While the New York Times was quick to make a major story out of the bullying of Fayetteville, Arkansas student  Billy Wolfe, there was no mention whatsoever of some Long Island kid named Patrick Kohlmann.  Maybe they aren’t inclined to admit that Long Island school administrators, despite their near-CEO range paychecks, are no better at protecting students then school officials elsewhere.

Fortunately, Newsday didn’t ignore the West Islip teen’s plight.

Patrick Kohlmann was scared. For more than a year at Udall Road Middle School in West Islip, the soft-spoken 13-year-old had been taunted and shoved, chased through the halls and slammed into lockers.

Then one day last month, Patrick says, one of his regular tormentors said: “I’m going to kill you tomorrow.”

The next morning, Patrick’s mother said, she warned the school’s vice principal about the threat. That afternoon, Patrick said, the bully struck him on the head with a rock.

He suffered a concussion.

It seems impossible not to notice a glaring hole in this narrative.  The bullying had been going on for a long time, but nobody at school either noticed or thought to address it.  Then, on the day that Patrick was to be “killed”, the vice-principal was forewarned and did . . . nothing to stop a 13 year old from having his head bashed with a rock.

Nice job.  If we paid you more, school administrators, would you consider safeguarding children in your care?

So what does West Islip school district spokeswoman Nancy Lenz have to say about this?

“I know we’re being accused of not caring and nothing could be further from the truth,” she said. “We take this very seriously. We’re aware of it, we’re on top of it, we’re addressing it, we’re saddened by it.”

You’re saddened?  Not nearly as much as this kid who had his head bashed by the rock.  Unbelievable how the School District’s idea of a worthy reaction is to emote after the fact.  It’s almost as good as actually doing something.  Well, no, it’s not anywhere near as good as actually doing something.  Actually, it’s a disgraceful response.

Patrick, on the other hand, has chosen not to await his school’s recognition that perhaps doing something before another kid’s head meets a rock.  He has created a video about what happened to him to help himself and others kids who have been ignored and neglected by the adults who are supposed to protect him from violence.

Once again, I wonder why these school administrators who allow violence and harm to come to students in their care should not be held criminally accountable for their failures.