Anoka-Hennepin Schools Chief Dennis Carlson: Extreme Tales Of Bullying Here Are ‘Not True.’ He’s LYING

We continue to correct inaccurate statements about students who have committed suicide over the past year. We know how difficult these deaths have been for our schools. Based on all the information we’ve been able to gather, none of the suicides were connected to incidents of bullying or harassment. In addition to family and friends, many of our employees were personally affected by these tragedies. … As we all try to heal from the pain of these deaths the continuation of inaccurate information is not helpful. Once again we have no evidence that bullying played a role in any of our students deaths. In a few instances, people told the school board and district leaders that employees stood by while a student was bullied. These statements are also not true. We have no evidence of that occurring.”

Not only did some of these kids who committed suicide get bullied before they died, but one of them, who was a personal friend of mine, was even bullied even after she died. Kids said things like ‘she deserved to die.’ Even though I am straight, I get teased because people think I am gay based on how I dress. Recently I had an incident where a student in class harassed me, and I reported it to the teacher who then singled me out in front of the class and ultimately made the situation worse by how she handled it. … You tell us to report things, but then when people come forward, like some have done in this very boardroom, you say that what we say isn’t true. Why should kids come forward then if you aren’t going to believe them?