MAITLAND, Fla. — An Orange County woman said she’s in a desperate battle to save her daughter’s life.
The mother, who asked not to be identified, said the bullying at Maitland Middle School is so out of control, her daughter tried to commit suicide Wednesday.
She said her 13-year-old daughter took a bottle of Tylenol to school and tried to overdose.
This comes about two weeks after several parents of students at the school showed up to a meeting and demanded answers on reports of bullying.
“I feel like I am helpless. What do I do?,” said the mother, as she broke down in tears describing how her daughter has been relentlessly bullied. “If she ends up taking her life, then who’s going to be held responsible?”
The woman showed Channel 9 reporter Mike Manzoni a letter from her 13-year-old daughter’s doctor that said the seventh-grader took the pills because students, “call her fat and ugly on a daily basis.”
The mother said she found an entry in her daughter’s diary where her daughter wrote that she had called the suicide hotline three times.
When the mother brought the issue to the school’s attention four months ago, she was told to call a help line.
When she went to police, she was told investigators couldn’t help her because it was a school issue.
“I get led around in this circle. Excuse, after excuse, after excuse. I don’t need any more excuses. I need answers,” she said.
The Orange County School District said it couldn’t comment on issues involving students because of federal privacy laws.
Earlier this month, the school beefed up security after multiple fights and an online threat.
The girl’s mother said school officials agreed to meet with her again on Monday.