To the Editor:

Bullying is unwanted aggressive behavior among school-age children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance, intentional act that causes harm to others and may involve verbal harassment, verbal, non-verbal threats, or physical harm.

Now that I have defined the word “bullying” for everyone, let me explain why I am writing this letter. I am a pissed off mother whose complaints have fallen on deaf ears, blind eyes, and turned backs at my daughter's school in the Berne-Knox-Westerlo School District.

I have reported issues of bullying to the administrators since she was in third grade. My daughter is now in the seventh grade. I have documented verbal abuse and physical abuse.

All I’ve ever gotten from school administrators over the years is, “We will talk to the girls.” Talking doesn’t work.

When my daughter was in fifth grade, during physical education class, she was beaten with a hockey stick in the foot by a bully (the No. 1 bully) and was in a walking boot for two weeks. I filled out a school accident report.

I went to school administrators. Their response was, the physical education teacher saw nothing. So nothing was done again.

My husband and I went to school every day during her fifth- and sixth-grade lunch periods because the name-calling got so bad. It was so terrible that, from April 2014 to June 2014, I signed my daughter out of school every day for her lunch period.

When I spoke to school administrators about this, their response was, “Do what you feel you need to do.”

We even met in September 2014 with parents and with third- through sixth-grade teachers. We sat and talked with the parents of the girls that bullied my daughter and the No. 1 bully admitted to calling her a “little bitch” and her stepfather made her apologize.

I thought, “Well, that went well. Maybe this year won’t be so bad.”

Nope. I was wrong. I had to put my daughter into therapy in March 2015. School was not helping control the bullying issues.

At the end of the school year, the sixth-graders were cleaning out their lockers. My daughter had an empty bag of beef jerky that contained a silicone packet inside to keep the jerky fresh. A male student picked up that packet and yelled down the hallway that my daughter was selling drugs.

Well, talk about being humiliated and embarrassed. Teachers searched her locker, her personal belongings, and made her cry. They didn’t believe a word she said.

When they found out the truth, all the school officials said was the male student was spoken to. But he didn’t apologize to my daughter.

I am sure some of you are asking: Why I am really writing this letter? On Jan. 12, 2016, my daughter had enough of being bullied being called names like f-----g bitch. After she came home from school, I went to work. She was home with her older sister and brother.

She thought trying to kill herself was the only way out of bullying because the school district failed to protect her and keep her in a safe environment.

As a parent, hearing that my 12-year-old tried to kill herself because she thought bullies could win, I lost it; my heart sank; I was full of anger, and hurt — so many emotions.

So the time since then has been trying. I have read and re-read the student handbook and the school has not followed any of the rules listed in the handbook.

The handbook clearly states social or relational bullying includes excluding someone from a group, isolating, shunning, spreading rumors, or gossiping. That’s what is happening to my daughter.

During the first day of volleyball practice, my daughter and I walked into the gym and a group of girls stated, “Why is she here? She just needs to go home.”

I heard that and went straight to the coach. The response from the coach was, “I didn’t hear it or see it. I can’t do anything.”

On the second day of practice, the same group of girls called my daughter a “bitch.” When I picked her up, she told me what happened. I went directly to the student’s mother and she took care of it.

One incident took place a couple of years ago: My daughter gave a classmate a hug because the classmate was upset and a staff member announced in front of the class, “It’s OK to be a lesbian.” The bully girls took that statement and called her a lesbian for two years....

The BKW School District failed my daughter and my family over the past five years. They are in default of the state’s Dignity Act.

The problem with this school district is that staffers don’t listen or see anything. They cannot keep administrators for more than one or two years at a time. There is no consistency in any administration.

All the school wants to do is give us a tutor. My daughter was not protected but was put in an unsafe environment.

Wake up, people, and smell the roses...Maybe the school board needs to look at who they hire a little better.

I am a pissed-off mom. I have a voice; I will be heard. I am not leaving. I will not be quiet. I will not go away. I am not full of empty threats. You failed my child.

Paula Dunnells

Berne

See related story and editoral.