NEW YORK – The topic of bullying has come to the forefront in recent weeks as more and more people are taking notice of the issue during the fall school season.

Bullies target their victims for a variety of reasons, but 16-year-old Kristian of Staten Island, New York was picked on and eventually beaten on multiple occasions because of his religion in a case that has drawn national attention and led to the charging of four suspects with assault and aggravated harrassment as hate crimes.

The boy’s last name is being withheld for privacy reasons but his father, Shaffiate, has taken to the press to put out the message that parents and administrators alike need to watch for the warning signs of bullying in order to take action.

“I just want people to know that I want parents who are seeing signs that something is wrong with their kids need to talk to them, it’s very important,” he said.

Kristian, who was born in the U.S. and is of Trinadadian descent, began acting withdrawn and lost interest in his favorite activities after being bullied and attacked at school by a group of kids in October 2009, at Edwin Markham Intermediate School in Staten Island, after they found out he was Muslim.

He was called a “f—ing terrorist” and “f—ing Muslim” by the attackers and beaten numerous times as part of a recurring pattern of behavior.

The soft-spoken teenager, a talented piano player who was a successful student before losing his desire to do homework because of the beatings, saw two of the same bullies in one of his classes as he began his freshman year at Port Richmond High School in the same area sitting next to him. They recruited two other kids to get into the act of bullying and attacking Kristian, prompting him to tell his father.

His father called child services and a police report was filed, a decision Shaffiate said was the proper one to make.

“If there are any parents out there whose kids are being bullied and no one is doing anything about it, call child services,” he said. “Regardless of race or color or religion, it’s important because they have to respond to it immediately and it’s important that people know that.”

Shaffiate also saw signs such as Kristian’s clothes being dirtied each day and his backpack and the items inside it being damaged on a consistent basis.

Kristian has yet to return to school and the family is hoping to transfer him to another school in a safe learning environment.

His father said that a neurologist and psychologist have found that he has been traumatized by the repeated beatings, including one that forced him to go to the doctor after he found blood in his urine,  and verbal abuse. The doctors and the family worry that he might never be the same again.

His father said that “throwing the bullies in a cell or a hole is not the answer,” however, and said that the situation and other similar ones could be avoided by teachers keeping a closer eye on students and helping out the shy ones by seating them next to more understanding and well-adjusted peers.

Shaffiate said that teachers saw other students hit Kristian in the head with large books but didn’t do anything to change the situation other than telling them to stop and not following through.

The New York School Board has Special Commissioner Richard Condon investigating the situation and Kristian’s family has an attorney looking into possible legal action.

Kristian said that he wished he had told his parents earlier about the situation at school.

“To the kids who are getting bullied: tell your teachers, tell your parents, it’s not something to be afraid of,” he said.

His father said that parents need to be cognizant of the bullying problem and be prepared to act, and he hopes that schools are given more tools to deal with bullies including the ability to expel them.

“I had no idea this was going on but if I had paid attention to all the stories that bullying was such a big thing I might have known earlier that he was being bullied,” he said. “Parents have to be aware.”