New York school districts have a bad habit of retaliating against students and parents who speak critically of school policies. PJ Media covered the school district that had local radio talk show host Shannon Joy arrested, sending a signal to other vocal parents who confront the schools about unpopular policies. Now, the Waterloo School District in Waterloo, N.Y., is under fire for engaging in mass retaliation against parents and students who have criticized district policies on bullying.
Students walked out of class on Friday and held a protest in support of students who are facing cyberbullying and other incidents of bullying in school, including by teachers, they say. The district locked the children out of the school and refused to allow them transportation home, leading parents to scramble to find them safe rides home.
Now, students are reporting that they’ve been removed from their sports teams and have been suspended from school. Colby Tears, a senior who organized the walkout on Friday, a protest in Waterloo on Sunday, and a sit-in on Monday, told PJ Media he was suspended, along with all the students who took part in the sit-in this morning.
The Waterloo community has suffered four student suicides in the last three years. The most recent was that of Gio Bourne, who was eleven when he took his own life while on a Zoom call. Friends and family say his fellow students bullied Gio to death. Photos of his death were circulated within the school and continue to be shared. The family reports that police say there’s nothing they can do.
Gio’s mother, Angelica Smith, said she was treated unfairly when she came to a school board meeting to talk about her son and their tragic loss. School board members initially gave Smith more time to speak, as she requested, but then cut her off as her speech turned critical of school policies she says contributed to the death of her son. When Smith heard about the protest at the school, she came to support the kids. What she got in return was this letter from the school, banning her from the property and accusing her of “threatening and defamatory” behavior on social media. Smith still has a child who attends the school.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/megan-fox/2021/09/20/students-protesting-severe-bullying-suicides-hit-with-mass-retaliation-by-new-york-school-district-n1480065Lefty would murder your children in front of you if they thought it would give them 5 more minutes of power.
