GRAHAM, Wash. — Josiah Jolly is still shaken by the brutal beating he suffered nearly three weeks ago at Frontier Middle School in Graham.
Josiah said he got into a fight with one of his classmates who had bullied him during gym class.
Josiah said he and the other boy pushed each other, but when he was pushed down to the floor, the violence intensified.
“I tried hitting his leg, to see if it would have any effect... It had no effect,” he recalled. “Then he just wound up and just punched me straight in the face while my head was on the ground.”
The Pierce County Sheriff's Department says a police report was filed on March 3.
The blow left Josiah with multiple fractures in his face, requiring reconstructive surgery to fix.
Josiah’s mother, Monique, says she was horrified that her son’s injuries were so extensive, but she was also frustrated about how the school reacted to the incident.
“When I got there, no one was sitting in the room with him,” she said. “With a head injury, my first concern was that no one was sitting here to make sure he didn’t go into a seizure or fall asleep. ”
She also said this isn’t the first time Josiah has been bullied.
“A lot of verbal bullying, but he’s been pushed down,” Monique Jolly said. “He’s been pushed down on the bus…we’ve talked to the bus driver to keep an eye on the stuff going on.”
Josiah is on the autism spectrum and requires special attention, yet Monique Jolly said despite her repeated talks with administrators, the school failed to provide that attention, and the bullying continued.
The Bethel School District sent KING 5 a statement that reads:
“We want to assure you that every school in the Bethel School District takes student safety, including bullying and fighting, seriously. While we can’t share specific information about the incident due to privacy laws, it is important to inform you that we are committed to making Frontier Middle School, and all of our schools, safe places to learn. School administrators have been in contact with the family to check on Josiah and offer any support they can.”
But Monique Jolly says students like her son aren’t safe in the Bethel School District, and until bullying is addressed, people will find other places to send their children.
“A number of parents have reached out to me and expressed their experiences and concerns with their children, and a number of them have children that aren’t in the school district anymore because of the bullying issue and it not being addressed,” Monique Jolly said.
Meanwhile, Josiah hasn’t gone back to school since this happened and says he doesn’t want to go back.
“I don’t wanna go there again. I don’t wanna go to any other school again, because I don’t want the risk of this happening to me again, and it possibly being even worse,” Josiah said.