ASHTABULA, Ohio — When the video of Chad Bolin’s daughter surfaced on the internet, he was not happy.
It showed Syriene sitting in a swing at Erie Intermediate School, while her classmate yelled at her, hit and then kicked her. The altercation was caught on camera by the other students standing around, laughing and encouraging.
“I had been in contact with the school for the last few weeks over the bullying issues,” Bolin said. “It's been multiple students, not just one.”
“I didn't know what I was doing wrong, and people just kept calling me names,” Syriene added.
Her dad knew about the constant bullying, but was told by the school that they were taking care of it. Once he saw the video online, Bolin said he knew that wasn’t the case.
The other young girl who appeared in the video was Amelia Lott, and when her mom saw what happened at the playground, she said she was appalled.
“My daughter was not raised like that,” Tiffany Lott said.
The school contacted Lott to inform her that Amelia was suspended on Friday.
“I don't want to be called a bully because I feel like a bully but I know right now I was wrong,” Amelia said.
After writing an apology letter to the Bolin family, Amelia was able to deliver it in person. On Sunday, the girls spent some time together, making up and becoming friends.
“It wasn't until the mom found the video on Facebook that I had re-shared, she contacted me and that's when we stepped forward to handle the situation because the school wasn't,” Bolin said.
For both the girls and the parents, it was a successful meeting and an accepted apology.
“Her and I have talked it over sort of and now we're cool,” Syriene said.
The parents said the middle man in all of this is still the Ashtabula School District, that didn’t do enough to protect their kids.
“Nothing just happens randomly,” Lott said. “I was never made aware that there were any kind of issues, I feel like this could have been prevented.”
“It's time for them to re-evaluate their policies,” Bolin said. “There's got to be a better way.”
The district responded to the video in statement that said, “We ask our students to say something if they see something. It is saddening that this behavior occurred. Hopefully this can be a teaching moment and we can help our students learn from this.”
They will begin an investigation on Monday morning.