Bullying incidents reported at Henry School | Local News

{KXLG – Watertown, SD} Reports of “bullying” are coming in today from the Henry School District after KXLG News received information from listeners and a press release from Superintendent Todd Obele.

Obele reports that on Monday, September 16, “we learned of incidents involving students riding in one of our minibuses. This information focused on bullying/harassment actions of students at Henry School.”

Henry School administration immediately began investigating the incident and reported it to authorities. It was determined that several students had “violated school district policies and our activity participant code of conduct.”

The school said that “appropriate disciplinary action was taken.” The statement continued: “We regret that this incident occurred and want you to know that the safety and well-being of our students is our top priority. In addition, students must learn that inappropriate behavior has consequences.”

KXLG News also received screenshots from one of the parents describing how the situation played out for them. The post begins, “Today I learned that my child was abused in the locker rooms and on the sports bus by his teammates.”

The statement describes a 12-year-old son who “loves soccer” and was “held down by older students (and other older children) and repeatedly struck in the head. He was then beaten with the bus seatbelts.” Days earlier, he was allegedly held down with his shirt pulled up so he could be repeatedly struck in the chest and stomach. “The day before, he was thrown down and repeatedly struck in the back and kidneys.”

The son was too ashamed to talk about it, and it went on for weeks until another student brought it to his parents' attention. Also, “One of the boys seems to have no disciplinary record, and that worries me.”

The Codington County Sheriff's Office was called to the school and is investigating but does not have any further information at this time.

Stay tuned to KXLG News as we have more information on this developing story.