A mother reportedly attacked her daughter’s alleged school bully at a middle school in Maryland last week. The mother, Kelly Sadik, 41, allegedly confronted a seventh grade student at Aberdeen Middle School who was accused of bullying her daughter, which escalated into a physical altercation.
Aberdeen Police Sgt. Jason Neidig said Sadik, who has been charged with second-degree assault, left a “pretty nice-sized red mark and bruise on that arm," reported Fox News.
Sadik is paying the price for her actions.
Sadik has been charged with second-degree assault and trespassing and is due to appear in court in May, according to Fox News. Donovan Brooks, chief of safety and security for the Hartford County Public Schools, issued a statement amidst concerns over this incident.
“We vet folks that are coming into our schools. Protocol was followed today by our staff. Unfortunately, we had a parent that decided to break protocol," Brooks' statement noted, via Fox News. "Fortunately, we had staff members who immediately identified, through their vigilance, and just knowing the building — that there was something that was not right and immediately stepped in to take action.”
The victim's father wants to know how Sadik got into the middle school.
The victim’s father expressed concern over how Sadik was able to enter the school and locate his daughter. She was reportedly buzzed in by the front office but did not sign in at the front desk, breaking the school’s rule/protocol, according to Fox News.
The victim's dad spoke to local news outlet WBAL about safety concerns. "[S]he bypassed the office, and then she got a direction location of where my daughter was, She could have had a weapon. She could have had anything. That's the most frightening part about it," Charles Bates said.
Bullying continues to be a major issue for middle school students.
The incident at Aberdeen Middle School highlights a more widespread issue. Bullying continues to be a problem for middle schoolers and, unfortunately, also quite a common one. According to data and research conducted and collected by the National Center for Educational Statistics, “41% of students who reported being bullied at school indicated that they think the bullying would happen again. 46% of bullied students report notifying an adult at school about the incident.”
Negative effects and consequences exist for both the students being bullied and the students who bully. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “students who experience bullying are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, lower academic achievement, and dropping out of school.” Students who participate in bullying are also at greater risk for both mental health problems and behavior problems, reported the CDC.
Commenters online applauded the mom.
In the comments on Yahoo! News, people appear to be mostly in support of the mother’s actions.
“One issue resolved, but what does the school plan to do about the bully? From what I gather there are numerous instances where children are bullied and the schools do nothing to intervene," one person commented. "In this situation this has obviously been an ongoing issue if the mother took it to this level.”
“If the schools will not do anything to stop bullying then it becomes a parents duty to protect their child," another person wrote. "This mother will be made an example of but she should be applauded for standing up for her child. The bully girls parents or lack thereof are the reason she has turned out this way. One day society will be forced to deal with her when she 'becomes' an adult by age only."
