Family: Special needs teen daughter bullied on Woodhaven school bus

The 14-year-old daughter of Robert Garcia, a sophomore at Woodhaven High School, claims to be being tormented on the bus, and two of the events are on camera.

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    Two bullying incidents on a Woodhaven High School bus were recorded on video.
    
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    The parent of a special needs teen girl said his daughter was the target of the incidents.
    
  • 
    Five students were disciplined as a result of the incidents, but the girl’s parents remain concerned.
    

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  Two bullying incidents on a Woodhaven High School bus were recorded on video.
  
• 
  The parent of a special needs teen girl said his daughter was the target of the incidents.
  
• 
  Five students were disciplined as a result of the incidents, but the girl’s parents remain concerned.
  

FOX 2, Woodhaven, Mich.Robert Garcia posted phone footage of a bullying incident that occurred at Woodhaven High School in November of last year. According to Garcia, his daughter was singled out on a school bus.

The backstory

“Your dad is dirty, your mom is dirty, and your family is dirty,” a boy in the video declares.

The majority of the same pupils from Woodhaven were involved in a second incident that occurred on the bus last Friday and was captured on video.

Five pupils received some form of discipline as a result of Friday’s event, according to confirmation from the school system.

Garcia claims that the way his special needs daughter has been treated has angered him and his family.

“It’s just two boys on the bus that were screaming and yelling, cussing, threatening the other girls on the bus that was special needs,” Garcia explained. When the bus driver halted, he was instructed to remove it and proceed to the front of the vehicle. The bus driver was then confronted.

Garcia’s daughter, who is a sophomore at Woodhaven High School, is fourteen years old.

Fox 2: “Do you think your daughter is being bullied on the bus because she has special needs?”

“Absolutely I do,” he replied. “Let alone, they’re girls and the boys should not be doing this to them.”

What they’re saying:

According to Andrew Starzec, deputy police chief for Brownstown, police were called to the second incident.

“When we got out there, we saw that there was really no fight that happened,” Starzec stated.

The incident was not linked to any criminal charges.

The following statement was issued by the superintendent of Woodhaven Schools:

“Our first goal is safety, particularly the safe transportation of all of our children. Please let us know if someone feels threatened or is being bullied. We are available to assist.

FOX 2: How has your daughter been impacted by the bullying?

“She is terrified to attend school. She has trouble falling asleep. Garcia remarked, “She’s hardly eating.”

According to him, his daughter no longer wants to participate in the choir.

Fox 2: “If a student thinks that he or she is being bullied, what can they do?”

“Our resource officers are located at the high school and middle school, and I know many other jurisdictions have similar resources, but reach out to that school resource officer,” Starzec stated.

And lastly, a father’s advise.

“Treat the people in in the world the way you want to be treated,” Garcia advised. “And that s the best way to teach anybody.”

The Source: Brownstown Township police, Woodhaven Schools, and the family of a Woodhaven student provided information for this story.