Woman claims severe bullying has affected her son’s physical, mental health
ST. LANDRY PARISH, La. (KLFY)- A woman in St. Landry Parish Claims that severe bullying is happening in Port Barre High School.
She says her children’s health is now being affected because of it.
Kristina Gaspard has two sons who attend Port Barre High. She says for some time, they’ve been too scared to go to school.
“It terrifies me to drop them off cause they cry or they tell me ‘Momma I don’t want to go to school today. I’m terrified to go to school today.’ And your child is not supposed to be terrified to go to school,” said Gaspard.
She tells News 10 her sons have been experiencing bullying at the high school for a couple of years, but recently, it’s taken a turn for the worse.
She says now, it’s affecting their health, “I have my oldest son that had a heart attack last month because of the bullying. Because of the situation that’s going on at school.”
Medical documents show her 14-year-old son passed out and had chest pains from what doctors said was the left side of his heart being enlarged due to stress. Stress, Gaspard says, is being caused because of the bullying.
She tells us, the medical issues didn’t stop there, “My son has to go to counseling because of it. Because of the bullying. There was one child that told my child to go home and kill himself.”
She went on to explain, “It’s horrifying. I went home and cried because this child told my child to go kill himself. I’m the one that had to go get my child evaluated at the hospital and then at doctors’ offices. Because the simple fact is this little child told him to go do that. And it’s wrong.”
Gaspard says she’s tried reaching out to school administrators and even the school board but claims nothing has been done to rectify the problem.
Now, she says, she drops off her kids at school every morning and worries about their safety all day long, “I’m terrified that I’m gonna get a phone call saying my child is on the ground and has to be put in an ambulance. Why? Because of the fighting or because he has another heart attack because of what’s going on. Because they’re scared of some students that are at that school.”
News 10 reached out to to the superintendent for comment on the bullying allegations, but we have not received a response.
According to the school’s student handbook, St Landry Parish School Board guidelines state that any form of bullying– even if it’s made in a joking manner– is not tolerated.