On a Fox 59 Facebook post about a lawsuit against the Perry Township district, several comments can be found voicing concern on the matter.
“They have known about this since the early 2000s. They did NOTHING then either,” user Rhonda Harvey said.
“Best decision I ever made was getting my daughter out of Perry Township … and that was in 2016! I see it hasn’t changed,” user Kellie Goode said.
Throughout Perry Township schools, incidents involving violence and bullying led to the filing of two lawsuits earlier this school year.
With these perceptions spreading throughout social media, some are left wondering if Perry Township schools are violent. However, many students and administrators disagree with what’s being said.
“People like to record things that they see, and then they tell their friends, and then they kind of spread it around … and people will make it seem like something that it isn’t,” sophomore Amelia Pennington said.
Speculations of Perry Township being a violent district are often brought upon the spread of videos and misinformation through social media.
The lawsuits that came into play earlier this school year claim that Perry Township schools create a “violent atmosphere” that leads to behaviors such as fights, threats and bullying.
“What we’re seeing and hearing from other parents is that this is a district-wide problem, and it’s been going on for quite some time,” attorney Tammy Meyer said.
The two lawsuits and short claim involve multiple cases of violent encounters in which students were bullied to the point of needing medical attention.
The lawsuits point fingers toward the negligence of the schools and the lack of oversight from administrators that allowed for the violent encounters to occur.
“We’re seeing bullying all across the state of Indiana, but what we’ve seen in Perry Township is much worse than what we’re seeing in any other district,” Meyer said. “It’s been going on for quite some time without the district doing anything to combat it.”
At SHS, the bullying policy states that bullying behavior towards any student is strictly prohibited, and the safety of the victim is the top priority when confronting the issue.
“(If) a student reports something that’s not right and we address it and they come back and say it’s still not right, then we will continue the process of investigating and addressing it until it’s addressed,” Assistant Principal John Morse said.
Consequences for bullying another student include suspension or expulsion regardless of the location the bullying took place, whether it was inside or outside the school. However, some believe these consequences are unfair.
“Instead of (expelling) them and making them bring fights to other schools and cause more trouble, I think it’s more responsible to teach them to be a better character,” senior Abisak Awi said.
According to Healthline, there are different components contributing to violent and aggressive behaviors, including the factors of nature and nurture. This refers to the environment the person is in and the different biological factors.
Throughout SHS, several students of different grades seem to agree that the school doesn’t seem to experience much violence on a day-to-day basis but rather has “outbursts” every couple of months.
“I feel like this school is less violent compared to any other township I’ve been in,” freshman Autumn Sims said.
Other students at SHS say that they have not witnessed a violent encounter between students at all this school year.
“Actually, I’d say this year, we’ve been pretty good,” senior Sam Shelburn said. “I haven’t seen a fight at all this year.”
Even though many believe the township does not contain excessive violent acts, these acts do sometimes occur, so it is crucial for students to report incidents of bullying and violence to administration so they can be properly addressed and solved.
“The best thing for us to help address it is for it to be reported, and our best eyes and ears are students,” Morse said.
