The following stories are from a DCCS member who attended Jr High in the Davis School District;

Members who were living in certain areas of the Wasatch Front were known to be part of DCCS because the school bus stopped near their homes. Most were subject to harassment throughout the school year, and several were subjected to weekly or even daily physical and verbal attacks. The bus driver was complicit with the attacks and routinely showed his own disdain for DCCS children on his route. One boy who was in Jr High was assaulted by multiple people at least once a week. When things got too bad the bus driver kicked this kid and his assailants off the bus leaving him to walk to school after the bullies were done beating him. This occurred multiple times. Others members were subject to physical violence regularly.

I also recall on one occasion when nearly the whole bus cheered when a boy from the DCCS was almost hit by the bus, with even the bus driver smiling about it in his rear-view mirror to the the children still on the bus as I was personally horrified and in disbelief.  I remember one DCCS boy becoming very aggressive and having to defend himself daily.  Those that were members of the LDS church were often the worst offenders.  I was not subject to physical violence as much since I had friends outside of the offenders that spoke up for me and I worked hard to treat everyone well and be generally liked.  I was, however, physically attacked twice. Once when I first started junior high and another time when I first started high school for no reason other than my association with the DCCS.

I think almost everyone was subject to verbal harassment as I was. I had a teacher that really liked me at first in Junior high, but I overheard him talking with other students and saying bad things about me behind my back after he found out I was part of DCCS.  Some of the young people I knew that were also part of the DCCS gravitated toward the seedier element in high school and junior high as these students were more accepting than LDS members who in general were very discriminatory and abusive. This led to difficulties for some DCCS members who adopted some of the ways of their new peers and left the group with drug and alcohol problems.  In high school, I was harassed many times for my moral standards.  Even literally being made fun of by one person who was somehow familiar with the DCCS standards saying, “What’s wrong? You need to have your first kiss on your wedding day?”  

This all became particularly problematic after I turned down a personal invitation for the birthday party of a popular girl at school.  I received harassment from several people at school and someone carving “no balls” on my locker door and several people spreading rumors that I was gay.  I left high school early to go to college because I did not want to go to high school anymore due to the harassment and discrimination I faced.  I enjoyed college because no one knew where I lived, and I faced no discrimination unless someone somehow figured out where I was from.  I got along well with everyone in college with no problems or verbal or physical assaults during my entire time there, as long as I kept my family background and culture to myself.  It was unfortunate that I could not hide where I came from in elementary through high school.

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