Kelaia Turner, pictured in the winter of 2021. She started being bullied at Fisher Middle School in August that year. Photo / Ty Turner / Washington Post
Kelaia Turner, pictured in the winter of 2021. She started being bullied at Fisher Middle School in August that year. Photo / Ty Turner / Washington Post
Each day used to feature a different activity for Kelaia Turner. Sunday was youth worship at church. On Monday, there were piano lessons. She participated in soccer and volleyball, and at school, in the choir and drama club.
But now, where her mother says Kelaia used to fill the house with giggles, there is silence.
Kelaia endured bullying at school, her mother said, for more than a year before attempting suicide. Her attempt resulted in severe brain damage that left the now-14-year-old non-verbal; her parents are her ‘round-the-clock caregivers, beginning feeding her at 6am and turning her every two hours.
Kelaia Turner, who was allegedly bullied at Fisher Middle School in South Carolina. Photo / Ty Tuner
A lawsuit filed by Kelaia’s parents alleges teachers and principals at Kelaia’s Greenville, South Carolina middle school were complicit in her bullying. Then, while she was recovering in the hospital, two of her alleged bullies took pictures of her in the ICU and circulated them on social media, the suit claims.
Suicide rates are on the rise among young people, especially children of colour between the ages of 5 and 12, said Christine Crawford, associate medical director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Crawford said today’s children have stressors affecting them beyond what adults can appreciate. The problem is especially acute for black girls such as Kelaia, who are presumed to be stronger or tougher than their peers.
“I think that as a society, we’ve become so desensitised to these things, that people really think that bullying is par for the course. ‘Oh, you know, well, that’s what happens’. But should it?” said Ty Turner, Kelaia’s mother. “You don’t really take accountability for how this is affecting these children’s mental health. It stays with them [for] much longer than the time that they spend in the halls of those schools.”
Kelaia Turner at home. Photo / Ty Turner / Washington Post
Until last week, when Kelaia’s story was amplified by Greenville NBC affiliate WYFF, Ty Turner said, the family was alone in its grief. The lawsuit, originally filed June 3 in the Greenville Division of the US District Court by James and Ty Turner, alleges that Kelaia reported instances of bullying since enrolling in Dr Phinnize J. Fisher Middle School in August 2021.
On one occasion, students repeatedly called Kelaia a “roach” or a “man”, the lawsuit says. Olivia Bennet, a classroom teacher listed as a defendant in the suit, allegedly pointed to Kelaia when a student asked, “Where’s the roach?”
In another instance, the lawsuit alleges Kelaia’s clothes were drenched with water then thrown in the trash.
Greenville County Schools denied the allegations “that bullying and parent concerns at Fisher Middle School were not addressed” in a statement relayed by district spokesperson Tim Waller. Thomas K Barlow, the attorney for the defendants, declined to comment beyond the district statement.
“We extend our heartfelt sympathies to Kelaia, her mother and their family. The school and district administrations investigated and addressed each of the reported incidents in accordance with policy and law. No parent concerns or reports of bullying were ignored, and all were directly addressed with the student’s mother,” it reads.
The lawsuit alleges that Kelaia’s mother reached out to the school on several occasions once the bullying began. After a fellow student took pictures of Kelaia while she was recovering in the ICU and circulated them on social media, Ty Turner lodged a formal complaint with the school, the suit says. The principals of Fisher Middle School allegedly told her they had a zero-bullying policy but no way to enforce it.
Ty Turner told the Washington Post she initially didn’t want to file a lawsuit – but, she said, when her family never received even an apology from the school, she became angry.
“Kelaia advocating for Kelaia should have been enough, and it wasn’t,” Turner said. “Me advocating for Kelaia wasn’t enough. So now what we want to do is make sure that we are shining a light on it and trying to get precedent, so that these schools are compelled to address this moving forward and to have parameters in place.”
That same sense of betrayal – Turner said the family is extremely involved in their church community but no one extended support once Kelaia was discharged from the hospital – led her to start a GoFundMe page, which has far surpassed the initial $15,000 goal to fundraise for a rear-entry wheelchair van to aid with Kelaia’s mobility.
Moving forward, Turner said she’s turning to advocacy work, focusing specifically on mental health rather than bullying because she understands “hurt people hurt people”. And when she’s not taking care of Kelaia, Turner reads each and every stranger’s GoFundMe comment.
“I want them to know that every single word of encouragement matters,” she said. “It is the absolute best currency. And I read them to that little girl, and she knows that she’s supported and she knows that people care.”
