Newspaper Page Text
Page 2— Wednesday, January 10, 2024, The True Citizen
Community supports bullied student
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Editor’s note: Only one
week into the new year, the
United States suffered two
school shootings. Last week,
Dylan Butler, 17, opened fire
at his high school in Iowa, kill
ing a sixth grader and injuring
seven other people before turn
ing the gun on himself It is be
lieved that bullying was a fac
tor that led up to the incident.
According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Preven
tion (CDC), l-in-5 high school
students reported bullying last
year. One out of every six high
school students reported cyber-
bullying. Nearly 14% of public
schools report bullying is a
discipline problem occurring
daily or at least once a week.
Reports of bullying are highest
in middle schools (28%) fol
lowed by high schools (16%),
combined schools (12%), and
primary schools (9%). This is
the first installment of a series
of stories addressing the issue
of bullying.
The names of the student and
her mother in this article have
been changed and omitted to
protect their identity.
Laura is a quiet, meek sixth
grade student who entered
a new school system in fifth
grade. She didn’t report any
problems with other students
to her mother until she entered
middle school the following
year. However, a video captur
ing three seventh grade female
students bullying Laura circu
lated Tik Tok approximately
two weeks before Christmas
break.
“I watched the video and
sat in my bedroom for an hour
and 1/2 and just cried,” Laura’s
mother admitted.
The previous month, the
other female students began to
call Laura names. A couple of
weeks later, Laura was waiting
for her ride home when one
of the female students tried to
pick a fight with her in front
of a group of students. The
incident filled Laura with fear
and anxiety that she might be
ganged up on.
“I said ‘hey’ to her like a
nice person and she said ‘hey,
do you want to fight?” Laura
recalled. “I was thinking that if
she hit me, everyone else will
follow her.”
Laura’s mother explained to
her that not everyone is friend
material and advised her to
stay away from the students.
However, the following week
the female aggressor threat
ened to fight Laura after school.
During an afterschool activity
that same day, Laura went to
use the bathroom accompanied
by a friend. The aggressive
student, along with two other
female students, entered the
bathroom and cornered Laura.
One of them demanded that
Laura come out and face them.
“I was in a stall and she
pulled herself up on it and told
me come out,” Laura recalled.
“She told me that if I didn’t
come out, she was coming un
der the stall to beat me up in it.”
Laura exited the stall, in
tending to quickly head back
toward the classroom. How
ever, the three female students
blocked the door, refusing to
allow her to leave. Instead, they
backed her into a corner and
urged her to hit one of the stu
dents. When she refused, one
of the students grabbed Laura’s
arm and forced her to make
contact with one of the other
girls. The student retaliated by
hitting Laura in the chest and
face. Finally, Laura was able
to get out of the bathroom and
ran back to her classroom. The
friend who accompanied her
into the bathroom recorded the
incident on her cell phone.
Besides addressing the inci
dent with the school’s admin
istration, Laura’s mom posted
the video on her Facebook page
where it received more than
9,000 views and 300 shares.
“I think it goes on at every
school and a lot of times it
gets swept under the mg and
nothing gets done about it,”
she said choking back tears.
“That’s why you have kids out
here committing suicide and
nothing getting done.”
Laura’s mom is right to
be concerned. According to
the CDC, youth who report
both bullying others and be
ing bullied (bully-victims)
have the highest risk for sui
cide related behavior of any
groups that report involve
ment in bullying. Bullying
and suicide-related behavior
are individual complex public
health problems that often
intertwine. Circumstances that
can affect a person’s vulner
ability to either one includes,
emotional distress, exposure
to violence, family conflict,
relationship problems, lack of
connectedness to school/sense
of supportive school environ
ment, alcohol and drug use,
physical disabilities/learning
differences and lack of access
to resources/support.
After Laura’s mom went pub
lic with the incident, she and
Laura received overwhelming
support from members of the
Burke County community.
Laura’s mom received phone
calls, messages and Facebook
friend requests.
A fellow middle school stu
dent reached out to Laura and
invited her to a day out that
included lunch, shopping and
a Christmas festivity. Laura
also got invited to a sleep over.
A local softball coach invited
Laura to participate on a sports
team and sent her a gift card to
a fast-food restaurant. Another
resident offered to pick up the
tab on a Christmas wish list
item. A Burke County couple
delivered a gift basket.
However, the greatest gift
Laura may have received was
reassurance that she was not
alone. An employee of a down
town business with a sixth-
grade sister, assured Laura she
would have nothing to fear
moving forward.
“She told me ‘Don’t worry,
nothing is going to happen to
you ever, ever again,” Laura
said beaming. “She told me
that people are going to look
after me.”
Several other students have
made an effort to befriend
Laura.
“All of them said they have
my back,” Laura stated.
Keysville to vote in 2025
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Councilwomen Kathy
Couch and Sharon Neely have
decided to remain in their city
council seats until 2027.
During the November 14
meeting, Attorney Doug Kidd
addressed Keysville’s election
mishaps, primarily that Neely
and Couch have been in their
seats since 2016 with no elec
tion since.
“Sitting here today, I don’t
know which one of you holds
your seat rightfully and which
ones are holding their seats
wrongfully,” Kidd told the city
council.
However, the charter, case
law and Attorney General
opinions point to the legality of
the council members holding
their seats until the next regular
elections in 2025 and 2027,
regardless of how long they
have sat in office. Despite the
legalities, Kidd recommended
Neely and Couch resign from
their positions effective De
cember 31,2023.
“My opinion is the voters
need to have their say,” he
recommended.
However, Neely said during
the monthly meeting Monday,
that she decided to reman in
Keysville Councilwoman
Kathy Couch
Councilwoman Sharon Neely
her seat for the next four years
because there was a lot of prog
ress completed and she wanted
to continue to work to get the
city back on track. Couch
pointed out that she and Neely
were not informed there were
supposed to be elections and
claimed the oversight wasn’t
their fault.
It is tentatively understood
that Mayor Linda Wilkes,
Councilwoman Maggie Terell
and Councilman Harold
Kight’s seats will be up for
reelection in 2025. Councilman
Freddie Harden’s seat will be
up for reelection in 2027, along
with Couch’s and Neely’s
seats. However, Concerned
Citizen James Neely asked
the city to provide a written
chart confirming the election
schedule.
In other news, employee
Terry Davis who was arrested
December 6,2023, and charged
with felony counts of theft by
receiving stolen property, no
longer works for the city.
THANK YOU!
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community.
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