"It's just her mental state is just gone, everything...it just hurts," said the mother of a daughter who was subjected to severe bullying in Holt Public Schools.
The mother said her student attended Washington Woods Middle School and Holt Junior High School in the Holt Public School District. She tells us about the alleged bullying her daughter endured at school. She claims administrators allowed it to continue, unchecked.
The mother, Alana, spoke with FOX 47's Alani Letang about the pain she says this has caused her daughter, and the entire family. She says the bullying started at Washington Woods Middle school when her daughter was in 5th grade. She says It started with other students calling her dirty, and derogatory names, writing them on the bathroom walls, and even carving these names into the toilet seats.
"I was actually a little disgusted with what these kids were talking about and how they even knew what some of these words meant" Alana said.
Alana claims the abuse was so bad that it caused her daughter to attempt suicide before she finally left the district and started seeing a therapist. As the years went on, Alana said 20 - 30 students would form group chats to talk about her child, threaten her, and tell her that they wanted her to die. She says her daughter wasn't afraid to speak up.
"She would just march right down to the principal's office or the counselors office" said Alana.
However, Alana says when her daughter went to the principal it didn't seem to matter. That's when she stepped in.
"Start my day going into the school, stressing to them, crying to them" Alana said.
Alana claims the school responded by saying that her daughter was bullied because she was pretty. However - they would never want to directly refer to the acts as bullying. Instead "they would call it drama, a lot of drama." explained Alana.
Alana thought the bullying would stop after her daughter finished at Washington Woods Middle School and started Holt Junior High. She says the bullying didn't stop, and that the principal didn't take it seriously.
"Everyone's just sitting around like you no clue about the bullying, and I'm like why do you guys act like nothing is going on here" said Alana.
She says things got worse when her daughter started 7th grade. Alana says that three boys spread a pornographic video around the school, and claimed it was her daughter. Alana says the individual in the video is not her daughter. At one point, Alana's son went to speak with the principal regarding the matter. Alana alleges that the principal watched the pornographic video with him. That's when Alana said he went there to "demand something, and then he goes and watches it with him, like seven or eight times."
It wasn't long after that Alana says the bullying escalated, and her daughter was physically attacked and got into her first fight. "No one didn't care, no one did nothing," the mother said.
Alana obtained a lawyer to handle the matter.
Alana says her daughter was so upset she tried to commit suicide twice.
"My daughter is suffering from depression, her mental state is gone, everything is gone, it just hurts," said Alana.
She tells FOX 47 News that she would have liked if there were consequences for those involved, and the teachers that ignored her pleas.
"They're the ones that are supposed to be trained in this, and they're the ones that are with the kids everyday, and that's what scary because at the end of the day there were a lot of red flags." said Alana.
FOX 47 News scheduled a meeting with Holt's superintendent, but he canceled before we got a chance to speak with him. He says that the cancellation was "per request of his lawyer and he has no comment because he doesn't want to violate the rights of a minor."
Alana has given this information to Michigan State Police. She tells us they say they are investigating the pornographic video.
