Last week, a Sikh student recorded and uploaded a video of kids bullying him on the school bus, calling him "terrorist." Now that the video has gone viral, Georgia school officials are taking disciplinary action.
Gwinnett County Schools takes disciplinary action over bullying video
Gwinnett County Schools and Duluth Middle School, where the students involved in the video attend, have reportedly taken disciplinary action. However, school officials could not specify what actions were taken, which students were disciplined, or if any students missed school after the incident, citing privacy laws.
The video was recorded on the school bus last week. The 12-year-old, who wears a turban in observance of his Sikh faith, can be heard explaining, "Kids being racist to me." He holds up the camera to show his classmates behind him, and a girl stands up, points at him and yells, "Terrorist! Terrorist!"
The school claim they didn't become aware of the video until Monday.
The school district released a statement Wednesday saying that the students were involved in "a series of back-and-forth name-calling incidents," but does not say that the boy was being bullied.
This incident occurred the week of February 23 on a Duluth Middle bus. The school was informed of the incident on Monday, March 3, and became aware of the video. The school immediately began an investigation into the matter.
In talking to the students on the bus, school leaders were able to determine that there had been a series of back-and-forth name-calling incidents that had occurred between students. The school has concluded its investigation and has taken appropriate disciplinary action with the students who were involved.
You've got to be kidding me. So the school has taken appropriate disciplinary action with the students who were involved -- including the kid who got called "terrorist"? According to a friend of the Sikh student's family, he was apparently among those disciplined because he used an expletive. ("Motherfucker," in case you were curious.)
This is infuriating. As I said before, you get the feeling from this kid's video that this is an occurrence that happens way too regularly. You can shame the racist-ass kids. You can blame their parents for raising racist-ass kids. But a response like this demonstrates a clear breakdown on an institutional level, when the school district effectively tolerates racial and religious intolerance, boiling it down to simple "name-calling."
There are people who sincerely believe that intolerance will just fade away on its own, with each passing generation. Incidents like this are a clear reminder that this sentiment is utter bullshit.
Sikh boy's video shows classmates calling him terrorist
