ALLENDALE, S.C. (WJBF) — An Allendale County parent speaks out after saying her son was assaulted at school.
“Anger doesn’t even begin to explain how I feel. That child ran at my son as if he was a standing target,” Natasha Green told NewsChannel 6’s Aiken Bureau Chief Shawn Cabbagestalk about the incident on video.
According to an incident report, two students fought 13-year-old Zyvion Rivers in a school restroom. His mother, Natasha Green, got word of the incident from co-workers at Emergency Services.
“So dispatch called to me and let me know,” she recalls. “They said we wanted to let you know we got a 9 1 1 call. We’re not able to get back in touch with him. You need to check on him and see what’s going on,” she added.
Video provided to NewsChannel 6 shows as the students were talking in the restroom, one of them started hitting Zyvion. Another one joined in.
“There was a number of things going on in my head knowing that he’s already had this girl in school calling him racial slurs. He’s had her and other children that’s been calling him all type of hate slurs, for his gender identity,” Green said.
She says this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. “According to the school resource officer, when they interviewed my son in the back of the ambulance, she said she knew that this was something ongoing with this young lady. That she had been trying to group kids to fight against each other in the school,” she said.
In a statement, school leaders say the two other children are being disciplined according to the District’s code of conduct.
“The district also has a code that says they protect children and don’t tolerate discrimination. And in this case, that’s exactly what it was. The school had already sat down with my son and these children because of a prior incident with a guidance counselor because of the hatred that was going on,” she said.
Shawn asked, “Does your son regret coming out at this point?” “No, he doesn’t,” she said. “He said he feels like if he goes anywhere else and doesn’t take a stand for himself, all he’s doing is subjecting himself and other kids to being bullied wherever else he goes. He is proud of being the person that he is. He has no shame,” she added.
Green said that while Zyvion wants to return to school, she keeping him out until further notice.