‘Something’s got to give’: Police investigate video of bullying at Lady’s Island school
Update: The student seen pushing her classmate in the video has been charged with one count of 3rd degree assault and battery and one charge of school threats.
A video of a bullying incident at Lady’s Island Middle School that was posted on social media has prompted a police investigation, according to school officials.
The video, which was posted to Instagram and Facebook, shows a student grabbing another student’s hair and saying, “you don’t like it when people do that to you, right? You wouldn’t like it, right? So don’t do it again.”
She then pushes the student, who stumbles, and pushes her again to the ground, with her head seemingly hitting a bench on the way down.
Both students are female. The girl who pushed the other is considerably bigger than the other.
Sean Apgar, the uncle of the student who was pushed, said the incident occurred Wednesday. He said he believed it stemmed from the other student being removed from a Snapchat group that his niece was a part of.
The next day, the other student asked his niece to meet her after class because she wanted to “show her something,” and what followed is the bullying seen in the video, he said.
He wasn’t sure who took the video, but said that the student’s parents saw it on social media and realized it was their daughter being pushed.
“Obviously the (other) parents need to be held more accountable, the school needs to be held more accountable,” Apgar said Friday, adding his children have also been bullied in Beaufort County School District.
“Something’s got to give. We can’t keep saying, ‘Oh, this kid’s been bullied, we’re looking into this situation,’ and you get no response back.”
Chavon Browne, the principal of Lady’s Island Middle School, sent a call to parents on Thursday informing them that “a physical altercation” between two students had been reported to the administration.
“Law enforcement is investigating and the school is taking appropriate steps to ensure that this situation is handled according to the Beaufort County School District’s Student Code of Conduct-Progressive Discipline Plan,” she said. “We do not condone any acts of violence in our school and strive to provide a safe, productive learning environment for our students each day.”
Candace Bruder, the spokesperson for the school district, said Friday that Beaufort Police Department had opened an investigation into the incident. Police spokesperson George Erdel said the suspect will be petitioned to Family Court.
The video has been posted several times to social media, including by Apgar, who said it was reported and taken down within 10 minutes. He then lost access to his Facebook account, he said.
The video has gotten a large response on another Facebook profile where it was posted Friday morning, garnering nearly 11,000 views and 350 comments by the afternoon, when the poster made it private.
Many were parents agreeing that the school district does not take enough of a stance on bullying: “That’s exactly why schools have problems in Beaufort county… then the court doesn’t take it as seriously as it needs, too,” one wrote.
Others said they believed the child who pushed the other student could have been defending someone else.
“First thought after seeing this video was that poor little girl,” one wrote. “Next thought after just listening to the video was could the little girl have been the bully and the bigger girl was defending another student?”
This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 2:33 PM.