Mom takes son, 9, out of school because of bullies

GAVIN INGRAM attended fourth grade at Longwood Central School District's Ridge Elementary School until October.

That's when his mother, Christina, withdrew him and his younger sister, after becoming angry at what she saw as Longwood officials' failure to stop the repeated bullying of her children on their school bus.

She is planning on moving so that her children can go back to school in a different district. She is considering legal action and wants a law requiring working cameras on school buses.

It's pretty much one kid. He'd call me "Gay-vin." He thinks I look like Justin Bieber. He doesn't like Justin Bieber. I was mad. He's been doing this for three years maybe.

I really want him to stop, and I tell him and he never does. He pushes me sometimes.

I made this bracelet, and he broke it on me. He grabbed the bracelet, and I tried to pull it back and it broke.

Sometimes I try to ignore it. Sometimes he doesn't even do anything to me, and sometimes when I'm talking to other people he calls me Gay-vin, and I'll say something and he'll say it's stupid. When kids are talking I'll start talking to them and he thinks everything I talk about is really dumb.

I don't like going on the bus, pretty much because of the bullying. I have some friends on the bus. One friend tells him to stop and everything and he does sometimes.

I'm kind of glad [not to be going to school] because then I don't have to be bullied by him.

WHAT LONGWOOD SAYS: District Board of Education president Michael Loguercio Jr. said the district takes "bullying extremely seriously at all levels, and includes verbal, physical and cyberbullying." Teachers undergo anti-bullying training, and school programs such as the elementary level TRUTH, or Tolerance, Respect, Understanding, Teamwork, Harmony, Program reinforced values. While each instance of bullying reported at schools was "looked into and responded to," the district tried to prevent bullying proactively through education, he said.