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Bully Concerns For Parents After Violent School Plot Uncovered
POSTED: 11:55 am EDT March 17,
2008
UPDATED: 12:23 pm EDT March 17,
2008
DELAND, Fla. -- DeLand Middle School students returned to campus Monday for the first time since three seventh graders were arrested for allegedly plotting to shoot and kill their classmates. The students claimed they were repeatedly bullied.
SLIDESHOW: Photos Of The Three 13-Year-Old Suspects
RAW AUDIO: Principal Calls Parents To Alert Them To School Plot
Parents, meanwhile, are not happy at all. They say bullying at the middle school is out of control. Eyewitness News talked to one parent who said her son has been tormented and nothing meaningful has been done to stop it."Webster's Dictionary flying across room, hits him on side of the head, had to pick him up because face is swollen. Chocolate milk flying across cafeteria, covered in chocolate milk, punching, choking, kicking," Kathy Griffin said.Griffin's says her son's bullies at DeLand Middle School won't stop because they get a slap on the wrist instead of suspensions for their vicious attacks."It's a field day. Come on in and bully everyone, because there's no punishment for you, apparently, just write a letter that will be ripped up and thrown away," she said.It's an atmosphere that Griffin suspects led three 13-year-olds to publicize a mass murder plot on MySpace, with detailed plans of locking their classmates in the cafeteria with chains and shooting as many as they could before killing themselves."It's a cry for help is what I think," Griffin said. "If a kid's bullied, bullied, bullied, how much could a kid take?"The school said they're doing all they can to stop bullies. It's participating in a university study on bullying and the school board said it's a leader in fighting against them."This school has been very aggressive with anti-bullying, has an education program resulting in a 40% decrease in discipline referrals related to bullying at that school," said Nancy Wait, Volusia County Schools.Eyewitness News talked to school officials about the discipline code. They said you can be expelled for repeated bullying. Parents said the problem is those punishments can only happen for repeat offenders and bullies often take turns attacking their victims.
SLIDESHOW: Photos Of The Three 13-Year-Old SuspectsRAW AUDIO: Principal Calls Parents To Alert Them To School PlotParents, meanwhile, are not happy at all. They say bullying at the middle school is out of control. Eyewitness News talked to one parent who said her son has been tormented and nothing meaningful has been done to stop it."Webster's Dictionary flying across room, hits him on side of the head, had to pick him up because face is swollen. Chocolate milk flying across cafeteria, covered in chocolate milk, punching, choking, kicking," Kathy Griffin said.Griffin's says her son's bullies at DeLand Middle School won't stop because they get a slap on the wrist instead of suspensions for their vicious attacks."It's a field day. Come on in and bully everyone, because there's no punishment for you, apparently, just write a letter that will be ripped up and thrown away," she said.It's an atmosphere that Griffin suspects led three 13-year-olds to publicize a mass murder plot on MySpace, with detailed plans of locking their classmates in the cafeteria with chains and shooting as many as they could before killing themselves."It's a cry for help is what I think," Griffin said. "If a kid's bullied, bullied, bullied, how much could a kid take?"The school said they're doing all they can to stop bullies. It's participating in a university study on bullying and the school board said it's a leader in fighting against them."This school has been very aggressive with anti-bullying, has an education program resulting in a 40% decrease in discipline referrals related to bullying at that school," said Nancy Wait, Volusia County Schools.Eyewitness News talked to school officials about the discipline code. They said you can be expelled for repeated bullying. Parents said the problem is those punishments can only happen for repeat offenders and bullies often take turns attacking their victims.
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