OWASSO, Okla. — Fear has become a normal part of Alice Hartzke's morning routine.
At just thirteen years old, the eighth grader says it's normal for her to anticipate verbal and physical assaults from her peers in the Owasso 8th Grade Center.
“I just try to ignore them," said Alice. "I do as much as I can to try to stop them. I tell them to just leave them alone.”
But that doesn't always work.
Her dad, Adam, called 2 News as he said things crossed a line.
“This is becoming a major problem, especially more so when you call the school system for help on it, and they assure you that they’ll take care of it," said Adam. "Then they call your daughter into the office and tell her they can’t control what the students in that building say and that she would be better off ignoring it.”
This isn't the first time Adam has contacted us, either.
2 News' Stef Manchen first connected with him in February, following the death of Nex Benedict:
Benedict was a sophomore at Owasso High School and committed suicide one day after they were involved in a fight at school.
While the Hartzke's wanted to speak to us about their experience with bullying in OPS, they decided against it as to not draw more attention to Alice and make things worse.
It wasn't until now, after watching his daughter go through relentless bullying, that he agreed to openly talk about what happens when Alice goes to school.
“They have people telling their clique the suicide squad because, according to these kids, that’s exactly what my daughter and her friends need to do," said Adam. "She has boys that are telling her you know a dozen times a day that she needs to unalive herself.”
Over the last two years, Alice has been verbally and physically assaulted at school.
When she brings these issues to administrators:
“They’ve told me they are not in a position where they can handle that, or where they can solve that, or that I need to ignore them.”
2 News reached out to Owasso Public Schools to learn more about how they handle incidents like Alice's.
At first, the district referred back to the back-to-school interview the Superintendent Margaret Coates did with 2 News anchor Cori Duke.
"We want students to feel comfortable to report things as soon as possible, don’t wait," said Coates. "If you’re involved in student conflict or you feel like there’s bullying going on, we want that reported immediately because as soon as it gets reported, we investigate everything that comes our way.”
The district sent the newsroom a statement more related to this specific case on Sept. 24.
Bullying continues to be an important topic in communities around the nation and we are committed to fostering a safe and inclusive environment for all students.
Parents and students are encouraged to report instances of bullying to a district employee or through our website [owassops.org]. Over the summer, a district committee worked to streamline the reporting process and ensure that it is consistent from site to site across the district. Each and every report is thoroughly investigated by school administrators and appropriate disciplinary action is taken, if warranted.
Supportive measures are put in place for all students involved, including but not limited to, counseling, class changes, assigned seating, administrators visiting classrooms, increased supervision in hallways, etc. The district has even escorted students from class to class as a supportive measure.
Regarding all instances of reported bullying at the 8th Grade Center this year, administrators have investigated these matters in accordance with district protocols. The district has not been made aware of any physical assaults or death threats at school involving any students this year. If those incidents have occurred, we encourage parents and/or students to report it to a district employee or through the district’s website immediately.
We are prohibited by state and federal law from disclosing disciplinary action against another student, which unfortunately can give some the idea that nothing was done in their case.
The Hartzke's say that hasn't been their experience.
“The teachers, the counselors, the principals, they need to take it serious when things like this are told to them," said Adam. "They don’t need to go ‘oh well it’s really not that big of a deal and we can’t do anything so just ignore it. They need to get to the bottom of it because this could be deeper issues somewhere else and telling someone to kill themselves in their own is pretty dark and evil.”
2 News asked Adam if over the last year he's ever considered sending his children to a different school.
“I’m actually mulling over the idea right now of putting my daughter in alternative school just to get her out of the Owasso Public School portion because it’s getting worse not better. And no one seems to be taking it serious.”
Alice is in counseling to work through what she deals with at school, and in a self defense class for protection.
Adam just wants someone to care enough to make the abuse stop, and hold any students involved accountable.
If you or a someone you know is in need of immediate counseling, Family and Children Services has a 24/7 crisis line can be called or texted at 918-744-4800.
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