Mixed responses about whether kids feel safe at school

A barrage of punches rain down on a child while in school. His classmates didn’t do anything but record what was happening.

The child’s mother was worried for her son’s safety after he was attacked at Gateway High School.

More parents are asking the same question: is my child safe at school?

Some parents feel their students are extremely safe, and teachers are doing the best they can, while others think safety is on the back burner and bullies are being protected.

However, all of the parents say the Lee County School District needs to do more.

It’s an important question in the Lee County School District.

“This is one of the top concerns that administrators are dealing with and frustrating teachers,” said Jada Langford-Fleming, a Lee County School Board member for District 6.

On Wednesday, WINK News talked about Joseph Colon. Colon is a child with Autism at Gateway High School. He was walking down the hall when another student ran up to him and punched him in the face.

That student is now facing battery charges.

“How do you stop these children from causing this psychological damage to the other children,” asked Amanda Hall, a mother of a child at Veterans Park Academy of the Arts.

Hall is a parent to a fourth-grade student at Veterans Park Academy of the Arts.

“She just got her first referral ever in her entire life for kicking a student because two boys or cornering her and calling her four eyes because she wears glasses,” said Hall. “She kicked on to get away from him. And he kicked her back. She has bruises on her legs from this kid kicking her back three times.”

A recent survey conducted by Lee County schools asked elementary, middle and high school students if they had a safe environment at school. 12% of elementary students, 29% of middle school students and 35% of high school students answered, “No.”

“My daughter hates it. She doesn’t want to go to school,” said Hall.

“He’s home. He doesn’t want to go. He didn’t feel comfortable going to school,” said Milca Colon, a mother of a child at Gateway High School.

Hall and Colon hope the school district will do more to protect their kids.

“We know her SRO [school research officer] teacher, but at the same time, there’s one for hundreds of kids. If that officer isn’t in the area of my daughter, and something happens, I don’t feel safe,” said Hall.

Rob Spicker with the Lee County School District said in a statement the district is aware of the data and is addressing it. They have teams developing supports and interventions.