SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A 13-year-old girl claims she was bullied the entire school year at the O'Farrell Charter School, but it turned violent on the last day of school.
Aliesha is so scared that she didn't want to show her face during her interview with 10News. The shadows hid the fact that her left eye was swollen shut.
She says a girl verbally bullied her all year long at the O'Farrell Charter School.
“She been like telling my friends not to be my friends no more, no, we’re not friends no more," Aliesha said. "And she been talking about me to her friends.”
“She was texting me and talking about how she wanted to fight me," Aliesha said. "And I didn’t want to fight her.”
A screen shot of one of those text message conversations is as follows:
Aliesha says the verbal assaults finally turned physical on the last day of school Monday. Photos from Snapchat show two girls punching Aliesha in the face, pulling her backpack and knocking her around.
“The girl came up behind me and pulled my hair and started hitting me in my face and nose,” Aliesha said.
She thinks she was targeted because she's a little different from other kids.
“I don’t have a thumb. I was born without an ear,” Aliesha said.
Other birth defects made her left side significantly weaker, deaf in her left ear, with spinal issues.
Aliesha admits the bullying broke her, and she started hurting herself because of it.
“I’ve been cutting myself,” she admitted.
It was a heartbreaking confession for her family. Now, they want the school to take responsibility, and the girl to face charges.
“We got in contact with the school and we let the school know that she was being verbally attacked and we want to put a stop to it," her Grandfather Ray George said. "Evidently the school didn’t hear.”
The family says while the school did apologize for the verbal bullying during the year, attempted mediation, and suspended the offender twice, it wasn't enough to stop the abuse.
“They stepped in, but then like nothing got like actually fixed,” Aliesha said.
“One thing I will not and my family will not stand by and see is her be another statistic, another kid that hurts themselves, kills themselves because of someone bullying them," her Aunt Marshelle George said. "That’s not going to happen. When kids are supposed to go to school, they’re supposed to be protected. And they have not done it, they have failed my niece this entire school year.”
“Bullying is something that’s killing kids daily," Ray George said. "We got to stop it. And we need to stop it right now.”
The Director of Operations for the O'Farrell Charter Schools sent 10News this statement:
"Thank you for contacting us. The O’Farrell Charter School takes complaints of bullying very seriously. We have policies and procedures in place to handle any and every complaint that comes to the school, including an immediate investigation plan. However, for student privacy reasons, we would never provide detailed information about a specific student or incident.
The O'Farrell Charter School prioritizes the safety and well being of all students. Any allegation or incident that impacts the safety of our students, whether or not occurring on O’Farrell’s campus and/or during school hours, is responded to by the administration through an investigation, including communicating with students and their parents/guardians to ensure appropriate steps are taken as soon as possible. Appropriate steps may include discipline, counseling and/or training to ensure and support student safety.
Having said this, it should be noted that the incident in question neither occurred on school grounds nor during school hours. Regardless, O’Farrell is still adhering to all of its procedures and will treat this incident as it does all incidents and complaints."
When asked in a follow-up e-mail to clarify if the school is investigating the incident, when a student would be expelled or suspended for bullying, and if someone from the school would have intervened if they had seen this happen after hours and off school property - they sent this response back:
"Yes, the school is in process of investigating the incident.
A student is suspended or expelled if it is determined that a disciplinary offense has occurred. Fighting is an offense for which a student would be issued a suspension. If there are multiple occurrences, a student may be expelled.
If a school employee sees a student being harmed, on or off campus, we absolutely hope the individual would intervene immediately."
Aliesha said she is so fearful that the bullying will continue, she is going to switch schools.
“This is going to be my last year," she said. "Because I’m not going to go there next year.”
If you're worried about someone who may be having suicidal thoughts, call the crisis hotline at the number at 888-724-7240. You can also visit this the website.
