JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Several parents are voicing their concerns, fears and frustrations about bullying at Oceanway Middle School.
They claim their child has been bullied, and said school administrators have done little to nothing about it.
"It's frustrating," Levi Boone, a parent of a student at the school, said. "It's scary. I mean, any parent in their right mind faced with this same situation as me would feel the same way."
Boone said his daughter has been a target of bullies at Oceanway Middle School for three months. He said other students posted a video of his daughter in a fight with one of the bullies about two weeks ago to an Instagram account called 'oceanway.fightssss.'
"About three months ago, one child in particular started making threats and calling my daughter names. My daughter said, 'fine. Whatever.' Well, she persisted and kept pushing and kept pushing and kept following her around. My daughter got backed into a corner and she had to defend herself," Boone said.
"There has been threats of jumping on her. There have been threats of gun violence," he said.
He said his daughter filed several incident reports with school administrators. He said administrators said they'd investigate, and a no contact order was put into place in March between Boone's daughter and the students. However, he said he hasn't heard an update on that investigation, and said the no contact order has been broken several times since March.
"I'm scared for my daughter," Boone said.
Boone has kept his daughter home from school some days, and said her grades and mental health have suffered. He filed a police report with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Wednesday regarding threats he said students made against his daughter Tuesday night.
First Coast News has requested the report from JSO.
"He has tried killing himself," Jessica Peña, another parent of an Oceanway Middle student said.
Peña said her son has been bullied for the past year.
"He has been pushed down stairs. Laptops have been broken. His skateboard, his headphones, because he has special headphones that he uses, all that has been stolen," Peña said.
Peña said administrators have put no contact orders in place between her son and other students too.
"It's sad. It really is. I have to put him in counseling. He doesn't go out," she said.
Peña said pictures of her son have been posted to other Oceanway Instagram accounts too making fun of him.
A spokesperson for Duval County Public Schools said the district is sharing the information with the regional superintendent of middle schools and the district's Office of Bullying Prevention. The district is also reporting the Instagram accounts for "being in violation of Instagram's community guidelines."
The spokesperson said they encourage parents to do the same. Instagram ultimately decides if the account is removed.
The spokesperson said anyone can report bullying incidents to the Office of Bullying Prevention by calling 904-390-2255, or by texting 390Call@Duvalschools.org.