LAKELAND, Fla. — A video between two middle school girls is shocking, to say the least.
"My stomach just sunk. I'm sure my blood pressure was out the roof at this point because it was just, it was horrible" Kristin Kennedy said.
That was Kennedy's reaction when her daughter showed her a video that was going around her school.
In it, you can see one girl approach another and start arguing. When the girl tries to walk away, she's pulled down to the ground and is hit several times.
"t's just getting ridiculous. I have three children in the Polk County School District. I don't want that to happen to them."
Kennedy's daughter Kylee goes to Kathleen Middle School. Kylee and her friend Calista got the video at the same time and realized the bully used to go to their school.
"She was very disrespectful. She didn't care about anyone. All she cared about was popularity," Calista Allen said.
This is the second of two videos of bullying that have surfaced out of Lakeland schools in the last few weeks. The first showed a little boy being beaten in a locker room. And now this surfaced at a different school, leaving parents feeling like the Polk County School District isn't doing enough.
"Who knows if this poor little girl's mother even knows what happened. Who knows if they didn't even suspend the other girl. It's sad," Kennedy said.
Teenagers said bullying is on the rise both in the classroom and on social media.
"It's coming around a lot more now. I don't understand why kids are so mean these days," Kylee Ratliff.
That's why Ratliff said she wants the penalties for bullying to be tougher and not just a few days on suspension out of school.
"If they want to continue to do it make them take classes! I don't know what else. Make them get out there and do community service. Maybe hold the parents accountable," Kennedy said.
10News reached out to both the Lakeland Police Department and Polk County School District. Police are aware of and looking into what happened. The School District didn't immediately answer our emails, but we will follow up with them throughout the week.
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