Kyler Nipper was bullied to the point of hospitalization back in October. His mother continues the fight for a new law requiring schools to report crimes, and prevent bullying in schools.
On October 7, sixth grader Kyler Nipper was stabbed in the chest by a fellow student. Kyler had been reporting several cases of bullying to his parents. His experience with bullying reached to such a level, Kyler even started his own charity to prevent other students like him from being bullied. Regardless of all of this, Kyler’s parents are still fighting to not only combat bullying, but reeducate teachers and staff on how to handle emergency situations with students.
According to his mother’s petition, Kyler was bullied everyday at Carmel Middle School.
Due to a type of tendon deformation, Kyler had to walk on his tiptoes, so his shoes would break regularly. Kyler was ridiculed for his worn shoes, being called white trash. Although reports were made to school officials about the bullying, no preventative actions were taken. Kyler Nipper and his family landed on "Kyler's Kicks," a helpful way for him to overcome bullying. The program is a charity that helps donate shoes to those who may be facing the same kind of criticism.
It was not five days after Kyler’s Kicks began, that a fellow sixth grader decided to take the bullying to another level. The child stabbed Kyler in the chest with a pencil during an altercation. Since then, Kyler’s mother is on a mission to not only educate teachers on the dangers of bullying, but how to combat similar situations all together.
Kyler’s mother started a petition to enact a law that requires schools to call 911 and report crimes that happened on campus. After the fight was broken up, Kyler was left with stab wounds in his chest, and reported having difficulty breathing. School District 2 released a statement saying his injuries “did not appear to be severe at the time".
This was after being assessed and minimally cared for by school nurses and health professionals. Kyler’s mother and father were left to take their son to the hospital themselves. That's when they discovered he had a punctured lung. Kyler Nipper required immediate care, and trauma surgery.
Outrage ensued by family members, friends, and as the story spread in early October to readers from all over. People wanted to know why no one at the school called 911. There is no law that requires schools to report a crime such as this. There is also no law requiring staff to call an ambulance. Considering the age of the children (11 years old), you’d hope there was a level of understanding that YOU JUST DON’T STAB PEOPLE. Not only was this boy old enough to know better, he's definitely old enough to own up to what he did, and be punished for it. The child wasn’t arrested until almost a month later. He only served a mandatory 5 day jail hold, due to the life threatening injuries Kyler suffered. According to Kyler’s mother, the student was lightly suspended, and the student is now back at Carmel Middle School, continuing his education as normal. Regardless of the other child’s punishment. Kyler’s mother presses the issue that these teachers and school officials haven’t received any kind of ramifications for neglecting to properly report the crime to the police, or to call the ambulance.It is not acceptable that we as parents can and will be charged to the fullest extent of the law for neglecting to report a crime against our child to our police departments or for neglecting to call an ambulance for emergency medical care, but the adults that we are forced to entrust our children with at school everyday have no requirement to supply emergency medical or legal help to a child while attending school."Kyler’s mother is pushing her petition as wide as she can to develop tighter regulations on reporting crimes. Hopefully it also properly handles extreme bullying such as this. She is calling for the need of a new law that protects a child’s right to swift and proper emergency care. This situation also calls to another huge issue facing all schools. Bullying. Whether it’s something physical like violence against another student, or something as “low level” as name calling and harsh words. Bullying has a detrimental effect on young kids. Many schools are adapting new Anti-Bullying programs into their curriculum. But not all schools have received the same grant to conduct this new program. This type of information needs to be spread far and wide in all schools around the United States.
In the meantime, teachers and school officials need to be far more diligent and responsive to reported cases of bullying. Otherwise, situations like Kyler’s and other tragic reports will only become more prevalent.
