After daughter knocked out at school, mother fights for answers
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A local mother is wondering what can be done to keep kids safe after her daughter was knocked unconscious at school.
“I looked at her face and all I could see was the swelling, from the stretcher and the blood coming from her face, and I’m like ‘what happened to my daughter?’” questioned Shannon Swanson. Her daughter, Shyanne Morris, is a sophomore at Marion Academy.
The altercation happened earlier this week while the kids were at lunch. Swanson said the school’s response is inadequate.
She said the school suspended the male student, but the school wouldn’t confirm that. She says there’s a lack of supervision, and now she wants to know why.
“Just getting a call, your daughter was knocked unconscious and she’s being rushed to Riley Hospital. My heart stopped, I was in shock for a moment,” said Swanson.
Swanson and her daughter admit that her daughter and the male student were play fighting during lunch.
“I didn’t even know what happened at first,” said Morris. “I just remember the officer picking me up and taking me to the nurse.”
Swanson says a school administrator told her that because the two students were playing around that no charges would be filed. But she says the reason why they were allowed to play fight is because of a lack of supervision
“If there was a teacher supervising, why were they allowed to do this? She was hit by a boy and knocked unconscious,” said Swanson.
Swanson’s determination to figure out what happened is because she’s also the mother of 10-year-old DeShawn Swanson. He was shot and killed in September 2015 while visiting his best friend.
“I couldn’t save ‘Little Man,’ but I won’t let anything happen to another one of my kids. I won’t,” said Swanson.
At Marion Academy, Richard Bishop, the school’s new executive director says they’re beefing up security and their staffing levels.
“Safety is one of the most important things that we have here,” said Bishop, who’s only been on the job for one week. “We’re improving and we’re improving on a daily basis.”
IMPD is now guarding the school.
Bishop says he’ll also engage the surrounding community to help turn that school around.