednesday were unsuccessful. The Sheriffâs Department gave this account of Tuesdayâs incident: A vehicle driven by Strong rear-ended another vehicle on a hill near 14th Avenue and Mowtish Drive. Neither driver was hurt in the crash, which happened shortly before noon. The second driver stopped and got out of his vehicle, but Strong drove away. Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/03/21/2076569/gig-harbor-high-school-principal.html#storylink=cpy
@Rema Cyphers @Dawn You are the one who has replied with their personal views and opinion and who has been posting for more than 4 hours. Get a life! The teacher, Mr. Rosi, was wrong!! He did not have control of his classroom. It does not matter what happened before or after the video, stupid! What if a police Officer acted in the same way and shot people? Should he be given more education and a new location? I think not!
 @Dawn Have you ever heard of false accusations? The same protocol is implemented in this case, which relocates him. That doesn't mean, if you feel truly bothered by his continued employment, that you cannot complain directly to the District instead of trying to convince people of your personal views and opinions.
@Rema Cyphers It happened in February, where is his side? He agrees to managemnet classes and to be unrooted to a new school. If so innocent, why didn't he fight to stay where he was teaching???
 @Dawn Yes, I saw the clip, but that was only part of it, and until we see the whole, we cannot have fully educated opinions on the matter and who deserves to be dealt with.
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As for those boys who bullied that bus monitor, even their parents couldn't refute the evidence, but there are very few incidents which are not recorded and are based on verbal retelling, which is never completely reliable.
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I'm not 'crusading' for Mr Rosi, I'm trying to reason that he is human, like you and I, and makes mistakes, and that there are always more sides to every situation than the news usually gives.
I have already checked my child's teacher list for next week. If Rosi was scheduled to be my son's teacher, I would have pulled him from his class. Teachers should never have hands on contact with a child and or watch this happen. Socks in the boy's mouth, a pillow over his face??? What really makes me irritated, is that the school district paid to give this jerk "Additional Training" for further teaching. He has had 18 years already being a teacher, why pay for something that he sould have already known. I DO NOT WANT "THIS" TYPE OF "TEACHER" ALONE AND TEACHING MY CHILDREN. THE PARENTS AT HARBOR RIDGE SHOULD BE OUTRAGE AND PULL THEIR CHILDREN FROM HIS CLASS. I am sorry for the boy that this happened to. He's not back to school due to this behavior why should the bullying teacher?Â
 @Dawn From the accounts from other student's present, so I've found, the boy under those chairs started it, tackling Mr Rosi first. The question now is who is in the wrong there?
 @Rema Cyphers  @Dawn Boys will be boys, and children may start 'stuff', but adults need to end it immediately.
 @Rema Cyphers  @Dawn The adult was the person in the wrong!
 @RTNavy The students who hazed their classmate should also be held responsible, that's my real point. I'm not arguing that the teacher isn't also at fault, especially for letting this get so out of hand, but there are other students let off the hook by placing all blame on the teacher.
@Rema Cyphers Where do YOU get you information from??
 @Dawn The News Tribune article clearly states there was more video which captured the start of the incident, and I said accounts, that is not fact, it is a speculative noun, and I never pretended anything different.
How is this not assault? or at least accessory to ?
 @AJury I wonder the same, which is why I want to see all the video evidence of this incident, because the answer is really in that.
...oh, wait--"another" thread about a poor misunderstood, cruelly picked-on teacher who is loved and respected by his students (other than the evil child blowing things out of proportion), and has right and God on his side for A) bullying children (my God! Someone needs to lay down the fifties style law around here. Bring back corporal punishment) B) hitting children/slapping them/verbally denigrating them (because the child deserved it, and obviously the parent did too, since their child deserved it).
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I'm sure when one of these misunderstood teachers (Seattle/Tacoma/Gig Harbor, wherever) finally kills or maims a child, or just makes them commit suicide, it'll be okay. Because the teacher was just A) just practicing some badly needed corporal punishment or B) loved by everyone except the child who obviously deserved it.
Parents with children at Harbor Ridge Middle School should receive written notification from the school explaining why Rosi was reassigned there. Considering how much we pay for public education and what we get in return, that's the least the school could do.
 @Opus8no5 You'd be surprised how little you actually pay in taxes for much of any public service, and to assume otherwise is based on misinformation.
@Rema Cyphers @Opus8no5 Is you comment really the subject??
 @Dawn You're right, I'm sorry, it is off-topic. I assumed the comment section was allowed to be for discussion based on connected article, allowing for points to be brought up and tossed around. As I had no objections on the idea of children at his new school being notified, I focused on the other half of the comment.
Get the point here, folks: certainly not most, but quite a number of teachers are BULLIES. These are often people who were bullied themselves in school and now are seeking "pay-back". Some use this behavior as a means of expressing discrimination and hatred toward members of specific groups (especially religious) that they have personal conflict with. For whatever reason(s), these "teachers" continue to harass, taunt, belittle, slander, libel and even assault and sometimes injure CHILDREN... and yet they are only very rarely charged with the child abuse that they commit often daily.
 @JLS1950 Sounds like you're talking about Severus Snape or Miss Trenchbull more than real teachers. If a teacher bullies their students, they are no longer a teacher, Mr Rosi included as he allowed a situation to get out of hand so much and added to it as well.
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If you're going to claim it verbal, you can stop, because until the law recognises verbal and mental abuse in kind with physical abuse. Yes, mental abuse is not fully recognised by law, lumped in as a mental illness and not the abuse it is unless any kind of physical abuse is also present.
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On top of this, if that were the case, not only teachers, but fellow student should be covered under this theorem, but that is also not the case currently, and until such, a moot point only to be argued.
THIS GUY NEEDS TO BE FIRED HE TEACHING LICENSE TAKEN AWAY AND SPEND THE NEXT LIFTIME IN PRISON THIS IS CHILD ABUSE THIS IS NOT JOKEING AROUND. SOme people think he was jokeing around maybe he thought but when you here a child scream out in pain you are as bad as SATIN to allow a child in pain cotinue nothing but a heartless crue ass.
I attended Kopachuck Middle School where I had Mr. Rosi as a teacher a few years back. He is a great guy - a very easy going, fun teacher. Unfortunately though, this whole situation has been blown WAY out of proportion.
@1RedOak Oh? Did you see it happen? So you saw it happen and why?
 @1RedOak I'm glad I'm not the only one who had him as a teacher and seeing this as a shameful witch hunt, of sorts. (Prepares to be attacked for this comment.)
@1RedOak Don't think so. Apparently you do not have children. Don't you get it?? The child that was the VICTIM has not been back to school because of the treatment he received. Although, Mr. Rosi has been back to school with more training paid by the County. Get a GRIP!
 @1RedOak The very short section of the video I saw was not something 'blown out of proportion". This was a teacher sanctioned cruel and inhumane bullying. No teacher should have allowed it to even start, let alone verbally participating. There is no excuse for this--when a child screams in pain, it is not just 'horsing around'.Â
 @1RedOak Judging by the various videos I've seen of this, this hasn't been blown out of proportion enough. If that was my kid, I don't think that teacher would be breathing much longer.
 @Illuminati "To each, their own." As a Gig Harbor citizen who has experienced Mr. Rosi's teaching first hand, and has followed the story since the actual event many months back, I see the Media's perspective as quite "overdramatic." Please keep in mind that only those directly involved truly know what went on.
@1RedOak @Illuminati No you are wrong. The "Directly" Involved had a videeo camera. That's what people are seeing first hand of what happened. Did you even watch the news??
"In addition to his 10-day suspension, Rosi was also forced to undergo additional training and was reassigned to a new school this year."
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10 day suspension??? Additional training??? Reassigned to a new school??? WTF??? That was not horse play, that was blatant bullying, he should be fired and banned form working near children for the rest of his life!
@alaska_dreamin I agree if it was another student bullying like this a lot more would have been done. I am so glad it was on video for proof and even still some people don't want to believe this goes on.
@alaska_dreamin You are so right. It makes me mad that he has been reassigned and also that the school district paid for him the have additional training!
@alaska_dreamin I so agree!! He should not be working around kids! Ever!!