‘Don’t hurt me!’ Video shows preschooler pleading with bully hurling racial slurs
Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia is taking action following a viral video of a middle-schooler tormenting a 5-year-old preschooler with racial slurs, People Magazine reported on Wednesday.
“Let me be clear: hate speech and racial slurs have no place in our schools or in our community,” wrote LCPS Superintendent Aaron Spence in a letter to parents in the district. “Every child, every family, and every staff member deserves to feel safe, respected, and valued. In a wonderfully diverse county like Loudoun, it is not just our responsibility, it is our moral obligation, to honor the dignity and humanity of each individual.”
In the video, the middle schooler, who shared it himself, is not seen on camera, but he chases the young boy. The older child uses a racial slur for Asian people as the boy begs, “No! Don’t hurt me! Don’t hurt me!” As the boy reaches his front door, the older boy asks him if he is having "dumplings" for dinner, and when the mother opens the door to let him in, the older boy innocently says, “Bye, have a good day.”
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The parents of the younger boy later became aware of what happened after another parent saw the video and alerted them.
“The school has been directly engaged with the students and parents involved and is offering support through the school’s Unified Mental Health Team, including for the 5-year-old child and his family, who were the target of hate speech,” Spence said.
While many school systems take racial hate incidents seriously, as LCPS has, others have been accused of cover-ups.
At The Madeleine School in Portland, Oregon, a private Catholic institution, reports this week allege that after a child reported racial slurs, the principal expelled him and called the police on the parents.