By Selim Algar
A traumatized Florida 6th grader fled the state after a video of her being beaten by a classmate haunted her across two different schools, according to a report.
The child’s mother, Danielle Kicker, told WINK she noticed her daughter’s reluctance to attend classes last year at her Lehigh County middle school.
Eventually, she confided in her that she was being mercilessly bullied.
The worried parent pleaded for help from administrators at the school, Veteran’s Park Academy For the Arts, in person and was assured that they would protect the frightened middle schooler.
Hours after that meeting, she was brutally beaten by a classmate in a school bathroom as shrieking spectators looked on — without an adult in sight.
The bullied 12-year-old lay in a crumpled heap on the floor and later confided in her mother what happened.
Things only got worse after footage of the attack surfaced on social media and was shared among the mortified girl’s classmates.
“It is absolutely the worst thing that I’ve ever had to go through,” Kicker told the station in tears.
“It was horrible. You didn’t know what to do. You didn’t know how to take the pain away.”
Hoping to provide her daughter a fresh start, Kicker transferred her to another local school.
But her new classmates quickly caught wind of the beating video and the bullying started anew.
Desperate and out of options, Kicker has now sent the child to live in Missouri with extended family.
As she is separated from her child, she’s scrambling to find a long term solution.
“I have to ensure her that I can find a safe place for her to actually feel safe every day,” Kicker said.
“I just want her to come home. I want her to have a safe place to come.”
“She had no one,” the mother said, asserting that local school officials neglected her daughter’s plight.
School officials told the station that they were strengthening anti-bullying training regimens for staffers — but the response rang hollow for the now ex-Florida girl.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed an order to officially ban phones and video app Tik Tok from being used by pupils in the state’s schools, but it has been met with skepticism about how it can be enforced when the new school year starts in August.
WINK uncovered dozens of fight videos from local schools depicting beatdown after beatdown across all grades.
Local school board member Armon Persons told the station he believes cell phones are driving school disorder and that he would support having kids turn them in during class.
Parents, he said, have generally opposed the idea.
A district source told The Post that violence has worsened in recent years, and that administrators are struggling the stem fisticuffs.
“The truth is you can’t be everywhere,” she said.
“I’ve worked in schools for 23 years and I have never seen this level of readiness to fight. Add phones and social media and you have a major problem that is getting worse by the year.”
