Several Cassopolis Public School parents speak up about bullying

 

CASSOPOLIS, Mich. -- Several Cassopolis Public School parents came forward to address the issue of bullying in Monday night’s school board meeting.  

It comes after the parents of an 11-year-old at Sam Adams Elementary claim she was the target of a murder story, written by her fellow classmates on a school computer.   

“Right is right, wrong is wrong, this is wrong. Fix it,” says the father of the bullying victim, Kyle Bennett. 

Some parents shared their personal stories of their children dealing with bullies at the meeting. 

“Our ability to come forward has given other parents and kids some courage or strength to share their story,” says Cheryl Bennett, the mother of the bullying victim. 

Kyle and Cheryl Bennett say that sharing their story is making a big impact.   

An excerpt of the gruesome story was read aloud by her own grandma to the school board. 

She wasn’t the only one that was there to show support to the Bennett family.  

“The fact that our community and friends and family know what kind of parents we are, what kind of citizens we are, and most of all, they know our daughter, so it’s very overwhelming,” says Cheryl about the support. 

They all called on the school board to better address the issue.   

The superintendent says due to federal law, he cannot go into details on how they addressed the issue, but he assures they did take disciplinary action.  

Parents say they want a more transparent way to address bullying and how to prevent it in schools.  

“Put a parent group together, and a parent group be a part of with the school administrators and we all work together on each different instance that comes about so we can take care of it promptly and correctly for all involved,” Cheryl suggests. 

They learned that speaking up is the best start. 

“We’re glad that we did what we needed to, to try and get a solution, not just for us and our daughter, but for other kids,” Cheryl says. 

The Cass County Prosecutor tells ABC57 he’s reached out to the parents to discuss the report filed in this instance and how to move forward. The school district says they are cooperating fully with law enforcement in their investigation.