Daughter bullied; mother pulls her 3 children from school

SHELBURN, Ind. (WTHI) - As state lawmakers in Indianapolis move to shore up sanctions against bullies in public schools, one Sullivan County mom says it’s too late; she’s pulling all three of her children from the public school system.

“Schools are getting out of control now,” said Shalee Carlock, of Shelburn, a mother of three kids including a 3rd grade girl at Shelburn Elementary. “I’ve never seen anything like what I see now!”

Carlock told News 10 her daughter has been shoved to the floor by bigger, older peers at school. Two weeks ago, according to Carlock, her daughter was even told during lunchtime, by bullies at school, that her entire family was going to be murdered.

Now, according to Carlock, her daughter with once near perfect attendance is now pessimistic and passes whenever possible from going to class anymore.

Carlock’s story comes as State legislators examine cracking down on all bullies in the public school system.

House Bill 1423, that overwhelmingly passed an education committee on Monday, moves to, among other things:

• Force all school corporations to track and tally all reported incidents of bullying and submit them in a corporation’s annual performance report.
• Require that all corporations spell out how they plan to investigate, and report, bullying behavior in student handbooks.
• Demand that all schools hold annual bullying prevention workshops for students.

For parents like Shalee Carlock, though, these measures simply come too late. She’s moving her three youngsters to a different school corporation.

Lisa Hollingsworth, principal at Shelburn School, where Carlock’s daughter attends, issued the following statement to News 10 –

“We take all issues of bullying seriously. We encourage each student to report bullying to their classroom teacher, principal, or the school nurse. As per the corporation handbook the report may be made in person, by telephone, or submitted in a written report. Each report received will be investigated in a timely and confidential manner to provide safety for all of our students. To ensure all students have a safe learning environment, we want to protect students and encourage reporting acts of bullying.”