YORK COUNTY, S.C. -- A South Carolina lawmaker says it’s time to crack down on school bullying by punishing bullies and their parents.
If the new bill becomes law, students written up for bullying and their parents would have to go through mandatory counseling. This comes just weeks after a South Carolina mother says bullying pushed her 12-year-old son to commit suicide.
The problem now surfacing in York County where a mother says her daughter is suffering extreme bullying. Britney Carter says her 12-year-old daughter has received insults some adults couldn’t even handle.
“Talking about her weight," Carter said. “Talking about her hair, 'she’s a fish,' even down to her name, or 'her nose looks like a pig.'”
Those hurtful words all coming from bullies. Carter said her once outgoing, award-winning daughter now has no desire to attend class. The bullying is so bad she’s even afraid to use the school restroom.
“One incident, she got locked in the bathroom," Carter said. “They were holding the bathroom door and she couldn’t get out.”
School districts across South Carolina reported 2,571 cases of bullying to the state Education Department during the 2015-201616 school year, the most recent year the data was collected.
That’s nearly 2,000 more incidents that were reported in 2014. Now one S.C. lawmaker is saying enough is enough. Republican Rep. Samuel Rivers from Berkley County is pushing a bill that would require bullies and their parents to attend mandatory counseling sessions.
If a certain number of sessions are missed, that child could be kicked out of school. Carter said she thinks the bill is a great idea.
“If you sit that parent and that child down I think it would help break something.” Earlier this month, a South Carolina mom sharing this gut-wrenching post after she says her 12-year-old son committed suicide as a result of extreme bullying at school.
We reached out to York School District One of the bullying incidents, a spokesperson says they take all bullying reports seriously and teachers and students go through annual bullying prevention training.