Queer Kid With Special Needs Attacked In School As Teacher Watched

Author: Christopher Wiggins

The mother of a teenage boy with special needs in South Carolina is speaking out after other students attacked her son in school, and a teacher who witnessed the assault allegedly did nothing.

In January, Natasha Green’s 13-year-old son was attacked by fellow students at Allendale-Fairfax Middle School. Several students forced the boy, who identifies as asexual and panromantic, into a bathroom and began taunting him before physically beating him, LGBTQ Nationreports.

The incident was caught on several cell phone videos.

The boy’s math teacher was in the bathroom during the assault but did nothing.

The outlet reports that Green said the principal at the middle school apologized for the teacher’s lack of intervention and claimed he must have been in shock and froze at the moment, not knowing what to do. The teacher is on staff through a work visa as part of a program that encourages foreign educators to teach in the school system for a year.

The boy, who suffers from social communication disorder, called 911 after his assault and was eventually taken to the hospital.

Now, Green’s son is so terrified in the aftermath of the assault that he has difficulty recognizing relatives, is anxious, and constantly feels targeted.

To seek help for her son, Green has had to jump through several hoops to get him the expedited services he needs. According to Green, a school resource officer who interviewed the boy allegedly didn’t complete her report correctly. In turn, when confronted, that officer refused to edit her report, adding to Green’s frustration.

The mother says she’s frustrated that authorities are not treating the attack with the amount of attention that what she considers a hate crime like this should. The teen, who is out, had been the victim of several monthslong bullying from students who called him slurs and insults, Green said.

“We have obtained an attorney,” she said, according LGBTQ Nation. “This week, a petition is being started for my son to have his rights as a citizen and press charges against the students that attacked him (including the organizer), for the students to be expelled for organizing and executing a hate crime, for the teacher to be removed from the classroom and have his work visa revoked, and for the SRO to be removed from the school and/or fired.”

“The school and the sheriff’s office have refused to acknowledge this as a hate crime,” Green added. “Other parents in the area are working on organizing a protest.”

Original Article on The Advocate
Author: Christopher Wiggins