A 16-year-old California Turning Point USA member has received intense bullying and harassment by numerous classmates and Instagram accounts. After speaking out against mask mandates, CRT, and comprehensive sex ed at her school board meeting in September, Kaylee Barkley was targeted by Los Osos High School students and staff.
Barkley served as president of her Turning Point USA chapter at the time. There were multiple Instagram accounts dedicated to making fun of TPUSA and Kaylee as well as threatening her. For example, she received messages containing expletives from fellow students telling her to “kill herself.” Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for outspoken TPUSA students to receive hate from peers. For any reason, feuds in high school are bound to happen, but this case was taken to the extreme when teachers enabled the students to attack her. In one class, a teacher was reported to have shown Barkley’s school board speech video and allowed students to laugh and make fun of her.
Following the beginning of the harassment towards Kaylee, Janal Barkley, Kaylee’s mother, brought the bullying to the school board’s attention. She made them aware of the cyberbullying in hopes that her daughter would be able to safely return to school with minimal harassment. When the school board responded to Janal, they denied that Kaylee’s speech was played in class and ignored the reported cyberbullying. Despite the fact that the school handbook allows the school to take disciplinary action against students for cyberbullying, they have not done so. Additionally, there was no corrective action taken for the school’s staff member that enabled the bullying to take place in their classroom. After Kaylee’s mother sent a letter in refute of the lack of action taken by the board, they called her and terminated the call when she advised them that the conversation would be recorded.
In any situation, when students endure bullying on campus and on social media, we expect the adults in the situation to take a fair stance and defend the victims of the bullying, no matter their beliefs. The bullying at Los Osos High School depicted the unfairness that conservatives of all ages face when they are not defended (and should be) simply because their ideas do not fit the leftist ideology. Kaylee Barkley faced bullying, harassment, and discrimination from students and staff, and the administration failed to make an effort to bring it to an end. In events like this, the question arises: “What would happen if the tables were turned and it was a conservative bullying a leftist? Would the school board still stand by so complacently?”
In times like these, fair and honest school boards are crucial to the well-being of students. It is time that we hold corrupt and complacent school board and staff members accountable. To read more about school board members like those at Los Osos, you can visit Turning Point USA’s School Board Watchlist.
