A Virginia mother says her seventh-grader son was strangled on a school bus by another student during an alleged bullying incident that left bruises and marks around his neck and face.
The violent Jan. 23 altercation was captured on video and reported to Fairfax County Public Schools officials, but they didn’t do enough to protect him, said the boy’s mother, Taylor Brock.
“They tried to minimize everything,” Brock told Fox News Digital. “They tried to say ‘We did everything we could’ and ‘We took the right security measures’, but they didn’t.”
“They didn’t tell the teachers. They didn’t put in the protection order or make sure my son was safe. I still saw her in the hallway and I kept seeing her in the cafeteria. They didn’t do anything.”
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Virginia’s mother, Taylor Brock, says video from a Fairfax County School District bus shows her son being strangled in a bullying incident. (Courtesy: Taylor Brock)
Brock said he will transfer him to another school to protect him and filed a police report with the Alexandria Police Department.
Police did not respond to a request for comment as of Saturday afternoon, and the school district issued a statement to the media.
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“School administration handled the situation in accordance with the FCPS Student Rights and Responsibilities Student Discipline Handbook,” Fairfax County Public Schools said. “We can’t share any more information due to federal privacy laws.”
Brock uploaded the video to his blog, Modma.net, and shared it with Fox News Digital.
WATCH: VIRGINIA MOM TAYLOR BROCK TALKS TO FOX NEWS DIGITAL
It shows a student taking her son’s backpack as the students laugh, and tensions quickly escalate when he tries to snatch it from her.
The other student grabs him by the face and puts her hands around his throat, pinning him against a window.
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“This can’t continue to be another story. There has to be a change,” Brock said. “I feel the best way to make the change is to implement preventive measures, so that they can teach children how to manage anger, overcome depression, stress and peer pressure, and also realize that the life of each child is important.”
Brock also pushed for harsher punishments, especially when it comes to physical violence.
“None of that ‘three strikes and you’re out’ stuff. They shouldn’t have two or three more times to hit my son before the school says it’s enough,” Brock said.
Virginia’s mother, Taylor Brock, says her son was harassed and drowned on a Fairfax County School District bus. (Courtesy: Taylor Brock)
She received a message from another student, which she shared with Fox News Digital, that involved retaliation against the student who strangled her son.
Brock reported the message to the school district, but said it is a “perfect test” to show how students will take matters into their own hands if they don’t feel the school district is doing enough to protect them.
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“If kids feel like management isn’t doing what they’re supposed to do, what’s to stop them from trying to take over?” Brock said.
Virginia’s mother, Taylor Brock, says her son was harassed and drowned on a Fairfax County School District bus. (Courtesy: Taylor Brock)
“If this school isn’t listening to the students, what are they supposed to do? Of course, they’re going to be acting violent or killing themselves, because no one is listening.”
Bullying has rocked a New Jersey school district in recent weeks after a group of students beat 14-year-old Adriana Kuch in the hallway of Central Regional High School, which was recorded by other students and shared on social networks.
A couple of days later, on February 3, Kuch died of an apparent suicide, shocking the community.
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Tensions flared Thursday night at the Central Region school board meeting when dozens of other students and parents denounced bullying in the school district that ranged from bigoted name-calling to violence.
