Texas police are examining allegations of repeated bullying against a black high school student, whose mother says he was physically assaulted, called racial insults and forced to drink urine by classmates.
The boy’s mother, Summer Smith, who goes through Summer Alicia on Facebook, detailed in a publication earlier this week his son, SeMarion, faced numerous cases of being harassed by peers.
Smith said his son’s school officials, Plano Haggard Middle School, a Dallas suburb, did not take action to address the harassment after it was reported.
“Imagine being a happy kid who likes to smile and have a good time … Imagine your classmates and members of the football team coming up to you and pointing at you,” he wrote. “Imagine a group of these same members of the football team attacking you in the locker room with a belt … Imagine they hit you in the private area and when you tell an adult they tell you that the boys they will be boys “.
The mother also wrote that her trainer took the inhaler out of her son, told him he should commit suicide, that he was attacked by classmates with BB guns and that he had to drink a cup of urine.
Smith included in the post screenshots showing verbal threats and racial insults apparently directed at SeMarion, as well as a video showing someone who appeared to be his son was forced to drink a full cup of yellow liquid by another boy.
Plano police spokesman David Tilley said so The Dallas Morning News that a student’s mother called the middle school resource officer this week and that the agent is working with a juvenile delinquency detective in an investigation into school bullying claims.
NBC local affiliate station KXAS-TV reported that a small group of friends from SeMarion’s family and the parents of other students held a rally outside of middle school on Thursday, demanding that the local school district take action.
“More needs to be done to make these kids feel represented, to make these kids feel protected and to make these parents feel protected, and that’s not happening,” Taler Jefferson, a family friend, said, according to the local newspaper .
The Plano Independent School District said in a public statement in response to allegations of harassment that it “was working with campus and local law enforcement to actively investigate the matter.”
“Our district does not tolerate or tolerate harassing or harassing behavior and is taking prompt and corrective action to resolve the issues,” the statement added.
The district went on to say, “While we cannot discuss intervention or discipline measures in relation to a specific student or students, our response to any behavioral concerns is always in accordance with district policy and the Code of Conduct. ISD Plan student conduct “.
The family’s attorney, Kim Cole, initiated a GoFundMe page to cover SeMarion’s therapy and private schooling expenses, as described on the page. Fundraising had already received more than $ 30,000 on Saturday, a day after the page was launched.
A request change.org this week also called on the school district to punish students allegedly involved in school bullying and has received more than 103,000 signatures.