SAN DIEGO — Editor's Note: Saturday, April 30, CBS 8 received a statement from The San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-San Diego) who "condemned the alleged bullying of an Afghan-American student and called on Poway Unified school district officials to investigate and take action to protect the student." See full statement at the end of this story.
We are working to get answers about reports of bullying at Del Norte High School in 4S Ranch.
CBS 8 recently aired cellphone video of an Afghan-American sophomore, who said he was the target of harassment because of his race.
“These incidents make me feel unsafe, unwanted. I've missed a lot of school because I don't feel safe here,” the 15-year-old previously told CBS 8.
After the report aired, we heard from the mother of a student who appeared in the videos. She said there is more to the story than meets the eye.
“Those videos. They don't portray the truth,” the mother said. She asked not to be identified.
CBS 8 has blurred the video because the students are minors.
The mother said the incidents at Del Norte High School are happening because of an ongoing feud and revenge.
“This is a personal thing. This has nothing to do with race, has nothing to do with culture,” she said. “Your videos don't portray any racial slurs. Your videos don't portray him being touched, other than the girl shoving him. Your videos don't portray the truth. They've been sliced down and edited.”
The mother said the students involved used to be friends in middle school, and she knows them all well. She claimed the 10th grader is the bully, not her son.
“He's been more violent towards people than anyone has been violent towards him. He's been the aggressor. And it's just gotta stop. And the only way that I can stop it is by filing that restraining order today,” said the mother, who provided CBS 8 an uncertified copy of a restraining order she said her attorney has filed against the boy.
“This particular person is interfering with their ability to go to school and have a normal day. Now he's starting a race war. And he's using the media to do his bidding,” she said.
The mother said the school's principal and vice principal have tried to intervene by making the students sit down in a restorative circle session. The students then signed behavioral contracts, she said. But still the feud continues.
“Personally, I think it's a cry for help. I think that the school psychologist needs to get involved. More needs to be done because I personally don't think that this boy that filed this report is operating with full capacity,” the mother said.
The Del Norte High School principal emailed CBS 8 a statement Thursday saying the incidents had been fully investigated, and consequences were handed down.
“While we can not publicly share consequences due to the confidentiality of the minors involved, we can assure you each incident is handled appropriately by site and district personnel,” the statement said, in part.
CBS 8 requested from the mother additional cellphone videos, that the mother claimed would back up her side of the story. So far, we have not received those videos.
In a statement, CAIR-SD Executive Director Tazheen Nizam said:
“We are outraged to learn of the alleged attacks on a young Afghan-American student at Del Norte High School and shocked that the school and the district failed to take actions sufficient to protect the student from ongoing attacks."
“A school must be a supportive space of trust and respect. It is the duty of school administrators to promote a sense of well-being in order to facilitate learning. We invite the PUSD staff and administration to launch a series of learning sessions offered by CAIR-San Diego so that they are equipped to handle such matters when an issue arises.
“CAIR-San Diego continues to work on anti-bullying education in our school districts. We ask the Poway Unified School District Superintendent to immediately investigate this matter and take appropriate action to protect the student being bullied.”