The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

October 29, 2007

Student, 13, assaulted in classroom

Bob Benedetti

Although an eighth-grade student was assaulted on Tuesday at South Edgecombe Middle School, it may be a community that is readying to push back. Denise and Allen Key of Macclesfield, and a mounting group of local parents, have determined that enough is enough.

An assault upon their son Daniel Key, 13, at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday while Key attempted to be seated in class, has brought the issue of bullying to the forefront.

According to the victim's father, Allen Key, his son suffered bruises to the arms, shoulders and back, resulting from an incident where a classmate moved Key's chair, then jumped atop Key and proceeded to punch and kick him numerous times.

Four of Key's football teammates intervened, followed by school counselor Tom Wooten.

Edgecombe County Public Schools Director of Community Relations Diane LeFiles confirmed that a report was filed with the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office but was unable to provide further comment due to student confidentiality issues.

Key was taken by his parents to Farmville Pediatrics, then was referred to Pitt Memorial hospital for further examination and more extensive testing. No broken bones were found.

The incident may be tied to Key "witnessing him (the assailant) with a female's pocketbook" earlier that day and the subsequent "theft of her (the pocketbook owner's) cell phone," Key's father said.

Without regard to the assailant's motivation, Allen Key maintains that school bullying is driving kids toward other educational choices like private and home schooling. He believes citizens have a right to a safe public education. "Your child has a right to a free education... it is unfair to the students who are seeking knowledge to have to attend in fear."

A juveline petition, used to report youth incidents, was filed with the Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office, according to Sheriff James Knight. The assailant returned to his residence and is awaiting evaluation from the Juvenile Justice Center in Rocky Mount.

Key's pursuit of safe education took him to Edgecombe County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Craig Witherspoon. Even with Witherspoon's restricted ability to comment due to confidentiality statutes, Key found the district leader was "as forthright as possible. He listened well and told us what he could."

When asked if bullying exists at South Edgecombe Middle, Principal William Grady responded "You've been to middle school. There's no more (bullying) than back then."

Grady pointed out the school's Safe Club that meets once bi-weekly for about 20 minutes in the multi-purpose room. It rewards students with redeemable tokens for appropriate behavior and talks about a variety of topics including saying "no" to drugs and alcohol.

But has the middle school dynamic changed from days gone by? Chances are that few, if any, local residents will remember having constables patrol their hallways.

According to Key, "It got so bad" at West Edgecombe Middle School during 2005-06 that "the troublemakers were pushing students and teachers around. They had to put officers in there" to maintain order.

The assault to Daniel Key occurred during America's Safe Schools Week, Oct. 21-27.

Key insists that action is necessary to make schools safe, while passivity will only maintain a status quo of violence, and that he subscribes to the adage of English philosopher Edmund Burke: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Text Only
Local News
  • Teresa Bryant headshot.jpg Bryant declines to seek re-election

    Teresa DeLoatch Bryant announced she will not seek re-election to the District 2 seat she now holds on the Edgecombe County Public Schools Board. The announcement came 91 days before the May 8 Primary Election and nearly a year after the first-term plus one year board member announced her resignation for personal and career reasons. She later rescinded her decision.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • MimiHerman.jpg W.A. Patillo receives $5,000 poetry grant

    W.A. Pattillo School has been awarded $5,000 from the North Carolina Arts Council for Poetry in the Classroom with Mimi Herman.
    The funds will be used to provide a week of poetry writing experiences for seven fourth grade classes through the expertise and creativity of Herman. Students will gain self-confidence, and will view themselves as writers rather than merely consumers of literature. They will learn to use language effectively and creatively to communicate thoughts, feeling, and impressions.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • IMG_5889.JPG Pizza Bowl

    The biggest football game of the year brings the largest sale of the year for two area pizza restaurants.
    Tarboro branches of Pizza Inn and Dominos Pizza are gearing up for Super Bowl XLVI Sunday by increasing their regular employee lineup by as many as seven.
    Pizza Inn is running a special that they believe will keep them busy throughout the day. Last year they sold over 200 large pizzas on Super Bowl Sunday compared to 50 on an average Sunday.

    February 3, 2012 1 Photo

  • Edgecombe unemployment up in December

    TARBORO — Unemployment rates increased in 93 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in December. Rates decreased in four counties and remained the same in three.
    Edgecombe, which saw a slight improvement in November, fell back to its October 2011 level (15.7%). Of the 100 counties in North Carolina, Edgecombe and Dare are tied at third highest in unemployment. 

    February 3, 2012

  • Three ECPS campuses ahead of First Lady's nutritional guidelines

    When First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new guidelines for the nutritional overhaul of school meals last week, they could have chosen three of Edgecombe County's public schools as their models.

    February 2, 2012

  • Lynn_Cale.jpg ECC Executive Named to United Way Board

    J. Lynn Cale, associate vice president of instruction at Edgecombe
    Community College, has been named to the United Way Tar River Region
    Board of Directors.
        The Tar River Region serves Edgecombe and Nash counties. Cale
    will serve a one-year term, from January to December 2012.
        He and other board members oversee 41 local health and human
    service programs funded through United Way as well as 21 Community
    Partners and various community development partnerships.
    RIGHT: J. Lynn Cale

    February 2, 2012 1 Photo

  • Pattillo Alumni Association on the move

    The Board of Directors (BOD) of W.A. Pattillo High School National Alumni
    Association, Inc. held a meeting on Jan. 21, at Pattillo School under the leadership of its President, Dr. Fred S. Wood, Jr.  All of the officers except one were in attendance, accompanied by 9 of 16 Board Members and 9 of 10 Appointed Standing Committee Chairpersons.

    February 2, 2012

  • BandSEDriverHouse.jpg Local students selected for N.C. Eastern All-District Band

    Three Edgecombe County Public Schools students have been chosen to play in the All-District Band. Lillian House, an alto saxophone player and Kaitlin Driver, a French horn player both eighth graders from South Edgecombe Middle School and West Edgecombe Middle School eighth grade flute player, Taylor Joyner earned the honor this year and will grace the stage at East Carolina University’s Wright Auditorium Feb. 3.

    February 1, 2012 2 Photos

  • Robbery prevention

    Community education on robbery prevention shares equal importance with the search of robbery suspects. Robbery prevention may seem unachievable, but we can not continue to ignore the problem of robbery in our community. As local citizens, we should create ways in which everyone can benefit from the knowledge of robbery prevention.

    February 1, 2012

  • GHW 01-28-1221.JPG George Henry White: tribute to a great American

      Why isn’t George Henry White a household name?  If Vincent Spalding has anything to do with it, that will soon change.
         Long ignored in African American history books and recognitions, George Henry White of North Carolina was elected to Congress in 1896, and re-elected in 1898, becoming the last African American elected to Congress after Reconstruction, and the first to serve in the 20th century.

    January 31, 2012 1 Photo