For years, a mother says that her son was relentlessly tormented by his school bully. When he finally fought back, the school suspended him for five days. Now, the fed-up mom has a message for the school officials.
Like any good mother, Missouri resident Allison Davis would do anything to protect her children from harm, either psychological or physical. However, she knows that there comes a time when they have to learn to defend themselves, even if it means suffering unfair consequences.
In a now-viral Facebook post, Davis explained that her son, Drew, has been dealing with a persistent school bully for years. Since middle school, she claims that the boy, who attends Republic High School in Springfield, was forced to endure relentless mocking, threats of physical violence, and even his bully’s rallying of other kids to constantly harass him during and after school hours.
Davis wrote that Drew was eventually afraid to even attend school since he shared four of his classes with his tormentor, who allegedly recruited a bevy of “minions” to assist in the bullying. Of course, Davis brought the issue to the school’s attention. However, she wasn’t given the response she needed.
“For years the school has failed Drew,” she wrote. “When this kid has constantly threatened to beat Drew up along with several of his friends, the school did nothing. When this kid followed Drew down the hall threatening him and making fun of him AND it was all captured on video, the school did nothing. When other kids told teachers and administrators that this kid was threatening Drew, the school did nothing.”
Davis claims that the bully even used “social media, voicemails, and texting” to issue documented threats. Still, she says that school officials brushed off her concerns. Eventually, Drew stopped reporting his abuse to his teachers, anticipating that nothing would be done anyway.
“Not once has the school ever punished the kid that has threatened and bullied Drew over and over,” Davis continued. “In middle school Drew was afraid to walk down the halls because a swarm of this kid and his minions would make fun of and threaten Drew. He quit talking to the adults about it because they never disciplined the bully and it just made the situation worse.”
Davis says that she eventually sent the school a “lengthy email,” begging for action to be taken for her son. She claims that their response was to have Drew and his tormentor “sign a no-contact contract,” which would require nothing more than for the pair to agree to avoid one another.
“I’m pretty sure I rolled my eyes. And, like Drew I gave up on trying to get the school to actually do something that would stop this kid from bullying Drew,” she said.
After so many failed attempts at resolving the issue, Drew finally came up with a plan of his own. Davis says that when the bully began mocking and threatening to harm him on the bus, her son silenced his tormentor once and for all.
“When this kid threatened Drew (while on the bus) and then moved on to making fun of his Dad and then threatening Jackson, his 11-year-old brother, Drew decided that he would quit relying on the school and the adults who are suppose to protect him and HE would do something. Three punches and his bully screamed like a baby, his minion friends shut up, and this morning the bully wouldn’t even look at him. Problem solved,” she concluded.
Allison Davis says that after her son beat up the bully, the school finally took action. Unfortunately, it was against her son, who was issued a 5-day in-school suspension for fighting.
“Five days of OSS for beating up the kid that has been tormenting and bullying him since middle school,” Davis explained.
However, instead of being disappointed in Drew’s response, Davis admitted that she’s “not even a little bit” upset with her son. In fact, she’s as proud as she can be that her son stood up for himself and his family.
“I know as a parent I’m suppose to be upset with him for resorting to violence or getting suspended, but I’m not. Not even a little bit,” she said.
Drew had likely learned these moves through self-defense classes. Luckily, his training came in handy when he he was forced to deal with an unrelenting bully on his own.
While it isn’t clear if Drew was physically harmed by his bully, every child has the right to feel safe from threats of violence and harassment, especially while they’re at school. Unfortunately, it had to come to a physical response in order for the problem to be resolved.
