SC-Bullies sneak into ICU to snap photos of 12-year-old girl they drove to hang herself.

[sds71]

The suit stated that in December 2021, students referred to Turner as “a man and roach in [teacher] Olivia Bennett’s class.” Bennett was accused of being “complicit” in the bullying and “said nothing to the other students to stop it.”

When one student reportedly asked “Where’s the roach?” Bennett allegedly pointed to Turner.


To make matters worse, in the days after Kelaia was admitted to the hospital and being treated in the ICU for 31 days, some students were given access to her while she was unconscious and took pictures of her with the intent to mock her further on social media. The lawsuit stated that “[a]fter the pictures were circulated, [another student] also assisted in spreading rumors about [Kelaia]’s injuries.”

The day after those students posted pictures of an unconscious Kelaia, her mother — unaware of the photos — emailed the school to lodge a formal complaint “regarding the lack of enforcement of Fischer Middle’s anti-bullying policies,” saying that Kelaia “had been reporting incidents of bullying since 2021 with no intervention.”

The school’s principals responded that the school had “a zero-tolerance policy for bullying but no way to enforce it.”

Students who bullied girl into suicide attempt went to hospital afterward to take pics: Lawsuit

The family of a South Carolina girl who suffered permanent injuries after a suicide attempt brought on by persistent bullying has sued the girl's school district for negligence.

lawandcrime.com

Family sues Greenville County Schools after 12-year-old attempts suicide over bullying

A Simpsonville family has filed a lawsuit claiming Greenville County Schools was negligent in responding to bullying and harassment claims when it comes to their now 14-year-old daughter.

www.wyff4.com

Bullies sneak into ICU to snap photos of 12-year-old girl they drove to hang herself: lawsuit

South Carolina middle-school bullies who allegedly pushed 12-year-old Kelaia Turner to hang herself visited her later at the ICU and took photos of the victim to mock her on social media, according…

nypost.com

 

[Eloise]

From the first article linked: "The school’s principals responded that the school had “a zero-tolerance policy for bullying but no way to enforce it.”"

I think this is a huge problem, it's the same here (Australia). In theory, all schools have a 'zero tolerance to bullying' policy, but there's no way to enforce it in any meaningful way that actually changes the behaviour. Here, I know of cases where bullies' parents have successfully argued against even the soft punishments schools can give out. Schools are really hamstrung by inclusion policies that don't really let them do much at all. There's really little wonder so many people are turning to home schooling. JMO

 

[chimpface]

I have no words.

 

[Columbo Was The Best]

I have no words.

Me neither :-(

 

[Inthedetails]

I have no words.

My heart ACHES reading this.

And I ANGRY they got in her hospital room. I doubt they did that without some adult assistance. Who helped them?

jmo

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

The interesting thing to me is that if we change the setting and the relationship of the teachers to this child, they'd likely be in huge legal trouble for sitting back and allowing a child in their care to be psychologically abused.

Everyday there's a new story like this. As much love and respect as I have for teachers, I think it's time teachers lost their license for allowing bullying to happen in their classrooms without repercussions. I think districts should be on the financial hook, principals and superintendents should be held professionally responsible, and parents of bullies should be sued for the actions of their kids.

Bully kids will only get the proper teaching, guidance, and punishment for their actions when the adults in charge of them have more to lose if they don't hold them accountable.

JMO.

 

[scaredtopost]

Such a beautiful young girl. My heart aches for her and her family. Mean people suck.
JMO, MOO, etc.

 

[kaen]

The story is truly horrifying. The school uses a teams approach to make the institution less large so in theory the students are known and can be protected. The leadership should be stripped of their titles. The whole school needs some serious training. It appears that the male Math teacher is no longer there which is comforting. He let a racist song be played in the classroon. The female named teacher is still there AND her school website has a very strong statement on bullying. One has to wonder what the statement was previous to pointing to this child when asked to identify the roach. Lots of stuff that makes the teacher look wholesome and inclusive.

There is a cumulative effect to being called names everyday in every class. The kids travel with each other but the teachers do not. So, it is possible that the teachers did not know the extent of the bullying BUT the administrative team did as this parent complained repeatedly. As a counselor, I have many students who have experienced harassment and bullying with teachers who sit idly by because they also feel at risk from the bullies. No excuse to me though. In schools, our teachers take courses in how to be proactive against bullying. Teachers will only stand up when administrators hold the line. My guess is that we will see more come out (if this does not get settled with a non-disclosure agreement) that the administration did not do enough ever to protect this child and her family.

Now, the audacity of adolescents to go into an ICU and take photos of this victim makes me want to puke. The students and families who did this are awful human beings. It says something about a person who recognizes that a person they bullied will never be able to recover AND continue to bully them for pleasure. Who are the families of these kids? What did they do to punish or hold their child(ren) to account? Ughhh.

I am so sorry to the Turner family that they were failed by all. Charges? It would be nice but if we can't get school personnel who failed to do what they were trained to do in school shootings charged or disciplined, I have little faith that these poor excuses of teachers (allegedly) will be held to a standard. JMHO, of course.

 

[Twick]

I remember - very vividly - when a girl from another culture was due to join my grade 4 class. Worse, she has a last name that could lead to mockery by the cruel. The teacher took a whole hour to prepare us, to have us empathize with a child joining a new group, and also letting us know there would be hell to lay if we bullied her. To my knowledge, no one did.

If a teacher fifty years ago with little guidance could do this, why can’t the teachers today?

 

[Brightchaser47]

Bullies are not born, they're made. They were someone's kids before they were someone's students. I know our public schools have their issues, but when did parents sign over their rights/responsibilities to teachers?? Maybe we need to take the Colin/Colt Gray approach in situations like this....jmo

 

[sapphire blue]

I hope the parents also bring civil suits against the teachers against the bullies

absolutely atrocious behaviour by teachers and bullies, they need to have serious consequences for their actions. The bullies should be charged and prosecuted.

 

[Brightchaser47]

I hope the parents also bring civil suits against the teachers a the bullies

absolutely atrocious behaviour by teachers and bullies, they need to have serious consequences for their actions. The bullies should be charged and prosecuted.

That's precisely why bullying is so rampant-- they know nothing will be done to them. How many more suicides/attempts have to occur, before something changes?

 

[tlcya]

the absolute wanton cruelty, even after the fact, is just - wow. Who is raising these children?? I hope this poor girls parents sue every last parent of every child involved in this horror, for anything and everything they may have or ever get in life.