MEMPHIS, Tenn. — We’re fresh into the new school year, but Memphis police have already had to respond to several bullying and fighting reports involving students.
On Thursday, there were four reports of students fighting on and off school campuses.
A father of two, Cliff Peterson said he can only imagine getting a call that one of his kids got jumped.
“Like any parent, you would be hurt,” he said.
That recently has been a reality for several parents.
Around 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, police responded to an altercation between students from Craigmont Middle School.
The victim told police she was walking home when several girls pulled her hair, hit her in the face and kicked her.
A video of it all was then posted on social media.
“If you’re going to allow your kids the ability to be on social media, that means you need to be monitoring their social media,” said parent Domonique Matthews.
Around the same time Thursday, another student reported being attacked at Kingsbury Middle School by a classmate. Punches were thrown after a verbal argument between the two girls earlier in the day.
“You have to undergo what’s really going on in these children to make them so vengeful, so angry,” said Peterson.
Another parent reported students from Whitehaven High School showing up to her house Thursday to fight her daughters, which led her to call police.
And just before 7 p.m. on Thursday, a student was walking home from the Mitchell Community Center when police say a group of teenagers punched him and knocked him down.
“It does have something to do with coming from home, discipline at home,” said Matthews. “A lot of kids are just not getting attention at home, so they get out here and they find attention otherwise.”
Parents say the bullying is more than these kids dealing with hormones…as they can seriously jeopardize their futures academically and criminally, hoping everyone will have a talk with their child about what’s really going on in their lives.
If your child has been victim to bullying, there are resources available. You can call the Memphis Crisis Center at 901-274-7477.