BOTETOURT COUNTY, Va. – A Botetourt County family is advocating for stronger anti-bullying policies after their son with autism was mocked and allegedly attacked at a high school football game.
Jeremy Seitz took to social media after his son Oscar, a student at James River High School, was recorded being mocked in a Snapchat video by a Central Academy Middle School student.
“My daughter showed me a video that had been posted online of him being bullied. He has autism and there was a young man following him around imitating his stimming, basically his hand movements and all his motions while others laughed,” Seitz said.
According to Seitz, Oscar reported that after the recording stopped, other students began throwing rocks at him.
School Response and Community Support
The family reported the incident to police, the school resource officer, and the school board. Seitz said Botetourt County Schools told him the incidents would be fully investigated, but Oscar himself was not interviewed as part of the process. He says only two students, the one who posted the video and the individual videoed mocking Oscar were questioned.
After those two students involved only received one day of in-school suspension, Seitz shared his son’s story on Facebook, where it garnered significant community support with nearly a thousand shares within days.
The incident has sparked broader conversations about bullying in schools. The Seitz family connected with the Bushman family, who lost their 10-year-old daughter Autumn to suicide earlier this year following bullying incidents at school.
“Until we start absolutely doing more, we’re going to continue down this road — and we don’t want to wait until more children experience suicide because of this, experience the bullying the mental health effect it has taken on Oscar, has taken on my family,” Seitz said.
Moving Toward Solutions
The family’s advocacy has led to planned discussions with the Botetourt County School Board to address bullying prevention.
“We were not looking to just ruin some lives of people who did this to our child. We were looking for discipline. We were looking for growth. We were looking for understanding and education. And I believe it’s been a rocky road, but I believe we are on the right path in getting there,” Seitz explained.
While the Botetourt County School Board declined to comment on camera, their student code of conduct prohibits bullying, cyberbullying, and intentional harm to students. However, the code does not specify punishments for these violations.