Published in the April 4, 2017 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — A Wakefield Memorial High School student is claiming that her 17-year-old sister, who has Down Syndrome and also attends the school, was cruelly mocked by another student in an incident at the school yesterday. A report on the alleged incident aired on NBC-Boston’s 11 o’clock newscast last night.
The 15-year-old WMHS freshman was interviewed by NBC-Boston with her face concealed.
“This boy sitting next to us whom I’ve never spoken to before said, ‘Hey, I bet I can show you an even funnier picture,’” the girl said in the interview. “Then he shows me a picture of my sister facing away from the camera and it’s captioned. ‘There are abortions for a reason.’”
The girl said that she’s also been on the receiving end of racial slurs by kids at the school but after she told School Principal Richard Metropolis, those incidents stopped.
“We’re black and we’re Muslim, which is basically living as a walking target,” the 15-year-old told NBC-Boston.
School Superintendent Dr. Kim Smith issued a statement this morning regarding yesterday’s
incident.
“The Wakefield Public Schools’ core values of respect and caring have been violated by a student’s actions yesterday afternoon,” Smith said. “A high school student shared a photograph of a classmate, with a particularly cruel caption, with other students. This is an egregious violation of our values and this behavior will not be tolerated. Any time our school administration receives a report of discriminatory language or behavior, as is the case in this incident, the issue is promptly investigated by school officials and the Police Department. An investigation of this incident is underway and appropriate consequences will be implemented.”
Wakefield Police confirmed today that they will do whatever they can to support the School Department investigation.
