Hillcrest Middle fight example of much larger problem
More and more school fights are being planned, videoed and posted to social media.
This time at Hillcrest Middle School, and in a video shared to an anonymous Instagram account.
Megan Templeton told WVUA 23 the video shows her 13-year-old daughter Kylee, a seventh-grader at Hillcrest Middle School, being attacked.
“It’s getting to the point that kids nowadays, they don’t play fair,” she said. “They believe in grabbing guns, knives, violence. We’ve got to get the violence under control with this new generation, or we have no hope. Because the bullying has gotten so bad.”
The Templetons said they were told Kylee was attacked because of a rumor that she used the N-word.
“My daughter does not use that language,” Templeton said.
“I have family that’s Black,” Kylee Templeton said. “I was taught not to say that. I find it wrong because Black people have been through so much to get to where they are today, that it’s wrong and disrespectful to say something like that.”
Megan Templeton said she has contacted an attorney and is filing a police report.
As far as Kylee’s condition, she said she’s fine, but sore and embarrassed in the wake of the incident.
“And it’s sad that people nowadays just like to watch people fight,” she said. “Someone needs to put an end to it, and most parents just brush it off. We’re not even in high school yet, that’s the sad part.”
The Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office confirmed a report has been filed on this incident.
The Tuscaloosa County School System released the following statement to WVUA 23 News:
“Due to student privacy laws, we are unable to share information about individual students. This includes discipline-related information. However, it is incorrect to assume that a situation is not being addressed, just because we are not at liberty to speak publicly about it. Students engaged in fighting on TCSS campuses are punished according to the Student Code of Conduct.
It is extremely concerning that there are anonymous social media accounts that exist for the purpose of showing minors engaging in violence. If you encounter one of these accounts, please report it to the social media platform on which you find it. As a school system, we can and do report these harmful accounts, but that doesn’t automatically mean they will be shut down. We need help in reporting social media accounts that promote and even encourage violence among our young people.”
– Tuscaloosa County School System
