DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A metro Atlanta mother said she is considering moving her child to a new school after a fight on the school bus involving elementary school children.
Channel 2′s Tom Jones was in DeKalb County where parents reached out to him for help getting answers after a video rumored to show a DeKalb County bus circulated on social media. The video shows children cursing and fighting on the moving bus. The district said it’s aware of the video, but can’t confirm that it is one of their buses.
Parent Georgette Morton said her 10-year-old daughter has complained to her about all the fights she sees on her bus, and that she’s afraid someone is going to get hurt.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
In the video, which parents aid involves a bus from Fairington Elementary School, you can hear students cursing and chanting “beat that (bleep bleep).”
TRENDING STORIES:
- Child who slipped, fell in the street run over by school bus in DeKalb County, police say
- Man pleads for help finding dog after car stolen from CVS store, crashed into pole
- Bus driver, parent arrested after video of fight, kids climbing out windows goes viral
“They’re cussing like adults!” Morton said. “It seems so normal to them. I’m almost speechless.”
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Dr. Rosalyn Pitts Clark, a child psychologist, said even she was shocked by the video, especially the group mentality to escalate the violence and the profanity.
“This is not natural behavior,” Clark said. “It’s learned behavior.”
Clark said the students are mirroring what they’ve seen in music, media and in real life.
“We really have to be mindful of what we allow our children to be exposed to,” Clark said.
Morton said her daughter now wants to change schools.
“It’s scary for my own child, and the safety of other children too,” Morton said.
DeKalb County Schools sent a statement, saying it was made aware of a video that allegedly shows Fairington Elementary School students engaging in a fight on a school bus. The district said that at this time, there is no way of knowing where the video of the bus incident occurred.
District officials said the children’s behavior is unacceptable and said the district is actively looking into the incident.
This browser does not support the video element.