Justice is being sought for young SeMarion Humphrey after nothing was allegedly done by the Plano Independent School District (Plano IDP) in Texas about repeated bullying that included physical assaults and racial slurs.
Humphrey and his mother, Summer Alicia, repeatedly reached out to the school with to no effect.
Humphrey was struck repeatedly in the genitals in the locker room while preparing for football practice. Humphrey's inhaler was also withheld.
When he told his coach and later the school's principal about this, he was dismissed with:
"Boys will be boys."
The constant bullying eventually lead to Humphrey quitting football.
But then, according to the family's attorney Kim T. Cole:
"A couple of weeks ago SeMarion was ecstatic when a former teammate invited him to a sleepover. But little did he know what had been planned for him."
"While at the sleepover several White students shot SeMarion with BB guns. When he was asleep they slapped him, all while calling him racial slurs."
"And worse yet, they forced SeMarion to drink their urine."
According to WFAA News, about two weeks ago a video surfaced showing the White classmates forcing Humphrey to drink a yellow liquid that the family alleged was urine.
You can see news coverage here:
Despite the video from the sleepover, the school allegedly claimed they could do nothing because the latest assaults occurred off-campus.
People were outraged when Alicia took her son's story public after failing to get help from his school administration.
Some people on social media shared clips from the bullying video that surfaced.
With the help of their attorney, the family was able to start a petition against Plano IDP for their inaction against bullying. They also started a fundraiser for Humphrey's necessary therapy sessions and his transfer to a private school.
Cole wrote in the fundraiser:
"SeMarion has been subjected to the unthinkable."
"He is in need of therapy and is planning to change to a private school."
"Please donate what you can to help with the expenses of therapy and private schooling."
The fundraiser quickly exceeded their original goal for Humphrey's needs.
And Alicia was finally able to post on Facebook without being reported or banned.
In their petition, Cole questioned Plano ISD:
"PISD, when will you uphold the 'zero tolerance for bullying policy' you have in place?"
"Why is it ok for these kids to continue to remain football players and go to school freely without consequences?"
"Why was it ok 5 years ago for PISD to 'handle matters that occurred off-campus' when it came to an accident, but 'their hands are tied' with these other matters?"
"Why are we in 2021 and things like this are still happening?"
"When is enough, ENOUGH?"
Between Alicia's latest post, the fundraiser and Cole's passionate words on their petition, the internet has taken notice of what happened to Humphrey.
And they've also expressed the importance of knowing this middle schooler's name.
Plano ISD finally responded, stating they are launching an investigation "immediately."
Superintendent of Plano ISD Sara Bonser stated:
"I want to let our community know that Plano ISD does not tolerate bullying or harassment and believe every student must be treated with dignity and respect."
But according to a student in the school, Bonser did not address the situation directly.
Though it's questionable how much the school is doing to remedy what has happened, it seems the internet has Humphrey's and his family's back. Hopefully he can be moved to a new school district.
But that doesn't help students still attending his old one.
@kileywrestling/Bluesky
