‘They just let things slide.’ Parents pull kids from Crawford school district over bullying

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‘They just let things slide.’ Parents pull kids from Crawford school district over bullying

Reality Check is a Telegraph series digging deeper into key issues and focusing on accountability. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email *****@*****.tld.

When her daughter became a victim of bullying, Danielle Cox of Roberta pulled her from the Crawford County School District in February 2024.

She said she’d had enough of the district’s ******** to resolve hostile environments.

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in the public school system have pushed several parents, including Cox, to enroll their children in alternative education options, such as homeschooling or attending classes virtually.

In 2023, 44% of the 903 total discipline incidents in the district were described as harm to a person: fighting, bullying, intimidation, disorderly conduct and six other terms, according to the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement

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While simultaneously not trying to become a targeted family, Cox said she “fought as hard as she could” with reaching out to Crawford County Middle High School officials regarding inappropriate rumors being spread about her daughter. But nothing was ever done, she added.

“The situation with my daughter was never handled. They just let things slide,” she said. “The ******* that are bullied, they have to change their entire lives and get used to new schools. It’s unfair that the bullies get away scot-free while the victims suffer.”

Jenny Cox, Danielle’s daughter, said, “I do miss going to a public school because all my friends are there, and I miss being the (football team’s) water girl. It’s just hard.”

Sarah Hooks is another parent who says unresolved bullying issues at the middle and high school have been ongoing, forcing her to also ***** into requesting virtual learning for her daughter, Rebekah.

“It was a bad time. I had to watch her come home and cry,” Hooks said after mentioning students that would instigate fights between her daughter and others. “I was so sad. I had to take her to a psychiatrist … because of her mental well-being.”

Hooks said she filed complaints to the state education department and Crawford County Board of Education about the bullying, as well as alleged teacher retaliations, but nothing changed. Hooks said she did what was best for her daughter, but she really doesn’t want her to take only virtual classes because she needs the social interaction.

How the school system is addressing it

Superintendent Anthony Aikens said he was unable to comment on any student situations in the district due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Crawford County Middle High School has experienced a decrease in campus fights in recent academic years and expects the rate will keep decreasing as it attempts to “consistently teach better ways of dealing with frustration and stress,” Aikens said.

But youth ********* in Crawford County still has a mental impact on its middle and high school students, with 33% reporting they are concerned about other students hurting them, according to the Georgia Department of Education’s

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, up 3% from last year.

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The Crawford County Board of Education office sits off of East Cruselle Street on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Roberta, Georgia.

The recent survey also found that 41% of middle and high school students somewhat or strongly feel unsafe on campus or on their way to and from school. Seventy-nine percent of Crawford County Middle High School students reported they somewhat or strongly agree that students at the school ****** a lot – down 2% from 2023.

Rebekah said it’s easy for rumors and bullying to spread around among the high school students because there aren’t many of them. Less than 530 high school students were enrolled last year.

Aikens said he is working to assemble resources that would educate parents and students on the state education department’s definition of bullying and how to deal with it.

“I think this is necessary because bullying has become a catchall phrase for any behavior that people do not like or any behavior that invokes an emotional response,” Aikens said in an email. “..Just because the behavior does not meet the state definition of bullying, does not mean that the behavior is acceptable or that the behavior does not deserve discipline. No one should have to prove how distraught their child is as a result of someone’s bad behavior before the issue can be addressed.”

The Georgia Department of Education defines bullying as:

Any willful attempt or threat to inflict injury on another person

Any intentional display of force that would give the victim reason to ***** bodily harm

Any intentional written, verbal, or physical act which a reasonable person would perceive as intended to threaten, harass, or intimidate someone that causes substantial physical harm, substantially interferes with a student’s education, or is so severe and persistent that it creates an intimidating educational environment or substantially disrupts school operations

The definition also applies to acts of cyberbullying that are directed at students or school personnel.

Jenny Cox said emotional or “invisible” bullying can also be traumatic, as she had to endure a repetitive cycle of teasing that she said spread online to other schools in Middle Georgia.

“Although I have never been physically assaulted, I felt like a burden to my friend group,” she told The Telegraph. “They often would distance themselves from me around certain people so they wouldn’t get caught up in the bullying process.”

What’s being done?

Aikens said he is working to implement more district-wide new measures this year to address bullying, including securing a school resource officer for the middle high school, launching a kindness campaign in classrooms to encourage students to socialize with empathy and considering banning cellphones from classrooms to reduce student anxiety and distractions.

Sarah Hooks said she appreciates Crawford County Middle High School Principal Aaron Randall’s efforts to assist them with their concerns, but she wanted a stronger reaction from office administration, who she claims hung up on her every time she phoned to raise an issue.

Danielle Cox said school officials need to work on enforcing an anti-bullying policy and holding students accountable.

“I just want change, you know,” Cox said. “I want them to start doing punishments.”

Rebekah Hooks said the school’s consequences for student behavior problems are throwing students in in-school suspension, where they “come out and think everything is just fine again.”

Aikens said that the school district does not have a zero-tolerance policy implemented for bullying due to recent court rulings.

“We need to understand that we are dealing with children and they do not always make the best decisions,” he said after noting that student consequences depend on the severity of a behavioral infraction. “We not only have a responsibility to educate students about academic topics, but with the help of parents, we also must teach them how to interact with one another and improve their socialization skills.”

Aikens encourages parents to reach out to school officials regarding any concerns.

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