AMITE-- About two dozen family members, friends and supporters of 13-year old Jewel M. Sumner Middle School student Chris Lang arrived in protest at the Tangipahoa Parish Schools Central Office at 9 a.m. Monday morning, Nov. 5.
Chris Lang came with his arm wrapped in a cast and bruises on his left shoulder. He said he has been a victim of bullying for years in the school system. Last week, the bullying turned worse when Lang’s arm was broken in two places.
The group of about two dozen chanted “enough is enough already,” and it’s time for the board to put an end to the violence in local public schools.
Chris Lang said a classmate, who had threatened him before and throughout the PE hour, slammed him with his elbow, knocking him to the floor.
Lang said he received no medical attention as a result of the attack, but that his father, Chris Lang Sr. was eventually called to the school.
“They called me, but what they should have done was call the ambulance,” said Chris Lang Sr., clearly tired and frustrated of the ordeal. “When I got to the school, his arm looked like a dog’s leg, bent out of shape. It was obvious it was broken.”
Chris Lang Sr. said he has made contact several times with the middle school about the harassment his son receives, but still it continues.
Even more frustrating is that the classmate who bullied his son remains in school to this day, the father said.
Lang Sr. said one of the boys responsible for the bullying last week did apologize to the family, but no apologies have been forthcoming from the alleged bully himself or his family.
The student victim said he sees exactly why so many children end up “committing suicide all the time” over bullying. He said he knows how they feel, although he hasn’t taken it to those extremes.
Chris Lang Jr. has an older brother, Corey, who is a 15-year old student at Sumner High, and said he tries his best to stay calm about the matter, though it makes him angry.
“It’s just plain stupid,” Corey said of the bullies.
At approximately 9:15 a.m. Monday and just moments after the gathering began, Tangipahoa Schools Assistant Superintendent Lionel Jackson came outside and asked the family to come in the Central Office and discuss the situation.
Several of Lang’s family went immediately indoors, while a few others stayed outside in protest. Moments later, they said Lang’s principal, Brenda Johnson, was on her way to the Central Office.
The victim's grandmother says she worries about teaching their children to defend themselves, knowing they too could end up getting reprimanded for defending themselves.
“It’s a shame when we have to teach our kids to be mean just to survive in school,” said grandmother Sandy Lang.
In a telephone interview with the Amite Tangi Digest/Tangelena.com on Nov. 5, Jackson said Superintendent Mark Kolwe has implemented an anti-bullying manual now enforced in all Tangipahoa public schools.
Jackson said the manual was put into place to keep children in the school “away from a stress-free environment.“
He said a meeting was held with Chris Lang Sr. last Thursday about the incident, while another meeting was scheduled for 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 5.
Jackson said as a result of Monday morning’s protest, there were some positives to be had.
“We are now implementing a parent monitoring program,” said Jackson. “With training, parents can come to school and help keep an eye on children throughout the day and in the halls, as an extra set of eyes to monitor the situation”
Jackson said he hopes this pilot program can become an example for other schools across the parish.
The parent monitoring program is scheduled to be in place by Wednesday, Nov. 7, after children return from the Election Day holiday, he said.
“I am working on this project as we speak,” Jackson said.
Jackson added that Sumner Middle School principal Brenda Johnson arrived at the Central Office immediately upon hearing that the Lang family had arrived in protest.
“She showed care and concern” Jackson said of Johnson. “Jewel M. Sumner is a good school. One of the best in the parish.”
http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=81029
Sincerely,
Daurice Cummings Bealer
Owner of Your Own Production, Inc. /
Louisiana Entertainment Association
Just wanted to say KUDDOS to you. Someone cared enough to instill some morals in you!
God Bless all involved!
Furthermore trying to minimize this as a PE incident when this clearly isn't the case is absurd.
Then on one hand you try to paint the parents as not caring while on the other hand saying that they're just trying to do this for attention. How is this even possible? They complained about every incident and things just kept escalating, what are they supposed to do? The school didn't address the situations adequately when they were brought to their attention the student and the school need to be held accountable.
You may know the child that perpetuated this and they may be great to your family but I'm sure we can say that about lots of criminals.
As for suing, I hope the family does. Why should they have to pay for the medical bills, physical therapy and counseling that their child is going to need to be as close to normal as possible again?
But hey maybe it won't be all bad for you, the student and the school will need a defense attorney and you already have every excuse (real and imagined) ready to go.
Furthermore, it was PE and there is a school mandate of NO contact football. The play was over and the Bully attacked Chris.
My guess is your 6 year old will be a Bully too as you are definitely part of the problem!
The parents filed 3 prior incidents with the school. Get your facts straight. Look it up! You are obviously defending this awful kid because you know him/related to him.
And yes, I would agree this family is trying to get “attention” because they realize that without it, the school administrators will do nothing as they did nothing in the first three incidents. If they didn’t try something else, how could they expect to get a different result? Common Sense! I hope they get all of the attention in the world – then maybe ignorant, excuse ridden people like yourself will be forced to see things as they really are!
@kidswillbekids:I just read your comment. I guess these kind of comments are to be expected when people don’t know or care to know the entire story. Chris is an awesome little kid. Ask the teachers and students of Sumner Middle. This was the 4th bullying attack against Chris. In a prior incident, there was no broken bones, but awful awful things occurred - and frankly if it were my kid - I would have had the media involved at that point. This was no “PE incident”. Kids overheard someone say, “Someone get him.” And then this kid said, “I’m gonna get him”. Chris was running the opposite direction. Your comment, “the family is obviously doing this for attention”, is reckless and irresponsible as you don’t know this family; you have no idea why this family is doing this. Perhaps this family is protecting their kid and feels there is no other way than to get the media involved (again as this was the 4th incident). After all, this was no "if a kid blinks the wrong way, he's a bully", a kid broke another kid's arm in two places and significantly bruised his neck, face, shoulders and back while screaming "I'm gonna get him". I hope this family sues the School Board, the School and the family of the parents of the boy that did this. Because honestly it’s likely the only way to have this Assistant Principal of Sumner Middle School and the parents of this bully fully understand the gravity of the consequences of their actions. I do believe sue happy people are out of control – but not in this incident! If they do nothing, what happens in bully incident #5 – they kill him?
Bullying is now the most popular lawsuit to date. If a kid blinks at another kid the wrong way, he's a bully. Everyone over the age of 20 has been the victim of someone judging them, telling them they don't like them, forming an unjust opinion etc. These actions aren't always bullying. Sometimes, they're just human interaction. Our society (and our school board apparently) is teaching our kids to sue each and every time their feelings get hurt.
Again, I want to reiterate...if the "attacker" did this out of cruel intention, then yes, he should be punished. But the parents here are obviously not looking for justice. They're looking for attention. It's disgusting quite frankly. All lined up for a picture in the paper and smiling to boot. Quit wasting our time and get your school-age kids in class instead of pulling them for your half-brained protest. Geez.
I am sure if this was the 4th attack on your child you would be wanting answers. Especially since it is bad enough he may have to have surgery on his arm. Don't be so quick to judge. I understand your point about defining bullying getting out of hand. I also know if people and parents DID take it a little more seriously, we wouldn't have the massacres that we have had the past 15 years in this country.
If this father didn't fight for his child and his child went crazy on these kids and brought a gun to school, guess what people would say then. Why didn't his parents do something? Just bad raising. They didn't teach him how to deal with problems. Well they are it is Society with opinons like you've just posted, not knowing all the facts that are raising kids that don't know how to deal with problems.
Kds were NEVER just kids. Kids have been bullying other kids since the beginning of time. It's become a bigger issue in the last 15 years for many reasons. One of the big ones is that the results (Kids being injured/killed or committing suicide) are so much more prominent and get much more publicity thanks to the internet and social media. It's been one of the hidden plagues on our society and it's finally coming to light.
I can say that, without a doubt, the parents were looking for justice. Your comment about the various different parents being lined up shows how much of a fool you are. Did you ever stop to think that the photographer from the newspaper ASKED them to get close and lined up so they could get everyone in the picture? Clearly not.
Now, as for for comments about Chris' broken arm. Do you have a medical degree? I have news for you, broken bones CAN kill you. Particularly ones that are compound in nature. They can cut blood vessels or a piece of marrow can be dislodged and enter the blood vessels, causing a clot or a heart attack. And those are things that a PE teacher or a school nurse can tell. The CORRECT action would have been to call an ambulance and have Chris taken to the hospital to ensure that everything was all right with his arm.
This protest isn't hairbrained. What is hairbrained is ignorant people like yourself passing judgement about situations you clearly are ignorant on. And that makes you part of the problem, not part of the solution.