Parents furious school suspended bullied daughter, 14, for 'not walking away' from fight with tormentors
STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA: The parents of a middle school student in California claimed that their adolescent daughter was punished after defending herself in a fight that was captured on a cellphone video. They also reiterated that she had endured abuse and cyberbullying via "blackmail pages" on Instagram.
The middle schooler's father, Hunter Worsham, expressed concerns over the safety of his daughter by stressing that countermeasures to prevent such actions are not in place. “They’re not quick when a child is being hurt or pummeled to jump in and save that child from embarrassment, pain, suffering,” Worsham told KXTV-TV. After the altercation, in which, according to Worsham, his 14-year-old daughter was assaulted many times, he no longer thinks Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Stockton was "safe" for her. Furthermore, despite the fact that his daughter was the one who was attacked, Worsham claimed that the school also suspended her because she retaliated. “They told me that because my daughter didn’t walk away that she was being suspended as well, and I told the staff that my children will never take their eyes off of a threat,” he said. Worsham told the news station, "I won't stand for it. I will not send my kids to any school and ever tell them it's OK to be somebody's doormat."
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The mother, Krista Miramontez, said that since the beginning of the school year, her daughter has been the subject of both physical and online bullying. She also claimed that such bullies create "blackmail pages" on Instagram for their victims. “They said horrible things. They said my daughter had STDs. They said that she was a ho, and from that point on, every day she'd go to school, she'd get called names by people she didn’t even know,” Miramontez told, adding that her daughter became "fed up." "One can only take so much harassment," the mother said.
Since the incident broke out, Lodi Unified School District released a statement saying it "takes all concerns surrounding student safety seriously. Regarding a physical altercation that took place at Christa McAuliffe Middle this week, school site administration thoroughly investigated the incident and took appropriate action for those involved. We encourage our community to continue to share any safety concerns directly with our schools and district."
Worsham further explained to the news channel that parents should be proactive in asking their kids about their feelings of safety at school. “I’m trying to go about this in a way to inform others. I think it’s time to do a child check. Check with your children to see if they are being treated correctly at school," he said. "Nobody should have to sit there and be called racial slurs. Nobody should have to be touched if they don’t want to be touched.”