Racial tension among students prompts forum with school, families at Stanly Co. high school

STANLY COUNTY, N.C. — A Stanly County high school held a forum with families Friday after racial tension continues to build among students.

North Stanly High School students were placed on remote learning Friday. This comes after videos surfaced on Snapchat that showed two teenagers using racist slurs.

Channel 9′s Genevieve Curtis was at the school Friday afternoon when they held a community discussion, laying out possible solutions to address the division and hurt that some say they’re feeling.

“How would you as a parent feel sending your child to that school?” one parent said.

Several parents said this isn’t an isolated situation or just about a few videos.

“This goes beyond North Stanly, this is a Stanly County problem,” another parent said.

Channel 9 took screenshots of some of the videos making their way around social media. The videos show North Stanly students using racial slurs in several social gatherings. Some of the videos were from a year ago or longer, but still cause pain and tension.

“If it’s not handled properly, it can tear apart a community. But then you do have people who are a part of trying to resolve things,” Karissa Johnson said. “Sometimes we look at things in a negative way. Even though it may be negative, if it’s resolved properly it can turn into something positive.”

One of the most emotional moments came when a father said his daughter was in one of the videos, singing a song with racial slurs.

“This has … this has heartbroken our family,” he said,

He said his daughter had not returned to school, and he came to be part of the discussion to make things better.

“My child done wrong. She has apologized to her peers. She has been remorseful,” he said. “We need to meet this head-on. I don’t know what the solution is.”

The room gave him a standing ovation. Parents of color in the community followed, saying this should be a teachable moment and teens should be shown grace.

“At the end of the day, she’s going to come out better,” one parent said. “I think the very thing that divides us is the very thing that has the ability to unite us.”

The district offered several action items, including:

• Hire more diverse staff, and develop programs to support and retain staff.
• Community leader/mentor groups, recurring practice, regular meetings.
• Give students outlet to report concerns. Without fear of reprisal. Anonymous reporting. They already have that system in place, but promote it more to students. “Say something” app.
• Conversations about accountability. What are the expectations? What are the consequences for when those expectations aren’t met?
• Equity in consequences. Some blacks kids said they feel they will get in trouble if they speak up or retaliate against abuse.
• Educate and enforce cell phone policy. The policy is already in place, but it’s not enforced well.
• Offer support and assistance to parents when they need it or are feeling overwhelmed.

(WATCH BELOW: Chester Co. Schools take action after racist videos made by some students circulate on social media)

Chester Co. Schools take action after racist videos made by some students circulate on social media

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