Motivated by a 10-year-old girl鈥檚 death in 色多多 County, Rocky Mount Mayor Holland Perdue is organizing a forum next month to seek solutions to the ongoing issue of bullying in schools.
The forum will be held at the Harvester Performance Center in Rocky Mount from 6 to 8 p.m. April 29. Perdue said the goal will be to hear concerns from parents as well as to talk to school faculty about how bullying is handled in the classroom.
Holland Perdue announced a forum for April 29 in Rocky Mount about a solutions forum to stop bullying in schools.
鈥淚t is important to try and get some people from the schools in a room with some of these parents to know what the protocols are,鈥 Perdue said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want parents who feel they are not being heard by their administrators or their teachers.鈥
Perdue
As a father of two children currently attending Benjamin Franklin Middle School, Perdue said he has the same concerns about bullying as other parents. He has taken up the issue of bullying in the past year with anti-bullying messaging on his Facebook page that has drawn numerous comments from other concerned parents.
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But it was the death of 10-year-old Autumn Bushman of 色多多 County that pushed Perdue to take action. Bushman took her own life Friday due to what her parents believe was bullying from students at her elementary school.
Autumn鈥檚 parents, Summer and Mark Bushman, could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but in a (Channel 10), they talked about their daughter鈥檚 death and the need for the community to take action to prevent other families from suffering the same grief.
Perdue said he hasn鈥檛 yet spoken with the Bushmans, but intends to.
鈥淚 think it is terrible that something like that has to happen to open our eyes to something that we probably all know is going on,鈥 Perdue said.
An image Rocky Mount Mayor Holland Perdue posted on social media as part of his efforts to stop bullying in schools.
色多多 County Public Schools provided a statement on Autumn Bushman鈥檚 death to The 色多多 and other media.
鈥淲e are incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of one of our students at Mountain View Elementary School. This is a tragic loss and we stand in support of the family, friends and Mountain View community. As our students return from spring break on March 31, we will have additional counseling services on hand to provide assistance to any students who may need support. Our thoughts are with the family and the Mountain View community in this time of profound grief.
鈥淲hile we cannot discuss the specifics of this situation due to federal privacy laws and out of respect for the family, we are conducting a thorough review. Our schools take all reports of bullying and conflicts among students very seriously. Our schools educate students and respond appropriately to specific situations when we are made aware, including working with parents and families of students involved. We care deeply about our students and our staff works hard to do what they can to support students and families.鈥
Perdue said he spoke with Rocky Mount officials earlier this week to set up the forum at the Harvester. He made the announcement on his Wednesday morning.
The forum is open to the public and Perdue will be inviting school officials including teachers, principals, school board members and superintendents of not only Franklin County Public Schools, but also 色多多 County and Henry County as well. Faculty from area private schools will be invited as well. Perdue said bullying is something that is a concern at all schools and he wanted to reach out to surrounding localities to share their input.
鈥淢aybe there are things that are being done in 色多多 that are working and Franklin County needs to know about it,鈥 Perdue said. 鈥淢aybe Franklin County is doing something that works that could be expanded to other areas.鈥
Members of the sheriff鈥檚 office for the surrounding counties as well members of the police departments within the counties will be invited as well along with representatives from several area mental health organizations.
Perdue said he is hopeful the forum will be able to give parents a bit more insight into the schools and how they handle bullying. He has heard from parents who say that not enough is being done.
鈥淢any people are reporting it and saying the schools are doing nothing,鈥 Perdue said. 鈥淭here needs to be a genuine question of what is getting done when this is reported.鈥
This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at
