LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Data from the Jefferson County School District (JCPS) is staggering. In one single year from 2018 to 2019, the number of reported bullying incidents increased sharply from 105 to 502 reports. It adds to the list of reasons that students and parents are pushing for a new law in Kentucky that lays out the procedures for reporting bullying and investigating a solution to the incidents.
District officials at JCPS point to awareness as the reason that the number of reports has risen. Bullying Prevention Supervisor Crystal Carter hopes students and parents are now aware of their hotline and page online, where bullying can be reported around the clock.
In 2017, JCPS reports 102 incidents, then 105 in 2018, and 502 in 2019.
"I'm happy about it, because that lets me know that people are trying to get the help that they need and then we can service them and help them," says Carter.
Parent Misty Glin feels it could be a combination of awareness and an increase in bullying, based on her son's incident. Alex was in second grade at a JCPS elementary school when he was bullied incessantly, according to Glin.
"It was the most horrific experience ever to know that it’s your baby and you can’t do anything for him. You can’t help them in any way because the school system won’t let you," says Glin.
“I just remember what I went through and I just…sit there and I just remember. And I can’t basically move and I’m just stuck in my thoughts," Alex adds.
She removed him from the school to attend a private school after repeated unresolved incidents. Ever since, the mother and son have been pushing for a bill to become law, 'Alex's Law.'
The bill, which has passed the House, would direct who to report bullying to and specify how long before an investigation gets results and a solution.
The Glins hope it can prevent the situation like that which Seven Bridges fell victim to. Bridges' mother, Tami Charles, does too.
"We just don’t want another parent to have to go through this," says Charles, "the baton has been passed to me, as the mom, to keep his legacy going."
In January 2019, 10-year-old Seven Bridges committed suicide. Charles says it was due to bullying, over his colostomy bag. She claims she tried to have the bullying problems resolved, to no avail. "I told him, 'I love you and I’m so grateful and you’re the best thing to us' and so on and so forth...and by Saturday morning 10 o’clock my son was dead," Charles remembers.
Charles feels that bullying prevention has come a long way since her son's situation, and hopes it can continue to be part of his legacy.