STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — A sixth-grade boy was allegedly knocked unconscious after an assault by his own classmates, his mother said, and claims the school is doing nothing to protect him.
Demi Oche said her son was being bullied at Stephenson Middle School in Stone Mountain. She said she's been going to the school all year to try and get help for her child and has written emails and had meetings with the principal - but she said nothing would stop the bullying.
It all came to a head last week when she had to take her son to the emergency room herself because she said the school didn't call 911. Her son was diagnosed with a concussion after he was assaulted by his bullies, she said.
Oche is frustrated, saying teachers won't change his class schedule to separate him from bullies and she said they didn't call for help when he got knocked out.
"They didn't call the paramedics at all. They just called us and explained what happened," she said. "Told us our son was involved in an assault, and that he was beaten until he was unconscious and could we just come and pick him up."
She said a lot of bullying at school is about her son's identity. He's adopted and white, her family is Black.
"'His mom don't love him; he don't know who his dad is; his mom dropped him off at my house. His daddy is the milkman,'" she rattled off some of the comments. "And it's all because he's a white boy with Black parents."
When Oche didn't get answers from the school, she hired Attorney Raymond Humphrey to help her.
"That was seven days ago," he said about the assault. "Since then, we've asked for reports, videos, pictures, just to find out what's going on, and we haven't gotten answers yet."
Raymond went to the school board to try and find out why the kids accused of the attack have not been held accountable.
"We have a mom who needs to know what happened to her son. Once she was told the child was rendered unconscious, it's unbelievable that the child didn't receive medical attention," Raymond said.
The DeKalb County School District said they can't comment on potential litigation but said its code of conduct is expected to be follow and applied. Read their full statement at the bottom of this story.
"You can't make sense of it, you can't make sense of it at all," Oche said. "And I just pray this is not what our school system is becoming."
She's pulled her son out of school now and she said he's terrified to go back. They're looking at other education options for him until they get some guarantees from the school about his safety.
Full statement from Dekalb County School District:
It is the longstanding practice of the DeKalb County School District (DCSD) not to comment on pending or potential litigation.
DCSD reaffirms its commitment to safe and secure learning environments for all students and employees. District leaders, school administrators and staff, school resource officers, and campus safety personnel work intentionally to promote a culture that discourages discipline issues by communicating expectations and consequences for misbehavior.
When discipline issues arise, however, consequences, as outlined in the DCSD Student Code of Conduct, are expected to be followed based on the incident, its severity, and the student’s age. Law enforcement charges are also applied as appropriate.