Students Rally Against The Bullying of A Classmate in a Maine H.S.

YORK, Maine.... Parents and students at York High School are calling for the community to work together to fight bullying after they say a gay student was targeted. 

Dozens of students rallied across the street from the school Monday morning with signs saying 'Be Kind' and 'You Are Beautiful,' and other statements of acceptance and encouragement. 

York High School students and their parents say the bullying of a gay student has been brought to the attention of the school administrators, but that not enough has been done to stop it.  

      Violence is never an acceptable solution to a conflict. All students should feel safe at York High School and we hold that as a priority. There is a very difficult balance a school administrator must take the communication of details and the rights of students' and families' to privacy.  I can not and will not speak to specific details. What I can offer, is that the information currently circulating through the school community is not an accurate representation of a tragic event.

We have dedicated the day to listen to students and look forward to working alongside them to ensure that all students feel welcome, safe and supported at York High School.  This morning's rally signified a statement of unity and respect for all York students. Students told NEWS CENTER they are not just rallying against the bullying of this one student, but of any student facing bullying. The York students also say they are standing in support of LGBTQ acceptance. 

through the years the people she went to school with have reached out and apologized for how she was treated back in high school, but she maintains she has never heard from any school officials...

One former York High School student says this situation is all too familiar to her because it was exactly the same for her, decades ago. Kera Ireland says she actually dropped out of high school her senior year and was robbed of things like graduating with her friends and going to prom, all because nobody at the school was willing to help stop her from being bullied.

"It was a lot of mixed emotions part of me was so joyful and so excited so inspired by these teenagers that were out there today. Supporting a fellow student. Standing up for what they believed was right and that making fun of people annoying people is not acceptable. But the one thing is is that the school never apologized for taking away from me something that would have meant a lot. That is the most hurtful thing. Being a member of the community school system from second grade, they didn't care about me"

Kera did mention that through the years the people she went to school with have reached out and apologized for how she was treated back in high school, but she maintains she has never heard from any school officials... 

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