Bullying incident at Georgia school fires up social media

Video of a violent incident between two girls at Creekland Middle School in Gwinnett County, Georgia is circulating on social media. On Monday, a seventh grade female student struck another female student with a chair and again in the head with her hand, said Gwinnett County Schools officials.

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"This incident occurred at the end of the school day and the victim reported this situation to an administrator," wrote Sloan Roach, Gwinnett Schools spokeswoman in an email to the AJC. "In addition to disciplinary action, the student also is facing criminal charges. As this situation did occur in the classroom, the school also is addressing this issue with the teacher. This type of behavior is not acceptable and the school took immediate action."

The names of students haven’t been released, but Principal Eddie Maresh sent home a letter to parents addressing the issue.

“I want to reassure you that we are aware of this situation and have dealt with it appropriately,” Maresh wrote. “As you know, we are focused on providing students with a safe and positive teaching and learning environment. Although the vast majority of our students follow school rules, when misbehavior occurs we deal with it quickly. In addition, we work directly with the parents of the students who are involved in a situation.”

Because of the social media postings, Maresh said he’s received a number of calls and wanted to reassure the community that the situation is being handled.

The vast majority of Facebook posts questioned the teacher's whereabouts.

“Kids should go to school to learn and not have to worry about other kids who don’t value education or respect others. Where was the teacher in this situation?” read one post.

"This is another example of schools/teachers not doing anything in their power to protect this child from a bully. For every cause there's an effect and for every effect there's a cause. Do schools really want to stop bullying or are they just going to summit another letter to the news says they are investing this incident and get nothing done," read another post.

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