I felt compelled to write a letter to the editor after reading about the horrible incident at Candler Elementary School. A 9-year-old boy, who loves My Little Pony, brought a backpack to school that had a character on [it]. His classmates called him vicious names and teased and tormented him. I won’t get into all the humiliation that this little guy suffered. It got to where he told his mom he was afraid to go to school. His mom contacted the princiapl to address the matter.
However, instead of dealing with the little brats who had tormented and bullied this child, [school officials told] the boy … to not bring his backpack to school any more because it could “trigger bullying.” It ALREADY had triggered bullying! Instead of handling it correctly, the idiots in charge of the administration there (and I blame the principal and the Buncombe County superintendent of schools because they are ultimately responsible) punished the victim of this conduct — basically telling the little thugs that if you torment someone here, the administration will take your side and you win.
This is unacceptable. Both the superintendent and the principal … should be fired (not given the option of resigning) at the next school board meeting — oh, and no golden parachutes like was given to the last superintendent of Buncombe County schools, for whatever reason. The purpose of rules, school administration and teachers is to provide a learning environment for children, not to protect the backside of incompetent adults. …
This is not the only incident of this type to have happened here. A little kindergartner in Black Mountain was physically bullied a while back. [School Board member] Lisa Baldwin brought that to the school board’s attention and of course nothing was done.
The traditional North Carolina political way of “cover your ass” needs to end, and the people responsible need to be held accountable — and not by having the school board or whatever hid behind personnel records or any other nonsense when what they are really doing is covering up.
— by Daniel Breen
Have you shared your concerns with your political representatives who can actually address this issue in a powerful way?
That boy is lucky to have you in his corner. Keep on keeping on. Don’t give up.