Great Bend Post
BARTON COUNTY —Hours after a story on Great Bend Post was released depicting cyber bullying that was reported at Hoisington Middle School, a mother of a student at Great Bend High School came forward and said, “there’s a lot going on, and this is just the tip of the iceberg because so many parents have a story.”
RELATED STORY: Report of photos taken of Hoisington student undressing in locker room
The mother said her son, who is autistic and was in the special needs classroom
at Great Bend High School, went to the restroom where another student took a
video of her son with his pants down and posted the video on social media.
"I don't think there should be cell phones in the school district at all. I think most teenagers don't have the mindset and the maturity level to have cell phones to be able to take pictures of others. It's a distraction. We send them to school to learn. We don't send them to take pictures and videos of other students to harass and bully."
The incident occurred May 17, 2022 and the mother was told the student
that took the video was suspended for the rest of the school year. The young
man was given a diversion and returned to school this fall.
The mother, not wanting her son to have to go to school with his “predator”
removed her child from Great Bend High School in September and now travels 25 miles to another
school with the special needs care needed for her son.
"My son is defenseless. He's not going to defend himself. I didn't want the other student anywhere near my kid. School officials told me they 'kept their schedules and they should not be anywhere in the building at the same time. If they are, then your son can come back to the special education room.' I don't understand why my son had to cater to this other young man when my son did nothing wrong."
Many resources are available to identify bullying, how to protect yourself and
ways to report bullying. USD 428 Great Bend has anti-bullying curriculum, procedures and a place to report bullying at greatbendschools.net. You can also visit stopbullying.gov.