24-05-2025
Viral Wahiawa bully video sparks community outrage
HONOLULU (KHON2) — The viral video of a Wahiawa woman being beaten up by several teenagers sparked instant outrage with the video being shared over 40,000 times.
At one point, 11,000 people were watching an Instagram live feed as outraged parents and kids went to the homes of the alleged bullies to confront them.
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'It was an extremely evil act and it was extremely hard to watch,' said Michael Kitchens, who runs the Facebook page Stolen Stuff Hawaii. 'I got emotional, I think most people who watched it got emotional, it was just a feeling of helplessness.'
'I think there's a level of frustration over the inaction taken by authorities, including the Department of Education and the schools,' Kitchens added.
He asked his 197,000 members if their child was a victim of bullying and if anything was done by the school.
'I have a thread with hundreds of comments from parents who have children who have been bullied and the inaction taken by the administration, it's really sad and I think it's a glaring problem here with bullying and the steps being done to resolve it, it's just not happening,' Kitchens said.
KHON2 reached out to the Department of Education multiple times for an interview and comment on bullying at schools but didn't hear back until late DOE issued the following statement:
2025.05.22-Leilehua-HS-Wahiawa-MS-LetterDownload
A spokesperson for the victim's family said the family was as surprised as everyone else watching the video for the first time on Wednesday, because the victim never told her family about the incident that happened back in April.
'A lot of times with bullying, especially with kids, they're scared because if it gets out that they told it could have major repercussions and that could be very intimidating,' explained Dr. Danielle Rae, a psychologist who is also a former school crisis counselor.
She said it's important to talk to a trusted source about being bullied, like a family member, church member or guidance counselor.
'If your child tells you they're being bullied it's a good idea to talk to the school and bring in other advice or other council before going to the other parent, unless you know that family,' Dr. Rae added. 'And that's to resolve it civilly, it kind of takes a team of how do we best go about this to protect the child per see.'
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The victim's family said they appreciate the public's support and ask that no one retaliate against the others involved.
A statement read:
'The family would like to sincerely thank friends, family and the public for the outpouring of love, support, and concern during this incredibly difficult time. Your kind words and compassion have meant more to them than they can expressed in words.
At this moment, the family respectfully ask for their privacy as they try to process what has happened and figure out their next steps. They are still coming to terms with everything, and need time and space to do so.
In the meantime, we ask not to contact the family.
The family also kindly asks that no one retaliate or act out against any of the other partiesinvolved.'
Dr. Rae said it's important for students to speak out especially if there are threats to their safety.
As for the bullies, she said it could be the influence of friends or a loss of a family member that triggers their behavior.
'It could be some other type of loss, it could be a way of coping or needing to feel self-worth so 'let me intimidate another so I can feel good about myself,' there could be a lot of reasons which is why I highly recommend if it is your child that's either being bullied or doing the bullying, they get into therapy so they can resolve what the emotional issues are going on versus retaliation and they end up doing something more horrific,' Dr. Rae added.
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'I think the answer is to come together as a community to not only deal with this issue but every time bullying pushes its head we have to apply pressure to people in power to ensure things are being handled before they get out of hand,' Kitchens added.
'I think in general people want to help and show support for children when they experience this, and I think they want to see the people who did it are held responsible and we need to reach kids to help and not hurt,' he added.
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