It is not unusual for teenagers to play pranks on each other. Some of them are harmless pranks that may actually be enjoyed by everyone, but others can be cruel.
One teenage boy who plays football revealed something to his teammates and took them into his confidence. He told them that he had a peanut allergy and that being around peanuts could kill him.
It probably took a lot for 16-year-old Carter Mannon to tell his teammates the truth. Those teammates, who played football with him at Lake Travis High School, then played a joke on him that was not funny.
Even though Carter told them that he was allergic to peanuts, they put peanuts into his locker. Just hours before going down the to field, he learned that the peanuts were in his locker, cleats, and inside of his jersey.
His mother, Shawna spoke about the situation. She said: “It was a can of peanuts that they just kind of scattered throughout his locker and put in his cleats.” She went on to say: “one of the boys came back and tried to kind of clean up a little bit, but the residue was there, the damage had been done.”
Almost immediately after coming in contact with the peanuts, Carter broke out in hives. He’s fortunate that he didn’t go into anaphylactic shock.
Some of the teenagers were laughing at the situation and others were not okay with it. His mother said: “One of the boys was sharing a video with the other teammates of them doing what they did. A bunch of them were kind of just laughing … A few of the boys did say, ‘That’s not cool, that could have killed him.’”
Carter reported the incident to the school and it was turned over for discipline. The boys were benched for two days and had to switch locker rooms along with doing extra runs at practice.
One student seem to feel sorry for what had done but there was a lot of bullying that took place afterward. This included people flicking him as he was walking down the hall.
Carter was also taunted by other teenagers, so his mother went to the school board and that investigation was opened in the bullying. The school board did feel that it qualified.
According to a representative for the school district: “Under the Texas Education Code, bullying is a very specific behavior and is defined as an act or pattern of acts that physically harms a student or materially and substantially disrupts the educational process.
“Upon concluding our investigation, it was determined that the legal elements of bullying were not met. However, in many instances, even if the legal elements of bullying are not met, the district addresses behaviors that do not meet expectations in policy or programs”
Carter ended up switching schools because of the situation. His mother said that she didn’t feel it was a safe place for him either physically or mentally and she didn’t trust the district to look after his interests.
Shawna has also filed a complaint with the US Department of Education’s office of civil rights and is working with lobbyists to help children who have severe allergies.