Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys and Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics saw the awful video of a California High School special needs student apparently being bullied last week.
The superstar athletes sprung into action, looking to contact the youngster’s family and through social media, they were able to connect.
The action took place at Arvin High School near Bakersfield:
The video appears to show the student receiving the haircut wiping his eyes while the other students are circling around him, recording and laughing. 17 News is not airing the video because the student is a juvenile and his mother asked us not to.
The video contains explicit language. You can hear one of the students tell him not to cry in Spanish and then the group laughs.
Parsons saw the video and story and took to Twitter looking to be put in touch with the student and his family.
Any update on finding him?? https://t.co/WSG5Sf1sbM
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) October 22, 2022
Thank you everyone for the help! I’ve made contact!! I wish everyone understand love is spread in multiple ways! Don’t wait until we see pain and suffering! Lets continue to make strides in protecting our youth!
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) October 23, 2022
Abe Santiago, the mother of the Arvin High student who was seen having his head shaved in a video that circulated on social media, was clear about what she wanted.
“What I ask for is that they stop the bullying, that there would be no more deaths, and that there would be justice,” Santiago said.
“They showed me the video, and I couldn’t believe it was my son. My son is a good person. He’s naive and all he wanted was to fit in with his peers, make friends. He just wanted what everyone else does. He just wanted to fit in with friends.”
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) October 22, 2022
A Kern High School District spokesperson sent Telemundo Valle Central this statement:
Arvin High School administration is aware of a video circulating on social media. The behavior exhibited in the video is clearly unacceptable, and we do not condone bullying of any kind. When students breach the boundaries of acceptable behavior, they will be held accountable for their actions, and the school will provide support to any affected student. The incident is being thoroughly investigated, and appropriate disciplinary actions will be taken.
The event sparked a parent protest.