A high school student was taking a very public stand against bullying — when he got bullied.
Preston Deener, a sophomore at Brunswick High School in Maryland, was recording an interview with a local television channel about his experience with bullying when he was attacked by fellow students on camera. “The student came up to me and pushed me out of the way and said ‘What are you recording?’” Preston told WHAG-TV. “All of sudden, the student was chasing me and I needed some help.” Deener ran to find assistance from the school’s administration. “I was shocked,” WHAG reporter Katie Kyros told the Huffington Post, speaking of the attack. “They didn’t even care that I was standing there and yelling at them.”
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The Frederick County, Md. student now takes his bullying issues to administrators, but he learned this lesson the hard way. Last week, Deener was suspended for three days because he fought back against a bully. After the most recent incident, his mother, Cheryl Deener, is hoping the school will take a more serious look into the bullying. Michael Doerrer of the Frederick County Public Schools told WHAG-TV that while they don’t comment specifically on bullying cases because of privacy issues, “A full investigation is step number one, to find out what’s going on and what happened.”
According to WHAG, Deener and his mother are organizing an anti-bullying dance on Friday night. In the meantime, Deener is continuing his battle against bullying with sheer optimism. “You’ve got to have one heart and stand up for someone who’s getting bullied, and it needs to stop.”