The parents of a 12-year-old boy in Milwaukee have reacted with anger after their son was filmed by tormentors using the bathroom at school, with the video posted on Instagram.
Shameia Harris and Phil Rose told Fox News 6 that their son had been genuinely hurt by the incident at Morse Middle School, and Phil Rose said that his son felt ashamed, disrespected and almost embarrassed of what had occurred.
Shameia Harris added that she was appalled the bullies were permitted to get away with it.
The other children climbed over the stall to film the 12-year-old.
She said you expect them to be in a comfort zone, protected, and that they have too much freedom and access to things that aren’t instructional, and that she was pretty sure he wasn’t the only one that this had happened to, but that if he could be the last, that would be enough for her.
The video was uploaded to a page on Instagram called Morse Fight, where it was seen more than a hundred times. The page now seems to have been taken down, but Fox reported that it highlighted clips of fights in the classroom, corridor and restroom.
Phil Rose said that you don’t think that when you send your children to school you see this sort of stuff going on.
Harris and Rose have filed a complaint with the police, and the school said they were aware of the videos, and had spoken to the pupils involved, and that the school leaders have taken swift action to address the problems, including mediations with students, referring pupils to support staff, reporting insensitive content directly to social networking sites, and communicating and engaging with parents. The school said that they take the safety and well-being of their students seriously and had taken the required steps towards preventing future incidents like this from occurring.
Instagram is owned by Facebook, and how on earth were school fights even allowed on Instagram in the first place? This is just promoting bullying on these pages, and this is just not on Facebook, and if this is what’s going to be on there, it should all be closed down immediately.
Can you imagine if that had been an adult filming, that adult would probably have ended up in prison, and these boys should be treated the same, well, for a short while at least? Or charged with a criminal offence, which this was, because this wasn’t just bullying, this was sexual assault.
Students really shouldn’t be allowed mobile phones during school hours, and without their phones, these children might actually engage with each other and rediscover their humanity and also get some actual work done.
Students are too occupied texting to pay any attention to their lessons, and there really isn’t any need for a mobile phone during school hours, but good luck getting parents on board with that one.
These children and their parents should be sued for Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, and God forbid that you tell a student that they can’t have their phones at school, they would throw a hissy fit.
But when it comes down to it, all social media platforms belong in the dustbin.
I understand that some pupils need their phones so that they can be reached after school to arrange a ride or if plans change, but they should be turned off during the day or put into lockers, and if found on, impounded until the end of the school day.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 