COCONUT CREEK, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida mother is enraged after her sixth-grade daughter was harassed and humiliated by a classmate, and a cellphone camera caught the whole thing.
The mother said she’s not only upset with the bully. She said what makes matters worse is that teachers at the Coconut Creek school are not required to get involved in these situations.
Officials with Lyons Creek Middle School said what’s seen on cellphone video is not bullying, but did say the student has been aggressive prior to the May 4 incident.
The video shows one student yelling and cursing at a 12-year-old girl because she was talking.
7News spoke with the 12-year-old and her mother who described what happened, Friday.
“‘I have a big effing mouth,'” said the student, who did not want to be identified. “And I should ‘Shut the eff up.’ And when she came up to me, she started screaming in my face and putting her hands on me. And I just looked the other way.”
The student said she looked away and waited for help.
Her mother, Angela, is irate. “Very angry. My first thought is, ‘Where is the teacher?’ ‘Where is protection for my daughter?'” she said. “You hear the whole class screaming, encouraging the student to assault my daughter, all while the teacher sat behind the desk and she called for security.”
Another student get involved and tried to diffuse the situation.
“She was putting her hand near my cheek,” the girl said, “and just kept on moving it. And at one point, she hit me from doing that.”
That’s when the student got in her face.
“She pushed me and I almost fell out of my chair,” the student said.
When the mother found out, she said she wanted to know why no one helped her daughter.
“Demanded answers right away and I was told the policy is staff or teachers are not required to get involved,” Angela said.
In the student Code of Conduct, it said teachers are supposed to diffuse a violent situation.
“I’m petrified knowing this,” Angela said. “Knowing that she has to defend herself at the young age of 12 in a classroom where she’s supposed to be the safest.”
The victim said she wants the student to be reprimanded for her actions. “I hope that she at least gets in trouble, like arrested or something,” she said. “And [I want] the protocol to be changed.”
The Broward County School Board released a statement that said in part, “This incident is being taken seriously by the school, as safety and security of students are always the district’s priorities. Per the principal, the classroom teacher immediately notified school security to respond to the situation and also verbally attempted to de-escalate the altercation.”
Teachers were told, as per school policy, that they are not obligated to respond. They are, however, obligated to use reasonable judgment.
The aggressor is being disciplined.
Angela and her daughter would like to thank the student who stepped in to help. They said it would have gotten much worse if she did not get in the middle of the altercation.
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