The mother of a teenager is suing New York City’s Department of Education for $5.5 million over the alleged bullying and assault of her son at a Brooklyn school.
Award-winning rapper, 50 Cent, at a certain point, claimed the 14-year-old was his “third son” he never knew he had.
According to the New York Daily News, Davian Fraser became a target at the Williamsburg Charter High School after students got wind of his personal relationship with the rapper. Fraser’s mother, Myasia Dickerson, claims the school did nothing to protect him from the bullying and assault.
“It caused a big uproar in the school,” she said. “The kids started to follow my son around, tried to put him on Snapchat, tried to take videos of him. They were following him to the train station.”
She added that the situation deteriorated on December 16 when Fraser was physically attacked by four classmates around a stairwell during lunch break.
“He was attacked from behind as he tried to walk away,” she said. “He was punched in the head and then the student proceeded to fight him and then he slammed my son’s head onto the ground.”
The notice of claim that was filed reveals that Fraser sustained head and neck injuries in the aftermath of the incident and continues to suffer emotional and psychological trauma, the New York Daily News reports.
According to Dickerson, Fraser became defenseless as his attempt at locating a security officer for help was fruitless. She also alleged that prior to the attack, he even tried seeking refuge in a classroom but was told to leave by the teacher because there was a class going on.
“The teacher told him, `No, I have a class right now. You can’t stay in my classroom,’” she told the New York Daily News.
“Parents have the right to expect a safe environment when they send their child to school,” the family’s attorney, Sanford Rubenstein said. “When school personnel fail to provide that, especially when they are on notice of a problem, the school is liable to that child for damages.”
Fraser hasn’t been to school since the alleged incident. An anti-bullying rally is set to be held at the school Monday, the New York Daily News further reports.
“My son is broken,” Dickerson said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
Fraser shot into the limelight in 2016 after 50 Cent introduced him to the world as his “third son” he never knew about and had just met for the first time.
In a series of Instagram posts that have since been deleted, the Get Rich or Die Tryin’ rapper shared photos of Fraser.
“My life is full of surprises,” he captioned in one of the photos he took with Fraser. “This little guy is my son DAVIAN. He started crying, I was thinking why you crying i gotta pay for this shit. LMAO.”
A rep for the rapper, however, later put those claims to bed, revealing via a statement that Fraser isn’t 50 Cent’s son.
“Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson does not have a third son, however he was immediately drawn to this young boy’s story much like his own, the 10 year old is growing up under rough circumstances so he has decided to help mentor him and get him the education he deserves,” the statement read, according to E!.
Meanwhile, Williamsburg Charter High School has responded to the allegation.
In a statement to Face2Face Africa, the school said it is “committed to providing all students with a safe and civil school environment in which all members of the school community are treated with dignity and respect.”
“Bullying is a national issue amongst adolescents, and schools including WCHS take this very seriously,” the statement continued.
About Dickerson’s suit, the school said it “asserts that it has not received any communication from an attorney or any legal complaint or legal notice, and thus cannot comment on the details of Ms. Myasia Dickerson’s allegations.”
“Nevertheless, the school asserts that until the mother withdrew her son
from school, WCHS made every effort to mitigate the issues her son may have been experiencing at school and at home despite his mother’s unwillingness to support the processes in place.”
Note: This article was has been updated with a statement from Williamsburg Charter High School on January 15, 2020.
