Parents Face School System About Bullying

For the first time tonight, we hear from a school system in Murray County about the death of one of their students.  Tyler Long committed suicide in October, but his family says it was unbearable bullying at school that forced him to take his life.  Tuesday night, the Murray County School System held a meeting aimed at hearing the community's voice, and the public's message came loudly.

First, administrators addressed the public about their achievements and goals, without mention of the reason many were there, a recent teen's suicide.  But in a packed small group session, the emotions came pouring out and for the first time, we heard the school's response.

Tyler's mom Tina Long was the first to speak out at the break out session on school policy.  "You don't want to take care of problem, if you did it would be took care of!"

Then, claps, screams, and questions crowded the Murray County school room.  They all revolved around the recent suicide of 17 year old Tyler Long.  His parents say unpunished bullying at the school led him to take his life, and now they want to see the system to admit there's a problem and change it.  David Long, Tyler's father, says, "Helplessness, there's no accountability anywhere nor do they want to see that there are issues."

Tina adds, "My son is not here anymore, words are all they have and until we see action, I'm worried about the 2 kids I have in school and their safety."

One, is Taryn, who says she sees the hurtful harrassment daily.  "It's very scary, no teachers are in the halls, multiple kids are bullying."

But this family isn't alone, dozens of others got emotional as they told their stories and concerns.  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."

Others like Carleen Mcatie worry about what's next.  "It'll be like Columbine because it will have festered so long, something needs to be done about it now, before something major happens in our school."

Director of Admistrative Services Dean Donehoo tried to answer the questions and admitted there is a problem.  "Bullying is a serious problem in american schools, 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, all schools have it, but is it a major issue, no it's not."

Donehoo did pass out a page and a half explanation of bullying and told parents he would speak with each of them individually about their concerns.

The Long's have hired an attorney and have also filed paperwork for a lawsuit against the school system.  The Superintendent told us they plan to aggressively fight it.