MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. — A Mona Shores family says a Fruitport student threatened to lynch their son on social media, and that when the schools found out they didn’t notify the parents.
13 ON YOUR SIDE will not be identifying either student because of their ages.
We spoke with the couple who says their son was threatened and they say the situation was seriously mishandled and would like to see change moving forward.
“This was a threat put on our child,” said Kimberly Lewis.
She and her husband, Benjamin Lewis, have a son who plays soccer at Mona Shores High School. Ahead of a match with Fruitport High School, a Snapchat video was created by a Fruitport player.
There are two students seen, but we have edited out their faces. The two can be heard laughing after one student threatens to lynch an opposing player he calls by name.
We’re told another parent brought the video to the attention of Mona Shores school leaders and the Lewis family admits their son didn’t want to make it a big deal.
“He knows how we are when we hear things like this. So, he had asked the school not to call us and they did just that. They did not call us,” said Kimberly.
It was eventually brought to the Lewis’ attention by another one of their children.
Kimberly said, “Before then, we knew nothing. This had been a month and a half later before we found out. The school hadn’t contacted us.”
Benjamin told 13 ON YOUR SIDE that he reached out multiple times to the principal and superintendent but that there seemed to have been some confusion.
“The superintendent contacted me and explained to me that the athletic director had called me and talked to me, and I said, ‘no,’” said Benjamin.
13 ON YOUR SIDE reached out to both school districts.
The statement from Fruitport Community Schools said the district takes these matters very seriously and that the student behind the video had to write a letter of apology.
“The school should’ve help him, assist him in writing that letter just to know that that was sincere. That was unacceptable for me, that letter,” said Kimberly.
The statements from both Fruitport and Mona Shores explained that a meeting was scheduled for an in-person apology, but that the Lewis family canceled.
The couple told 13 ON YOUR SIDE, that’s because they were told they could not be at that meeting.
Benjamin said he questioned, “Why would I want a meeting where they would have my son by himself with a student when they hadn’t even contacted me in a month and a half? So, how can I ensure that they’re going to do that right, when they didn’t even call me on time?”
“The school didn’t stand up and do the right thing. So, now we’re standing up. We’re speaking out,” said Kimberly, adding that, “To me, they just threw it under the rug and I decided to sweep it from under there.”
Fruitport school leaders say the student behind the video was also assigned a research project on the historical context and meaning behind the term “lynching.”
The parents say they question whether school leaders fully understand the seriousness of the threat.
“I don’t think that Mona Shores understands the words. If anybody needs to do the report, they need to do the report,” said Benjamin, who then explained what the word means to him, saying, “When you look at the word lynch, it doesn’t mean that I’m going to hit you upside the head. It means I’m going to kill you.”
“It’s a threat,” said Kimberly.
“You can’t lynch anybody without killing them,” said Benjamin.
Mona Shores later sent an apology letter to the Lewis family for failing to properly inform them of the incident. That full letter can be seen here.
A secondary statement from Fruitport Community Schools also said the student behind the video was suspended for the incident. The district also added that law enforcement had been contacted, but the parents dispute this.
Both districts maintain the situation was handled appropriately according to policy.
Below is the full statement from Mona Shores Public Schools:
Mona Shores Public Schools is resolute in knowing that racism of any kind is absolutely unacceptable. We have worked to support our student that was the victim of this incident. We have investigated the incident, consulted law enforcement, shared information with the offending student's school district, and met with the victim's family multiple times. The offending student attends another school district and to our knowledge consequences were given according to that school's Athletic Code of Conduct and Student Handbook, an apology note was written and delivered, and a research project was assigned in order to ensure the offending student understands the gravity of this incident. In addition, a restorative meeting was scheduled and subsequently cancelled by the victim's family. From a school district perspective this incident is undeniably wrong, however consequences and restoration efforts have occurred.
When asked if the district had a notify parents in the case that their student has been threatened, Mona Shores superintendent Bill O'Brien added:
"Yes, of course, and we did. We have also met with the family 6 different times. There are always two sides to a story. As a school we do not want to get into he said/she said with a family or argue over perception versus reality. There is more to it but it helps no one, especially the student that was the victim, move forward to enter into this debate. Therefore, we as a school district have apologized in writing and face to face for the lack of timely communication and vow to do better moving forward. We have also met with the family 6 different times. There are always two sides to a story. As a school we do not want to get into he said/she said with a family or argue over perception versus reality. There is more to it but it helps no one, especially the student that was the victim, move forward to enter into this debate. Therefore, we as a school district have apologized in writing and face to face for the lack of timely communication and vow to do better moving forward."
Below is the full statement from Fruitport Community Schools:
While the District does not generally comment on matters such as these, as a practice, it is important to understand the measures that were taken by the District in this matter to bring a stop to this type of behavior. Upon learning of the incident, the District acted immediately to investigate the matter. Consequences were issued that aligned with the disciplinary guidelines for citizenship violations in our code of conduct. The District takes matters such as these very seriously. In addition, a written apology letter was issued by the Fruitport student and accepted by the Mona Shores student. Further, while serving the consequence that was issued, the student was additionally issued a research assignment that required the student to research the historical context and meaning behind the term “lynching.” This was done to better help the student understand the hurtful impact of their actions. Next, a restorative meeting was scheduled to be held between the students at both schools; however, it is my understanding that the Mona Shores family declined this meeting after originally requesting the meeting to be scheduled, as an additional restorative practice. Lastly, the District was in constant communication with Mona Shores Public Schools regarding the matter, and it is the District’s understanding that they were pleased and supportive of how the District handled this situation. The District does not tolerate this type of behavior and acted immediately to investigate the matter and issue the appropriate consequences, including the use of restorative practices. The District has taken a series of actions to prevent this type of behavior from happening again. The District’s response and actions have been far from insincere or inconsequential.
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