Bob CollinsSee update at bottom>
The story of the Prior Lake, Minn., girl who was bullied with racist taunts is plenty troubling. So is the allegation that the father of the alleged bullies excused his kid’s behavior by noting he uses the “N word” around the house all the time.
But one lingering question is plenty troubling, too. Why did it take the posting of a YouTube video for Brad Knudson to get some measure of satisfaction? What’s missing in the story?
He made the video of Snapchat videos that were sent to his daughter on Monday (caution: graphic language).
“I was afraid that if I don’t get this out, if I don’t get people to understand what’s going on, especially with this individual, that my daughter is not going to say anything to me and I’m gonna find her someday hanging in the bedroom,” he tells WCCO.
Fox 9 reports Knudson filed a report with the police, who talked to the bullies’ parents.
The school superintendent says an investigation was launched after the video was posted, the station reports, although it also says a school liasonn officer met with the families over the school’s winter break.
The school district released this statement:
“Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools is aware of the You Tube video. First and foremost, we do not tolerate racism, harassment or bullying of any kind. We are conducting our own investigation to get a better understanding of the events that led up to this video. We have reached out to Mr. Knudson directly to offer support for his daughter. We strive to maintain safe and respectful schools for all of our students and will continue to work to ensure a safe learning environment for all of our students.”
The posting on YouTube is not without its own consequences. Someone posted the name and address of the father of the alleged bullies, which appears to invite a vigilante approach to a serious dispute. That’s, obviously, not a good idea.
Fox 9 reports he’s lost his job since the video was posted.
Update 5 p.m. 1/22/15 – Knudson has updated his story on his YouTube posting.
I would like to thank everyone for their support. I just found out our daughter did not take this issue as seriously as Wendy and I. The n word is something I was taught at a very young age was not appropriate. You hear nowadays a lot of songs by People of all color use this word. You also see videos that they use this word. I have never liked it I’ve always thought it was inappropriate that they used it.
I have now found out that my daughter during the WCCO interview decided to use Snapchat and send people videos of her thinking that this was a game and it was funny and she actually uses the N-word twice.
Regardless of your skin color I and my wife do not tolerate this word our daughter is going to be reprimanded in an appropriate manner. I am extremely saddened and disappointed because of this video she has discredited the message that we wanted to convey. I hope that this does not stop our efforts to highlight the issues that still remain regarding bully and the effects it has on children. It is still truly an epidemic and social media has allowed us to bully individuals 24 hours a day seven days a week no matter where that person lives. Wendy and I are still dedicated to highlighting this issue and help educate our young people on the effects of bullying and how to deal with bullying. Again I want to thank everyone for their support getting this message out.
