Fed up: Ocean Springs students walk out of school as part of protest against bullying
Aubreigh Wyatt’s death by suicide on Sept. 4 is still reverberating throughout the Ocean Springs community, where parents and students say bullying is rampant in the schools and they’re tired of putting up with it.
At least eight students walked out of class Friday afternoon in protest after one female student said she was suspended from Ocean Springs High School for standing up for Aubreigh on Facebook. The students made protest signs and were standing with them across from the school on busy Old Spanish Trail. Drivers rode by, honking constantly in support.
Meanwhile, Aubreigh’s mom, former Ocean Springs elementary school teacher Heather Wyatt, videoed the protest on Facebook Live. Aubreigh, an 8th grade student at Ocean Springs Middle School, was only 13 when she died. Her mom said she had been bullied since the fifth grade.
Superintendent Michael Lindsey, reached by telephone, said he could not discuss specific student incidents, whether they involved suspensions or bullying.
“Every incident is investigated and, if evidence shows the student code of conduct has been violated, there are consequences,” Lindsey said. He said the school district has held anti-bullying programs this year, including one on cyberbullying and responsible use of social media, and is already planning another push for next school year.
“We cannot handle anything that is not reported to us,” he added, noting there are several ways to report bullying, including an anonymous online form.
Ocean Springs students upset over suspension
The student said she was suspended early Friday afternoon. Heather Wyatt had posted on Facebook some of the text messages between Aubreigh and her bullies. The student who was suspended said she commented on the post, writing about the bullies: “When they get in high school, they’re going to get a taste of their own medicine.”
She said that she deleted the post after one of her teachers admonished her about it Friday. But, she said, she wound up being suspended and will possibly be expelled. Other students at the protest were upset that the student had been disciplined when they don’t see bullies suffering repercussions.
The Sun Herald is not naming the students because they are minors whose parents were not present.
Heather Wyatt said she was alerted about the walkout by one of Aubreigh’s friends and came to the school to support the students. She understands why they are upset.
“They’re singled out for things other children essentially get away with,” Wyatt said, “so they don’t feel like they’re being treated fairly.”
Wyatt was sitting in the SUV of a former student who also was bullied at Ocean Springs Middle School and is now a thriving adult. Vanessa Owens told her story to the Sun Herald after Aubreigh’s death. But she and Heather Wyatt met for the first time at Friday’s protest. They immediately bonded.
Other students experience bullying
A number of the students at the protest have had experiences with bullying. One, 15-year-old Brooklyn Lake, was joined at the protest by her mom.
Brooklyn said that she attempted death by suicide in the sixth grade because she was being relentlessly bullied by a boy at Ocean Springs Upper Elementary School. Her mom, Farrah Forehand, said she tried repeatedly to talk with school officials about the bullying so it would stop. But nothing happened, Forehand said.
One day on the playground at recess, Brooklyn said, she guessed the boy got mad because kids were playing dodge ball and the ball hit him in the leg. She said the boy hit her with a stick.
“He threatened to shoot me dead and beat me with a baseball bat.”
She attempted suicide that evening, she said. “I felt like it was the only way to make it stop.”
Brooklyn is glad she survived. But she wants to see bullying stop.
She and the other kids protesting were upset about the suspended student. They see kids who are bullied suffering but not the bullies. They really don’t think it’s fair, they said.
Another student said her sister had to go away to military school because she was being bullied so badly.
Farrah Forehand said she took Brooklyn out of the school after the suicide attempt three years ago but ultimately had to send her back to Ocean Springs public schools. She is a single mom who said she has no other option but to send Brooklyn back to public school, along with her other children.
Brooklyn is now in ninth grade.
“It’s been a battle,” Forehand said.
