ATLANTA — A Gwinnett County mother is warning other parents of how the district is handling her daughter's bullying case -- and wants school and leaders to do more to hold students accountable.
April Ballard shared a video exclusively with 11Alive of what she said is her 13-year-old daughter being hit by another child.
In the video, there appears to be one child running after another and cornering Ballard's daughter in the back of a school bus. The video goes on to show more children joining in and fighting, with several other filming the incident on their cell phones.
"I mean, I was just floored. Like, I see how big these girls are compared to mine," said Ballard.
Ballard said her daughter was attacked on Friday while riding the school bus home from Dacula Middle School. She said she doesn't understand why no one stepped in.
"I don't know if the driver stepped off the bus to make a call. But how are you protecting my kid?" asked Ballard.
The school district tells 11Alive that all children involved have been punished, but would not detail what those punishments were.
Ballard said her daughter has had a history of being bullied, and she just wants the district to uphold its zero-bullying-tolerance policy.
"We should be able to let our kids get the education that they need and deserve and not be pushed into corners like this to where they have to come out and defend themselves because the adults around are not defending them," Ballard said.
A district spokesperson said disciplinary actions range from in-school suspensions to out-of-school suspensions, expulsion or being differed to an alternative school. They say in some cases, criminal charges are pursued -- but only after a full incident report is complete.