Graphic, Violent Book Written By A Roanoke Student Has Parents Upset
ROANOKE (CBSDFW.COM) - Parents of several students at Tidwell Middle School in Roanoke are planning to protest at the school Monday morning. They are upset about a book written by one of the students in which he graphically explains how he kills numerous students on and off campus.
"His main weapon of choice is scissors," says Stephanie Lee, the mother of one of the students killed in the book, which is titled "Killing Children."
"He describes graphically how he inserts the scissors, pulls them down her chest, all you can do is try to hold in the scream, but you can't, " says Lee, describing the portion of the book in which she believes her daughter is killed. "He talks about literally ripping body parts off of the kids. It's very graphic."
Jennifer Taylor says her son is also one of the children killed in the book. She described the horrific details from the book to CBS 11.
"He stabbed him with scissors multiple times, cut him across the face, cut his tongue out and tried to feed it to another child," she said.
Shawnteel Blodgett said she doesn't want her daughter to read what's written about her. "Hers was a killing at the 7-Eleven with the Slurpee machine and about drinking her blood. It's very graphic," she said. "I haven't been able to eat or sleep, nor has my daughter. She's very upset about that."
The parents are demanding that the student who wrote the book be removed from Tidwell Middle School.
"I think first and foremost, one of the most important things is to get the kid help," said Racel Bubela.
The Northwest Independent School District said it notified the parents of the children involved. It released a statement which says:
"The concerned parents are asking the district to do something that we legally cannot do. This is a police matter and is currently under investigation by law-enforcement. To our knowledge, an arrest has not been made.
The father of the student accused of writing the book, issued a statement through the district. He states his child was evaluated for two weeks and then released.
But the parents still went to the school campus themselves looking for answers.
"We feel if things were handled properly from the beginning, it wouldn't be to this point right now. All the kids could have gotten better help from the beginning. Now they're all scared," said Taylor.
He additionally indicates his son was encouraged to write, and he writes frequently and has "no intentions of harming anyone."
Concerned parents say they will be in front of the school Monday morning at 9:15 am to protest.