HASKELL, Okla. -- Brandon Yocham said the bullying began two years ago when his family moved to Haskell.
The 8th grader said since then he's been kicked in the groin, punched, and threatened.
"Say your dad's a cop, they won't do nothing to you. If your dad is somebody that's new here… you'll get picked on," Yocham said.
Brandon's mother said it's not just her son she worries about. Her daughter also attends the high school, and she said the girl tried to take her own life last year after being teased for months.
"We've had students leave over the bullying. It's sad that they can't go to school where their parents grew up and their parents went to school, because they're getting bullied… and as parents we can't do nothing about it. We can't get nowhere," Brandi Yocham said.
Punishments for bullying range from warnings and detention up to suspensions. Now the superintendent is looking at alternative schooling as an option.
"Sometimes, alternative education is used on a disciplinary action when you have situations where behavior becomes a distractant. Ongoing situations lead to them being removed for a period of time," Superintendent Doyle Bates said.
The superintendent said education comes first, and he wants to keep students in school. The current bullying policy asks families to file a report, then the district begins an investigation.
"A one time incident is not bullying. It absolutely is punishable, but it's not bullying. Bullying becomes bullying when it's a repetitive act in order to make somebody feel less than or threatened," Bates said.
District staff said they are trying to be proactive with these challenges. Over the last year, they spent eight months training junior high students on how to respond to bullying.
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