A Georgia school district is investigating claims of bullying in a high school football locker room fight that resulted in an incoming sophomore receiving injuries and being afraid to return, according to WSB-TV 2.
The mother of the alleged victim on the Roswell High School (Ga.) football team told WSB-TV 2 her son had been taunted for weeks about his small size.
“They were talking about he don’t belong on the team because he’s too small,” the mother said.
When she noticed he had a black eye, she asked what happened. He said he was surrounded in the locker room and “forced to fight.”
A video provided by the mother to WSB-TV 2 shows two players swinging at each other in the locker room, with the bigger one driving the smaller one back before walking a few paces back and motioning with his hands as he turned toward the smaller one.
The smaller kid walked forward with his left arm blocking his face and his right in a fist.
WSB-TV 2 had a voiceover in front of the video audio, but there’s some bleeping out of words. The outlet reported the bigger student was yelling obscenities at the smaller.
The mother said the larger boy was “egging him to hit him again, calling my son names.”
“No one cared about even stopping the fight, they just stood there and wanted the boy to continue to hit on my son,” she said.
Her son, the smaller student, had a concussion, black eye, a bloody face and is afraid to attend football practice or schools, the mother said.
She said he’s giving up football and a lifelong dream to play in the NFL like his favorite player, Julio Jones.
The Fulton County School district is investigating the incident. It released a statement to WSB-TV 2:
“Fulton County Schools is aware of an incident that occurred between two athletes last week at Roswell High School. We are currently investigating the incident. Fulton County Schools will continue to hold our student athletes to the highest standards, and we expect them to always promote great sportsmanship towards their teammates and opponents. We expect our athletes to be leaders on the field, in the classrooms, and in our communities. Failure to comply with these expectations will not be tolerated, and we will continue to hold our athletes accountable to the highest standards.”
