Her own way of ... Fighting Back

Danette Goulet

As a steel-toed boot viciously struck Kaylen Morrison’s head and stomach,

she had no idea what was happening to her.

She may never know why she was attacked, but after coming to terms with

what happened to her, Morrison wants to prevent it from happening to

other students.

A senior at Newport Harbor High School, Morrison has started a foundation

called PALS, or Preventing Anger at Local Schools, to make sure no one

else suffers as she did.

Two years ago as a sophomore, Morrison went to a party in Costa Mesa --

something she will forever regret.

It was at this party, she said, that she was attacked and brutally beaten

by a student who was a year older.

“She approached me and made some rude remark. Before I knew it, she

pushed me and punched me across the face,” Morrison said. “Then I was on

the ground and she was kicking me with her steel-toed boots.”

After a friend took her home, Morrison called the police.

But the nightmare had only just begun.

From the day she pressed charges, Morrison said, the girl and her

older friends harassed and threatened her.”It kind of turned into a mob

mentality when she did press charges -- they came after her,” said

Morrison’s mother, Bonnie.

Depressed and frightened, she transferred to Corona del Mar High School

to finish her sophomore year.

The other student was eventually charged with two felonies: assault with

a deadly weapon (the steel-toed boots) and assault and battery.

Now in her senior year, Morrison has begun a campaign to combat violence

in schools -- one she hopes will eventually catch on nationwide.

She has written a mission statement and is currently putting together a

board of directors and an advisory board.

“It began a couple of months ago,” she said. “We want to get a class

started in conjunction with health and safety education.”

The class would be an anger management class mandatory for all

ninth-grade students.

This week, Morrison stood before the Newport-Mesa school board, told her

story and asked for help.

“I’m not sure everyone needs anger management -- obviously the girl in

that situation needed it,” said school board member Jim Ferryman. “But

we’ve got to pay closer attention to those things.”

Morrison will now work with district officials on a proposal, hoping to

solidify a possible program in schools.

“We can never do enough to help people get along,” said Supt. Robert

Barbot. “I want our staff to listen and be open to this.”