Message from Steven L. Fries, CPO: May I encourage as many prosthetists as
possible to contact the Denver School Board to express you disapproval of
this situation.
Harassment chases teen from school
Amputee, 13, feared for safety after threats
By Jim Kirksey
Denver Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 07, 2003 – An east Denver family has taken their 13-year-old
daughter, an amputee, out of Hill Middle School because of fear for her
safety after escalating harassment and threats from other students.
Lacey Henderson has spent one day at her new school, Dora Moore, a K-8 school
– and so far, so good, she said Thursday.
Profane and threatening messages aimed at Lacey have been left on a website
for teenagers, and that has her family concerned for her safety, said her
mother, Linda Henderson.
Henderson said her young daughter was called a “whore” and warned to “watch
your back.” One message carried the sentiment, “Die bitch, die,” the anxious
mother said.
A spokesman for Denver Public Schools, Mark Stevens, said: “We are aware of
these allegations, and we will pursue all information that comes forward.”
Lacey, who lost her right leg to synovial carcinoma four years ago, has been
teased about that during the three years she’s been at Hill, she said.
Her mother said there have been pictures drawn and circulated of her with one
leg, and prank letters. Even a couple of teachers made insensitive remarks –
one using her as an example of the vocabulary word “amputation,” and another
referring to her as a “one-legger” – but only in the last couple of months
has the harassment taken an ominous tone, Linda Henderson said.
One of the teachers apologized, and the Hendersons don’t think either was
being malicious, but the incidents seemed larger because of the other
harassment, the mother said.
In the latter incident, Lacey said, “The whole class just sort of laughed. I
wasn’t mortified. I was just like, ‘Why did you do that?”‘
But Lacey and her mom insist their problem isn’t with the teachers or school,
but with an “underground” group of eight to 10 girls that seems to be trying
to make Lacey miserable.
They would whisper things, much like what was later posted on the website, in
passing. Two dissected frogs were left in her backpack. Saliva and gum were
left on the handle of her school locker.
“It had gotten to the point where she was being bullied and harassed,” Linda
Henderson said. “The breaking point was the website and the messages.”
The harassment didn’t bother her at first, Lacey said. “But it really hits
home after a while.”
She feels a couple of the girls in the group are capable of violence.
“You can take it for so long,” she said. “You just can’t let it go.”
While Lacey’s condition may be a matter of interest to those around her, she
seems have adjusted well. She said she rock-climbs, snowboards, skateboards,
plays volleyball and soccer, and is an extreme skier.
When she walks across the room, she seems physically perfect. The cancer
hasn’t recurred.
Lacey was set to tell her story to the Denver Public Schools’ Board of
Education on Thursday, but Linda Henderson decided they needed to let their
emotions cool, and Lacey didn’t appear. She may address the board later, the
mother said.
“I need to let these parents know what their children are writing,” Linda
Henderson said.
Moving Lacey out of Hill wasn’t an easy decision, Henderson said. She herself
worked there for a couple of years, and she believes she has a rapport with
the staff.
“I love the school,” Linda Henderson said. “The school has always come to our
defense. The school did everything it could.”
But, fears for her daughter’s deteriorating mental state and physical safety
finally prompted her to take the girl out of Hill.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Stevens said of the girl’s experience.
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