Fort Mill, SC – A disturbing moment in the classroom leads to disciplinary action.
A Fort Mill student, who is Jewish, says a classmate gave him a swastika symbol.
His mother is outraged by the school district’s response. Because of the nature of the story, she wanted to remain anonymous.
“I don’t think it’s just bullying,” she said. “This is absolutely antisemitism.”
She says her 10th-grade son experienced something she never thought he’d have to go through as a young Jewish man. During class, her son briefly left the room only to return to this on his desk.
“Another student had taken what appears to be, maybe, a cupcake wrapper or something from somebody else, drew a swastika in black, and put it on his desk,” she said.
The mother says it happened on April 10th at Catawba Ridge High School.
Her son went directly to the vice principal and reported the incident, with witness accounts.
The school district responded to Queen City News’ request for comment, stating:
“The district cannot share specifics regarding student discipline matters due to privacy laws.
The school did receive a report of this situation, and following an investigation, the responsible party was identified and received discipline under district policy.“
The mom says she was hoping to receive a more aggressive approach.
“I wasn’t asking for the student’s name. But I just wanted to know that the appropriate actions were going to be taken,” she said.
The district says it followed several policies ‘such as JICstudent conduct, JICDA code of conduct, JICFAA harassment, intimidation or bullying, JK student discipline, etc.’
The harassment, intimidation, or bullying policy ‘defines those acts as a gesture, electronic communication, or a written, verbal, physical, or sexual act reasonably perceived to have the effect of insulting or demeaning a student or group of students causing substantial disruption or interference with the orderly operation of the school.’
“I don’t know if he understands how vulgar this symbol is for Jews, but I think it could’ve been handled differently,” she said.
