MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An emotional plea to end bullying at Germantown Schools has caught the community’s attention.
Jacob Vincent, 16, fought back tears as he told his story Monday night at a Germantown School Board meeting.
He detailed years of being bullied from elementary school to Houston Middle School.
He recalled times when he was hit, knocked unconscious and told to do the worst of all.
“I was told to kill myself many times. I was told that it’d be better for everybody if I just left. I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t take it to the administrative office because I knew nothing would happen if I did and it would just lead to more torment as it had in the past.”
Jacob told his family he took the podium to be a voice for others.
“Jacob said, ‘I want to speak,'” Jacob’s mom, Lori Vincent, said. “I didn’t want him too. I didn’t want him to relive all of that, not understanding that he’s reliving it all the time.”
Vincent says she’s proud of her son for speaking about the years of torment.
“The worst that stuck with me was this girl telling Jacob to just do everyone a favor and drink bleach and die. Who says that?”
She says she went to the district several times, but nothing was ever done and no one was held accountable.
Jacob was admitted to a hospital and diagnosed with depression in the 8th grade.
The family says they finally had enough and pulled him out of that school and enrolled him at Christian Brothers High School, where he’s been flourishing ever since.
“It warms my heart. It’s like finally seeing him back, pretty close anyway, to the kid he was before,” his mother said.
Although he’s now in a great place, his family says they don’t want others at Germantown school to suffer.
“It’s still going on, which means they’re still not following their policy.”
Lori says no one with the district came up to them after Jacob’s emotional speech, but the superintendent did speak with us.
“If you have a situation you feel hasn’t been resolved at the school level correctly, then please bounce it up to the next level and we will address it,” Superintendent Jason Manuel said.
“I did. I did, and you did nothing,” Lori Vincent said.
She recommends other parents talk to their kids and check their phones and social media.
She said anyone’s welcome to reach out to her on Facebook.
Germantown Schools released a statement on the Vincents’ complaint:
“The incident referred to by a former student who appeared at our board meeting last night occurred in the Fall of 2014. As with any circumstance of this nature this incident was fully investigated by school administration and consequences were rendered per our policies. Parents of all parties were communicated with at this time. …
“While we empathize with the young man who spoke last night, we cannot speak to the media about the specific outcomes and allegations of any investigation involving students or discipline.”
