A school district official in Missouri allegedly told the mother of a 13-year-old girl that the girl should undergo breast reduction surgery if she wants to put an end to constant bullying about her cup size.
Tammie Jackson says her daughter Gabrielle, a sixth grader at Central Middle School in north St. Louis County, has faced bawdy comments and general harassment for several months because of her large breasts, KTVI reports.
When Jackson contacted the school district in an effort to find a way to stop to the teasing, she says she got a response she wasn’t exactly expecting.
“The lady on the phone said they could transfer my daughter and said her boobs were so large she will always get teased,” Jackson told the station. “And the only suggestion she had for me is to have my daughter get a breast reduction.”
“It makes me feel like now you are telling me it’s my fault – it’s God’s fault the way He made her,” Jackson also said.
Clive Coleman, superintendent of the Riverview Gardens School District, said that a reduction in bullying is one of the district’s goals, notes the New York Daily News.
As for Jackson’s allegations, the superintendent theorizes that she and the district official could have crossed signals.
“We’re still investigating it,” he told the local Fox affiliate. “But to be honest with you, I think it’s maybe a product of miscommunication.”
Jackson also says her nine-year-old son Elijah faces bullying at his school, according to KTVI. He has surgical scars as a result of a rare heart condition. The taunting has led Elijah to make suicidal comments.
Superintendent Coleman informed the mother that he wants to set up a meeting in the hopes of finding a resolution to the bullying that has beset both children, according to the Daily Mail.