Posted on February 23, 2011

12-Year-Old Girl Punched in Face During Alleged Bullying Attack

WMUR-TV (Manchester, New Hampshire), February 20, 2011

A Manchester woman says her 12-year-old daughter was the victim of extreme bullying at McLaughlin Middle School in Manchester.

Morgan Graveline is recovering after she said a boy at her school punched out her two front teeth.

The attack came two weeks after Graveline said she was hit in the face by the boy’s friend on the school bus.

The girl told WMUR on Saturday night that she had just gone to her principal and guidance counselor to report threats from the boys.

Now, Graveline’s mother, Danielle Gauthier, is calling for the removal [of] her daughter’s Principal at McLaughlin Middle School.

Gauthier said a bus driver reported the initial school bus attack, but she said the principal never made her aware.

“My jaw hurts all along this line, and right here hurts, my nose hurts really bad, my teeth hurt, my lips hurt,” Graveline said on Saturday.

The sixth grader said she was attacked Tuesday in her school cafeteria, by a boy she describes as a muscular 14-year-old who she said had been threatening her.

“I do remember his first punch and then I don’t know, and then he just kept hitting me,” said Graveline.

Morgan is now forced to eat from a straw for at least the next month.

{snip}

Morgan’s family is furious, especially they say, finding out after the attack that Morgan had been hit by that boy’s friend on her school bus two weeks earlier.

Morgan’s mother said she’s deeply concerned that Morgan herself went to both her Principal, and to her guidance counselor, but her family was never notified.

“I was really upset cause they kept threatening me that they were going to beat me up and stuff like that so I was like alright, I’m just going to go to the principal to see if he can do anything about it,” said Morgan.

{snip}


McLaughlin Middle school in Manchester, NH. She has always been a well liked girl with lots of friends, and a passion for humanity. She’s known for standing up for those who can’t stand up for themselves giving them a voice and the courage to stand up for themselves.

It came as complete shock when our family received a call from the school nurse stating that Morgan had been involved in a fight and “her mouth is a little screwed up”. Upon arriving at her school it was very disturbing to see her condition. Immediately we knew by the blood gushing and her inability to remember her mothers name or phone numbers, she should have been transported to the ER by ambulance. Instead, she sitting in the nurses office being asked to stop crying. Stop crying about the teeth that had been punched out of her head?

Apparently two weeks prior to my daughter getting attacked at school, she was punched in the face by one of the boys on the bus. Being too scared to tell anyone, my daughter never spoke to myself or our family about this incident only telling her sister what had happened. The bus driver however was well aware of what happened, and reported it a WEEK LATER. Meanwhile she is receiving threats from these boys that they are going to “f**k up her face so she isn’t pretty anyone”.

The arguments between my daughter and these boys started with a couple of the boys asking Morgan to be their girlfriend. When Morgan turned them down, they retaliated by calling her names like “fat ho, lesbian b**ch, c**t, etc . . .” this goes on for about a month before the first assault on the bus occurs.

Once the principal received notification about the bus incident, he took another week to address it. Not once was I ever notified that my daughter was assaulted on the bus. The principal questioned my daughter and the boys that had been threatening her. The boys were never suspended or removed from school. Shortly after the conversation the students had with the principal, Morgan was brutally attacked. First elbowed in the face, followed by 6 to 7 punches knocking her front teeth out and leaving her with a concussion. It took four teachers to get one of the boys off her.

Adding further negligence to her care, the nurse put her teeth in water which significantly reduces the chance of being able to save the teeth. Even I know having no medical background, you’re suppose to put a tooth in milk. As if she wasn’t in enough pain, due to the teeth not being put in milk she had to have the teeth put back into her mouth with out any pain killers because of emergency of time. The dentist said this was the worst trauma she’s seen to a child’s mouth. If the teeth end up taking, which there is a 80% chance they won’t, she will have to have at least four root canals among other reconstructive procedures. In the meantime she has to eat from a straw for the next month and possibly two.

When I asked the principal why he didn’t tell me of the incident on the bus two weeks prior his response was “I have things to do and other people to talk to” followed by a condescending chuckle! This was his response to parent in tears at ER with her daughter.

I firmly believe if I had been notified of the first incident, the attack that followed could have been prevented. There would have been many steps I could have taken to prevent this, such as removing her from the bus and working closely with the school. My sister, along with my mother were the first to arrive at the school and were greeted by the Vice Principal saying “there are two sides to every story” in response to asking what action is being taken against the boys.

The boys are refugees brought over from Kenya and Ethiopia. It makes me question if we are providing these children with proper coping skills for a healthy transition. Also, is it safe for these students to be held back to due to language barriers leaving such a great age difference between students. I can’t imagine the rage these boys must be harvesting inside to attack a girl so brutally.

This incident happened on Tuesday February 15th, I have called the police department numerous times with no luck. I asked the police to come take a statement from my daughter. He responded with I already spoke with her and have all the information I need. The officer NEVER spoke to my daughter. These officers are also the ones that are employed by the school to be on the premises at all times. When I tried to contact the Manchester Police department directly to get someone to take a report, I was repeatedly told “I’ll hear from someone”.

Today is Saturday February 19th, I still have not heard from anyone. The school has not called to see how Morgan is doing. It breaks my heart that a little girl can be so brutally attacked by boys at school, and this is how the situation was handled.