Lumberton Junior High School employee told not to wear anti-bullying jacket, now may get fired
ROBESON COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Glenn Sutton's teenage years still haunt him. "The hits, the name calling, the dumb, stupid, ugly, fat...I remember those words!"
Sutton described his memories of being bullied, which he says drives his adult passion; a mission for anti-bullying that he literally wears on his sleeve.
"I have stop bullying shoes, jackets, jeans, and it's more like a billboard," Sutton said.
Sutton's "wardrobe billboards" of anti-bullying messages got him called into the principal's office at Lumberton Junior High School, where he works full-time with students serving in-school suspensions.
After being ordered to stop wearing the jackets, he and the principal compromised on wearing the jackets only on Fridays.
However, Sutton said he felt compelled to defy his boss and wear the jackets again. He'd heard new cases of bullying at the school, and wanted to use National Bullying Prevention Month to raise awareness. His defiance did not go unnoticed.
"[The principal] said, 'No, I said Fridays.' I said, 'Well people are saying they're being bullied,' and she said, 'Well I said no.' I said, 'I'm sorry I can't do that,'" Sutton recalled.
Sutton received at least two formal written notices from the principal. They were warnings about the jackets.
The principal was not on campus to speak with ABC11 Wednesday, but Robeson Board of Education officials stand by the decision, saying Sutton is not employed as an anti-bullying counselor, and that the district has an extensive anti-bullying program of its own. The district also expressed concern that Sutton sells his services as an anti-bullying speaker outside the school, and could be advertising those services on campus.
When ABC11 asked Sutton why he would potentially risk his job by speaking out, he answered with a question.
"What are you willing to stand for, what are you willing to stand for? Are you willing to stand for this? And the answer is yes, I am," Sutton said.
The Robeson Board of Education told ABC11 it takes bullying very seriously, staffing each of its 13 middle schools with peer mediators and scheduling special anti-bullying assemblies. The Robeson County superintendent recently signed a proclamation to recognize October as National Bullying Prevention Month.
For his part, Sutton has gone back to wearing the jackets on Fridays only, for now.
