Part I: Family on mission to stop school bullying

By Rachel Brown

Tyler Long threatened to commit suicide when he was being bullied in middle school, but help came.

The Gladden Middle School student had Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism, and for one year in seventh grade a paraprofessional was assigned to keep a closer watch on him.

The constant supervision kept the bullies away. Tyler decided to live again. But at Murray County High School, the bullying got worse.

On Oct. 17, Tyler didn’t threaten. The 17-year-old junior hanged himself in his bedroom.

That’s according to his parents, David and Tina Long, who are on a mission hoping to find justice for their son and make the school system stop the bullies they say taunted, teased, harassed and physically abused him until he finally felt he had no reason to live.

One of Tyler’s former teachers, who asked not to be named, said there were several issues he was dealing with in the weeks before he died including a car accident, pressure to keep up his grades and a breakup with his girlfriend. Tina Long said Tyler wasn’t especially upset about these issues since he was getting a new car, had already invited another girl to an upcoming dance and was under no more pressure than any other teenager to make good grades.

Most students knew Tyler had a condition that impaired his ability to understand and interact with people, the teacher said, but many took advantage of it, making sport out of upsetting him. There were many days when he came to her in tears.

“My heart’s broken because I feel that maybe I didn’t do enough,” she said, adding she always tried to let him, as well as her other students, know she loved them. “I know all those teachers well enough to know that if they had thought for one minute something was going to happen to that child, they would have done a lot of things different.”

Pressure to have students meet state and federal academic benchmarks are enormous, she said, and often take away from time teachers might otherwise spend tending to students’ more personal needs.

Tyler worked at Captain D’s in Chatsworth, was getting ready to test for his black belt in karate, participated in the school’s JROTC program and made good grades, his parents said. There are two younger siblings, Troy and Teryn, both 14.

Tyler had taken lessons at United Karate Studio in Chatsworth for about six years and would have tested for his black belt the week after Thanksgiving, head instructor Charlie Braun said. Braun described Tyler as a physically strong student who didn’t often share his problems with others. Tina Long said her son loved karate and felt at home there.

“Tyler was loved and respected at the studio,” Braun said. “Tyler was just one of the guys in there.”

Braun’s son Ben, a 2009 MCHS graduate and fellow karate student of Tyler’s, said he remembers a group of kids crowding around Tyler at breakfast one day at school to intimidate him. Braun said he and another student walked over and told them to stop, and they left.

Most of the bullying he witnessed during school was done out of sight of any adults, making it difficult to punish, he said. However, he said teachers and administrators also didn’t appear to make a concerted effort to address it.

The Longs say that since Tyler’s death, they’ve received numerous phone calls, texts, messages and comments from people throughout the community offering to help them. Many also contacted them saying they know of other children who are being bullied, they said. The Longs are asking anyone with information about what happened to their son at school to come forward with information, even if it’s anonymously.

“We’re leaving all of our options open — including legal action,” Tina Long said, adding the family appreciates the community’s support.



Family: No support from school system

The family says they’ve received no support from the school system since their son’s death. Superintendent Vickie Reed did not return several messages they left for her, they said, nor did administrators grant requests to meet with his teachers after his death. Reed did not return a phone message from The Daily Citizen.

School system spokesman Dean Donehoo, the administrative services director, said he can’t comment on Tyler’s case because of privacy laws, but the school extends sympathy to the family.

He did say the school system recently implemented a Positive Behavior Support system, a program that encourages good behavior and punishes bad conduct. It’s a program that’s recommended, but not required, by the Georgia Department of Education. There are similar programs at the elementary and middle school levels.

The Longs say they’re still upset with school system officials because they refuse to set up a meeting for them to speak with Tyler’s teachers, wouldn’t let students be interviewed by the Chatsworth Police Department without the principal present, and won’t admit that they never adequately addressed the family’s years of repeated complaints. They say school officials made excuses for the alleged bullies when a family member complained.

“The school’s response to us all is ‘You took it wrong,’ or ‘He didn’t mean it,’” Tina Long said.

An incident report The Daily Citizen obtained from the Chatsworth Police Department includes a note Tyler left for his family before he died. In the note, Tyler praises or expresses love for each of his parents and siblings but also writes that he lacked support from family and friends and felt he was unable to make everyone happy.

Taking their children out of school would have meant the school system won, so it was never an option, his parents said. They say they believe it’s better to fight for their rights and their children’s rights — and they still want to talk with Tyler’s teachers and principals.

“If they didn’t have anything to hide, then they should be talking to us,” Tina Long said. “It was the school’s responsibility to protect our child, and they swept it under the rug.”



Contact the Longs

bullyinginmurraycountyschools@hotmail.com

(706) 847-1452