As an investigation ensues regarding a harassment incident at Edinburgh High School, the larger issue of racism in schools is being brought forward by the mother of the teen reportedly targeted.
Daily Journal File Photo
The mother of the teen at the center of a recent racial harassment incident at Edinburgh Community High School involving football players is speaking out about the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The situation was publicly revealed after Edinburgh schools unexpectedly canceled their football game and homecoming festivities Sept. 19. James Halik, interim superintendent for Edinburgh Community School Corp., said a formal complaint on a “harassment incident” was filed, and officials are investigating the situation.
“There is zero tolerance of any harassment,” Halik said.
The complaint filed involves a Snapchat video of two students saying making a death threat using a racial slur. The Daily Journal confirmed one of the students in the video is an Edinburgh football player. Names of the students involved are not being disclosed as they are presumed to be minors.
Edinburgh Police responded to the high school on Sept. 18 when the report was made, Chief Doyne Little said. Little said they will forward any criminal charges to the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office if a crime has been committed.
Halik said that Edinburgh schools takes “any sort of harassment incident seriously” and thoroughly investigates them.
“Until the investigation is completed because of FERPA, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, we cannot say anything further,” Halik said.
The incident
The mother of the teen who was harassed alleges that what started as repeated racial slurs and threats from teammates escalated to the point of physical assault. The Daily Journal is not publishing the name of the mother.
The harassment reportedly began the second week of school, when football teammates began using a racial slur. Her son attempted to ignore this, but the behavior intensified, the mother told the Daily Journal.
On Aug. 15, she said a teammate allegedly poured water down her son’s shirt. Since this was his first time on the football team, she said he thought this was a playful interaction.
When her son responded later by pouring water on the teammate’s head, but another teammate reportedly shoved him. Her son reportedly defended himself with one shove before backing away, the first physical assault linked to the harassment, according to the mother.
The following day, the mother said her son went to Principal Kevin Rockey about his teammates using a racial slur and the altercation that occurred, which Rockey said he would take care of it.
In the following days, the mother alleges retaliation followed. Her son received a text warning “he would be jumped” and then the video of the two students saying the death threat and racial slur was posted in a football group chat on Snapchat, she alleged.
The mother reported the video to Rockey and requested police involvement. She said the principal reportedly admitted at the time he “did not know how to handle this type of matter.”
The mother says Edinburgh schools allegedly suspended the students involved in the racial harassment for 10 days, while her son was “isolated, blamed and told he could study from home if unsafe.”
With the community aware of the situation by that point, the mother alleges her son was blamed by students for homecoming being canceled.
The victim’s mother says when her child goes to school and is in the cafeteria, he has been mocked with profanity, both from members of the football team and others not on the team. “It was like a retaliation thing.” she said.
The mother said her son was unfairly blamed and ostracized, and that after each incident that was reported, retaliation followed. She alleges the slurs escalated to physical assault, death threats and ongoing harassment.
Halik told the Daily Journal he had no comment on the allegations made as it is still an ongoing investigation. Little also had no further comments at this time.
Racism in schools
Indiana law requires school corporations to report student bullying and establish policies for investigating, implementing preventative measures and disciplinary actions.
The Edinburgh High School Handbook defines harassment, bullying and intimidation as the act of verbally, physically or by gesture threatening the well-being, health or safety of any person on school property or during school-sponsored events. This may include, but is not limited to, teasing, hazing, insulting or any form of sexual harassment. These actions are defined as a Level 3 misconduct that can result in student suspension or expulsion from school.
Now, the mother says her son has been devastated by what transpired.
“He told us he feels sad and he feels sorry for the kids that are getting a 10-day punishment,” she said. “He feels like it’s all his fault that this is happening. He didn’t do anything wrong, yet he is being made to believe that it is.”
The mother alleges that instead of protecting her son, the administration minimized the severity of the threat. Now, her concerns extend beyond the school to the community at large well, she said.
“Living in a small town where word spreads quickly, many community members have approached us with empathy, but we fear others may confront us with negative or even violent intentions,” the mother said. “We are really feeling vulnerable in this situation.”
On Sept. 23, the mother said her son was picked up from school early that day because he felt too unsafe to remain there.
Now that the incident is capturing the attention of Edinburgh and outside communities, she says this isn’t about just one student.
“This is about whether schools will tolerate racism, harassment and threats of violence while punishing victims instead of protecting them,” she said.
So far, Edinburgh schools has only reported one incident of verbal bullying in the district which was at the middle school, according to the Indiana Department of Education 2024-25 bullying data report.
Cyberbullying is on the rise, especially in rural schools with the addition of technology.
About half, or 53%, of U.S. teens say online harassment and online bullying is a major problem, according to 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center. Band Hispanic teens, teens from lower-income households and girls are more likely to view online harassment as a major problem, the survey shows.
In the 2022 survey, 21% of black teens say the’ve been targeted online because of their race or ethnicity.
The mother said the administration should have taken the situation more seriously instead of focusing on keeping their football team.
Going forward
The mother says a lesson she learned in all of this was not about how people see color, but how people treat each other regardless of skin color.
“I would be lying if I say that I don’t see color, but I don’t think its about color at this point,” she said. “I think this specifically about who we are as human beings. If you are a nasty person, then that’s just who you are and if your a good person that’s who you are, but I don’t feel like this is Edinburgh’s reputation as a whole.”
The mother said the school should take accountability for what is happening in the community and do more to protect minorities. In the meantime, she doesn’t plan on residing in Edinburgh in the future.
“My son has gone from being a joyful, straight-A student who loved school and football to feeling unsafe, isolated and blamed for simply reporting what happened,” the mother said.
