No one ever wants to see their child getting bullied by other children at school. Parents will go to great lengths to keep their children safe and happy, even if it means going to extreme measures.
Well, one Virginia mother, Sarah Sims, decided that she had had enough of her daughter being bullied by her fellow 4th graders at Ocean View Elementary School in Norfolk, Virginia.
Sims initially reached out to school officials to resolve the matter, but when they did nothing, she took action and sent her daughter to school with a digital audio recorder hidden in her backpack. Sarah Sims hoped to capture audio from the classroom and prove that her daughter was, in fact, being bullied.
Unfortunately for Ms. Sims, school officials found the audio device and confiscated it. What’s worse is that Sims is now in legal trouble, all for trying to keep her young daughter safe.
Norfolk police have charged Sims with a felony, “intercepting wire, electronic or oral communications — and with a misdemeanor — contributing to the delinquency of a minor.” If convicted of the felony, Sims could face up to five years in prison.
Sims, who is a full-time student herself, said that she is unable to go to her daughter’s school on a regular basis and “thought that this would be a good way for me to learn the environment.”
Sims’ lawyer expressed her outrage at the charges, arguing that the school should have simply had a “simple conversation about what her concerns were and how could the school alleviate those concerns.”
Sims explained that her daughter had been bullied in the past, saying that in the third grade, her daughter “had been kicked in her stomach and hit with a jump rope on the playground” but school officials never bothered to tell her.
A video of Sims’ interview with CNN can be seen below:
This elementary school clearly overreacted when it called the police over the recording device. School officials ignored a serious bullying problem on their property, and instead of addressing the issue, they sought to punish the victim’s mother.
Hopefully, this situation can be resolved and all charges against Sims will be dropped. While recording the classroom might have been an extreme measure, Sims was willing to do anything to protect her daughter!
Do you think the school overreacted by calling the police? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Source: MSN