Video shows St. Johns County students shouting anti-gay slurs at classmates

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FL – A disturbing series of videos posted to social media this week appear to show a group of students using hate speech against other students at a high school in St. Johns County.

Students can be heard using homophobic slurs in the videos, which were edited by News4Jax to protect the identity of the students.

Parents told News4Jax that this happened at Bartram Trail High School on Friday and asked the school for the address of what happened.

“Two kinds, damn!” There are two kinds, damn! ”The students can be heard screaming.

Images of the mobile phone incident were sent to News4Jax after circulating on Snapchat and other social media sites.

Witnesses said a group of boys from Bartram Trail High School gathered on Friday to rally against the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance club.

A parent of a student there, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid reaction, called the videos chilling and said she also saw students stomping on a rainbow flag, a symbol of the LGBTQ pride.

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“It was shocking. It was scary, ”the parent said on Sunday. “It made me wonder what could possibly happen in this school to put the students at risk, and it was kind of like the videos you would see in the early 1960s during the civil rights movement.”

Nancy Tray also has a student at Bartram Trail and said watching the video made her emotional.

“It was shocking and horrible,” Tray said. “And I just, it was very emotional. It made me extremely sad. It makes you as a parent question your life choices if this is the right school for your child.

Neither parent reported violence or injury, but said they turned over the videos to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.

The agency told one of the parents that the matter was being referred to a sergeant in the Youth Resources Division.

“I was very scared to see this kind of hate,” said one parent. “To me, this is only how it could be described, as a hate crime occurring on the campus where my child is at school.”

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“I think it’s impossible to learn in an environment where, at the very least, you don’t feel safe. Our students need to feel safe to receive the education they need, ”said Tray. “I think we should not have any tolerance for this kind of behavior.”

A spokesperson for the St. Johns County School District told News4Jax that it is investigating the matter.

The district has an existing policy on bullying, which can be viewed here.