Family offers $1,700 reward to find girl's bully
After school administrators fail to stop bullying of a teen, her friends and family decide a cash reward is their only option.
For more than a year, 16-year-old Kaylie Castillo has been the victim of bullying at her Los Alamitos, Calif. high school, reports MSNBC. Her parents, Tracie and Guy Castillo, allege the school has been unresponsive since the initial November 2011 incident. They’ve rallied with friends and neighbors to offer a $1,700 reward to find the teen’s tormenter.
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The girl’s locker has been vandalized, "slut" was spray-painted on the family driveway and excrement has been left on their front door. The bully also sent sexually explicit texts to a boy at the school pretending they came from Castillo, the parents told MSNBC. The final straw? When a superimposed photo of Castillo’s face on a pornographic photo appeared on Instagram.
Bing: Bullying statistics in 2012
"Kaylie was completely embarrassed and devastated. She didn't want to go to school. It was awful," Tracie Castillo was quoted on MSNBC. "That's when we decided enough was enough."
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The 3,200-student school does have an anti-bullying policy in place. Los Alamitos Unified Superintendent Sherry Kropp was quoted on MSNBC saying that district administrators have been investigating since they received the report of the first incident last year. Students who shared the photo on social networking sites have been disciplined. Yet still, no one has been able to pin down the parties behind the harassment.
"We have interviewed dozens of students and looked at several avenues," Kropp was quoted. "We think just one or two students are involved, and they are just not talking to anyone."
"Kaylie is just like any other teen who is trying to fit in and figure herself out," Tracie Castillo was quoted. "We just want to know that she's safe at school."
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly a third of all students aged 12 - 18 reported having been bullied at school in 2007, some almost daily.
How do you talk to your kids about bullying?
Photo: Datacraft Co Ltd/Getty Images
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