FRISCO — So far this year, three North Texas students — 13-year-old John Carmichael, 17-year-old Courtney Moss and nine-year-old Montana Lance — have all taken their own lives after being picked on by someone they knew, like a classmate.
Now a Frisco mom, Angie Pierce, says she is being forced to make drastic changes to keep her sixth-grade daughter Joy safe from bullies.
"It has to be stopped before we lose more kids to suicide," she said.
But the Pierces became frustrated by what they allege is inaction by the Frisco ISD.
"I try to tell the counselors, and they say, 'We'll talk to them,' and then the next day it's not any better," Joy said. "When they say 'Chinese face' or 'look at your pointy eyes,' it's just that it's so hard to deal with these people."
Later, Joy decided to share with News 8 what she told her parents about the abuse she had endured at Stafford Middle School.
"I want to die and I can't put up with this school any more," she said.
Suicidal thoughts were the last straw for Joy's parents. They pulled her out of the classroom on Tuesday and plan to set up home schooling.
"When it comes to calling kids racist names — 'lesbian' and 'go dig a hole and crawl in it and die' — that crosses a line, that is harassment," Angie Pierce said.
Pierce even filed a police report over an incident that escalated to violence.
"She had been hit with a metal broom head across her forehead," Pierce said.
Joy's parents concede that the Frisco ISD educates students about bullying. That's how Joy knew to speak up.
But they say the help stopped there, so it was time for home schooling.
"We've struggled with it all year long," said Chas Pierce, Joy's father. "It was harder to struggle with it, and then when we decided, it was a relief."
The Frisco ISD issued this statement:
"We take accusations of bullying and harassment seriously ... If we see bullying take place, we address it without a formal process being utilized. We encourage parents and students to work with us to report incidents or to bring concerns to our attention so we can investigate."
Angie Pierce says she has complained on multiple occasions throughout the year. "The ball is falling in someone's court, and they're not picking it up," she said. "Someone is not following through on these things."
E-mail sslater@wfaa.com
