When we send our kids off to school we picture them happily talking, hanging out, and playing with their friends. What we don’t picture? Is them being emotionally and physically harassed and bullied by their fellow classmates.
And yet, according to a 2020 survey conducted by the Cyberbullying Research Center, 50% of children aged 9 – 12 are victims of school bullying.
That’s 1 in 2.
And for one little boy in Walton County, Georgia, he is no stranger to being a part of this devastating statistic, with terrifying consequences.
In an absolutely horrifying incident of bullying, the 11-year-old boy jumped out of the school bus window in a desperate attempt to escape his tormentors.
Dion Murphy’s son was on his way home from school last Wednesday when he was attacked by two of his fellow bus riders. One student jumped in his face, pushing him down, while another student ripped his shoe off of his foot.
The bus was stopped in the left-hand turning lane when the middle schooler did the only thing he could think of to stop it.
He leaped out of the right rear window.
Investigators say that the boy landed on a passing pickup truck before hitting the highway pavement.
He sustained a concussion and a broken elbow and is currently recovering. State troopers closed the intersection for over an hour to investigate the incident.
In an interview with Fox5 Atlanta, his father, Dion Murphy says:
“One student jumped in his face, he was pushing him against the window, when he fell, the other student took his shoe and in a desperate attempt to escape it, he jumped out the window.
I believe he was trying to escape the situation. At this moment he felt His back was up against the wall”
The incident was recorded by an on-bus camera and Murphy watched the video at a meeting with the Youth Middle School principal on Friday.
This.Is.Heartbreaking.
This little boy was so afraid he thought his only recourse was jumping out the window. And this is so many levels of WRONG.
It also begs the question, where was the bus driver in all of this?
What makes it even worse though, is that this wasn’t the first time. His family claims that this has been ongoing all year. Murphy met with school officials back in March regarding older students bullying his son on the bus.
And the school has multiple videos to prove it. Murphy tells Fox5 News:
“I recently saw a tape that a girl was hitting on him as well. There’s another tape of him being dragged down the aisle, there’s more video of the boys from this May 5th situation.”
He goes on to say:
There’s more tapes and that’s why I’m so upset because the school neglected the bullying act and did not do anything about it. They took it as horse-play, but my son could have lost his life.”
The school does, in fact, have an anti-bullying act in place. Although they seem to be severely lacking in actually enforcing it.
A spokesperson for Walton County Schools said the district is aware of the bullying allegations and they are looking into it.
In a written statement to Fox 5, an official from the school district wrote:
“Following a bus incident on May 5, a Walton County School District student sustained minor, non-life-threatening injuries. The other students and driver on the bus were not injured.”
Which doesn’t quite seem to capture the severity of the situation.
A little boy JUMPED out a window, BROKE his elbow, and SUFFERED a concussion trying to FLEE his bullies. But yeah, a “student sustained minor, non-life-threatening injuries” works too I guess.
Their statement continued:
School and district officials are aware of the bullying allegations made in connection with this event. The Walton County School District does not tolerate bullying and harassment of any kind.
The incident is being thoroughly investigated by school officials and any disciplinary issues that may arise will be handled appropriately at the school level.”
So far there is no word on any disciplinary action against the perpetrators. As for the victim, he is no longer enrolled at the school. This isn’t surprising, given that the school failed in its duty to protect this child. Members of the school staff were obviously aware that there was an ongoing situation and did little (if anything) to prevent it.
The boy’s aunt, Kimberly Mcguffey, has set up a Go-Fund-Me to help pay for her nephew’s medical expenses.
She writes:
“My nephew was (sic) has been bullied all year long at school no matter what his mother done the school failed to do what they were supposed to
my nephew was bullied severely on the bus an yesterday he was being bullied to the point he couldn’t take it anymore an jumped out the bus window and has bad bruises and fractured elbow he hit a passing truck while attempting to get out of the bus and away from the bullies.”
This little boy’s physical injuries will thankfully heal. What may not heal, however, are the invisible scars that are left behind. The emotional and psychological damage done by this type of abuse often lasts a lifetime.