The News Channel 4 KFOR reports:
CLINTON, Okla. – Bullying is a problem in schools across the nation, but one case in Oklahoma has a family concerned.
“Oh my God,” Hanna Gilles said, remembering the events from last week.
Gilles says her daughter, Patience, was taken to the doctor’s office after being hit with a basketball.
In fact, doctors say the third-grader from Southwest Elementary in Clinton was hit so hard in the head with basketballs that she suffered a concussion and brain injury.
“They were directly throwing the balls at her face,” Gilles said. “When she tells me she doesn’t want to go to school because she’s afraid to go to school, it breaks my heart.”
Clinton Superintendent Kevin Hime said the district is investigating the incident.
“Anytime any kid is injured, and we have 2,300, we take it very seriously,” he said.
Teachers and students who were in the gymnasium are currently being interviewed, but Hime said it may take a while to figure out what really happened.
“You interview 30 third-graders, you might get 30 different stories,” he said.
Hime said they also want to find out how a child could get through the rest of the school day without anyone recognizing a concussion.
“Sometimes you find teachers don’t make mistakes but there’s things they could do different to improve,” he said. “And if there’s actions to be taken, disciplinary action toward kids or adults, we take those.”
Gilles is upset the district has taken so long to find out what happened to her daughter.
She wants to know who’s responsible, and how the school is going to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“(They) know nothing of an incident that was so impactful, that my daughter has a brain injury and a concussion and is terrified to go back to school,” she said. “There’s something very, very wrong with that.”