Sanger Unified family continues calls for change after bullying controversy

FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – As part of United Against Hate Week, the Fresno Center and FIRM hosted a United Against Hate Block Party Thursday night. Much of the conversation there was focused on a bullying controversy faced by one Sanger Unified Family, who claims their son has been relentlessly bullied on an Instagram account with over 450 followers.

The person who has spearheaded the claims is Mao Her, not only the mother to Kent, who she says the page deliberately targeted, but also a teacher at an elementary school within the Sanger Unified School District.

“I truly believe that we are all there for the same reason. It’s to protect children, and for me to turn around and have my son bullied to this extent and not get the help that I needed right away was extremely frustrating and disappointing and a lot of distress for our family,” Her said.

On Monday, Her made the claims public in a press conference, as she and her husband Chang Moua detailed some of the nightmares they say her son has faced as a sophomore at Sanger West High School.

“There’s racial slurs, there’s some sexual content,” Her said.

“A lot of stuff, just to make fun of my son and degrade my son,” Moua said. “You know, it can’t get any worse than that.”

The couple says it has left Kent shaken, his attitude changed, and his grades worsened. However, Thursday night, they joined the block party and its unity walk along Cesar Chavez Boulevard to join in with the community whose help and support they say has been crucial after accusing the district of not doing a ‘comprehensive investigation’.

“The community coming together, all these organized Asians reaching out to, like my husband said, you know, to relieve our stress, some of our stress. We’re still hoping that the district can do more,” Her said.

In response, Sanger Unified confirmed the account had been taken down, as they issued the following statement.

“Sanger Unified shares the frustration of our parents, students, and community when Sanger Unified’s repeated requests to remove harmful social media pages went unanswered by the platforms. Regarding the recent incident and the eventual removal of the page, we believe it was the joint investigative process — initiated last school year between Sanger Unified, law enforcement, and the parents — that ultimately led to the page being taken down.”

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