Lawsuit Filed in Student ''Bullying - Suicide'' Case

A lawsuit has been filed against Murray County Schools by a family who says bullying led to their son's suicide.

Tyler Long committed suicide in October. The 17-year-old suffered from Asberger's Syndrome, a social anxiety disorder. His family, and their attorneys, say it was unbearable bullying at school that forced him to take his life. The lawsuit says the boy's parents made "countless efforts" to meet with school officials to discuss their son's safety at school due to the constant bullying.

The lawsuit says the school system violated the boys rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act, and that school officials exhibited "deliberate indifference" towards the bullying.

In a Murray County school board meeting last year numerous families made similar complaints. Veronica Gearhart says her child is bullied as well.

"My baby is missing school because a gang of boys is waiting for him and it was reported to everyone and no one did nothing," she said.

Others like Carleen Mcatie worry about what might happen next.

"It'll be like Columbine because it will have festered so long," said Mcatie. "Something needs to be done about it now, before something major happens in our school."

In that meeting Director of Admistrative Services Dean Donehoo admitted there is a problem in Murray County similar to such problems at other schools.

"Bullying is a serious problem in American schools," said Donehoo. "It would be unfair to say we do not have instances of bullying."

But superintendent Vickie Reed said she'd only received one call of complaint and downplayed the danger.

"The perception that the school is a haven for bullies is not true," she said. "All schools have it, but is it a major issue, no it's not."

The school system has not responded specifically since the lawsuit has been filed, but said last year that if a lawsuit was filed, they plan to aggressively fight it.