Chelisa Grimes, Mother Who Sent Son To School With Stun Gun, Says She'd Do It Again (VIDEO)

Chelisa Grimes, mother of Darnell "Dynasty" Young -- the 17-year-old gay student who brought a stun gun his mother gave him to school to protect himself from bullies -- says she would do it again.

Grimes spoke with CNN's Don Lemon on Sunday, describing her struggle to have school officials take her son's bullying seriously.

"I do not promote violence -- not at all -- but what is a parent to do when she has done everything that she felt she was supposed to do," she said. "I did feel like there was nothing else left for me to do, but protect my child."

On April 16, six students surrounded Young, threatened to beat up him and called him names because of his feminine clothing, the Indianapolis Star reported. Young then took the stun gun out of his bag, fired it into the air and then walked to class. Minutes later, Young was handcuffed and his stun gun was confiscated.

Although the school held an expulsion hearing for Young last week, CNN reports that no decision has yet been announced.

In the meantime, Young says he did what he had to do to protect himself.

"I was at my wit's end. I didn't know what to do and I thought about suicide," Young told CNN. "I hate saying that word because God blessed me with this life. I love life. I love my education. I would never ... but this bullying got so bad that I thought about that."

WATCH: Chelisa Grimes an Darnell "Dynasty" Young on CNN in the video above.

Other school bullying incidents:

Loading Slideshow

• Cequan Haskins

  Chilling video of 10-year-old Cequan Haskins being viciously bullied on a school bus in May 2011 was <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/cequan-haskins-10-year-old-bus-bullying-video_n_1695719.html?utm_hp_ref=school-bullying">released publicly by the boy's mother at a press conference</a> in Appomattox County, Va. Video of physical and verbal abuse goes on for 40 minutes and includes racial and sexual slurs, as well as Cequan screaming as two 15-year-old boys allegedly hold a hot cigarette lighter to his skin.

• Nadia Ilse

  To ward off school bullies who began taunting her in the first grade for her ears, Nadia Ilse begged her mother at the age of 10 for an otoplasty -- an operation to pin her ears back. At the age of 14, Nadia was <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/28/nadia-isle-bullied-georgi_n_1712548.html?utm_hp_ref=school-bullying">granted her wish by the Little Baby Face Foundation</a>, a charity that provides free corrective surgery to children born with facial deformities.

• Isabella Lounder

  Isabella Lounder, a 7-year-old student with special needs, was afraid to return for her first day of school in the fall of 2012. Mother Nicole Lounder says Isabella, who has dwarfism, was ignored by school officials, wetting her pants numerous times after failed attempts to use toilets that were out of her reach. Students would also pick her up, hurting her arms, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/17/isabella-lounder-student-_n_1798770.html?utm_hp_ref=school-bullying">and she was once locked out of the school.</a>

• Indiana Teen

  A student from Franklin Township Middle School East in Indiana was arrested after a cell phone video of a vicious school bus fight was posted to Facebook in August 2012. The fight broke out <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/franklin-township-middle-_n_1843062.html?utm_hp_ref=school-bullying">when one student had taken a seat on the bus that another wanted.</a>

• Washington Teen

  A Washington state student was terrorized in a bullying attack by peers -- <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/john-rosi-washington-midd_n_1841998.html?utm_hp_ref=school-bullying">and at some points, by the teacher</a>. The incidents occurred in February at a Gig Harbor middle school. Cell phone footage shows more than a dozen students dragging the then-eighth-grade boy around the classroom, carrying him by his arms and legs, burying him under chairs, writing on his feet and stuffing his socks in his mouth. The antics last about 15 minutes while teacher John Rosi watches, and later joins in.

• Katie Uffens

  Katie Uffens left Westview High School earlier in 2012 and enrolled in a home-school charter program after she was told about the existence of a group called the “KKK” —<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/27/bullying-continued-for-sa_n_1919888.html?utm_hp_ref=school-bullying"> short for the “Kill Katie Klub.”</a> But the 16-year-old San Diego cheerleader who was repeatedly bullied by her peers says the taunting continued even after she dropped out.

• Dalton Fleenor

  Oklahoma high school junior Dalton Fleenor reportedly told another student -- while away from campus -- “What he did was a p---- thing to do,” referring to a fellow classmate. The next day at school, the classmate in question punched Fleenor twice in the back of the head. Both students faced suspension, as Newcastle High School <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/06/oklahoma-high-school-stud_n_1862748.html?utm_hp_ref=school-bullying">treated the incident as a case of bullying</a>.

• Whitney Kropp

  Whitney Kropp, a Michigan 16-year-old sophomore, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/30/community-lauds-victim-of_0_n_1927380.html?utm_hp_ref=school-bullying">was the victim of an apparent prank by classmates.</a> Kropp was named to the homecoming court of the 800-student school in the fall of 2012, but said she felt betrayed after some students suggested her selection was a joke. She said she had been picked on in the past, but it intensified afterward.

• Preston Deener

  Preston Deener, a sophomore at Brunswick High School in Maryland, was the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/10/preston-deener-brunswick-_n_1954821.html?utm_hp_ref=education">victim of a bullying attack</a> in October 2012 just as he was preparing for an on-camera interview with a local television station about his experience being bullied.

• Karen Klein

  Karen Huff Klein, a bus monitor for the Greece School District in Greece, N.Y., received an outpouring of support after a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/20/greece-school-district-bullied-footage-causes-outrage_n_1612925.html?utm_hp_ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">ten-minute video of her enduring vicious bullying</a> while watching over students on a bus ride home was uploaded to YouTube.

• Stormy RIch

  Stormy Rich, an 18-year-old Florida student, says she was punished in May 2012 <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/28/stormy-rich-florida-high-_n_1551350.html?utm_hp_ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">after reporting bullying of a special needs student</a> on a school bus, and standing up to those bullies when the school didn't take action.

• Rachel Ehmke

  Rachel Ehmke, a 13-year-old seventh grader in Mantorville, Minn., died April 29, 2012 after hanging herself at her home. The months leading up to the tragedy <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/08/rachel-ehmke-13-year-old-_n_1501143.html?utm_hp_ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">were a whirlwind of peer abuse instances</a>, her parents say.

• Akian Chaifetz

  In April 2012, Stuart Chaifetz sent his 10-year-old son Akian to New Jersey's Horace Mann Elementary School wearing a hidden audio recorder, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/23/stuart-chaifetz-father-wire-son-records-teacher-abuse_n_1447330.html" target="_hplink">uncovering verbal and emotional abuse from his son's classroom aide and teacher</a>.

• Joel Morales

  Joel Morales, a 12-year-old student in East Harlem, New York City, hanged himself in May 2012 <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/31/joel-morales-hangs-self-bullying-dead-father_n_1559450.html?utm_hp_ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">after bullies at school taunted him</a> for his size, intelligence and the death of his father.

• Darnell "Dynasty" Young

  Darnell "Dynasty" Young, a 17-year-old gay student at Arsenal Tech High School in Indianapolis, Ind., <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/02/darnell-dynasty-young-gay-student-stun-gun_n_1471921.html" target="_hplink">faced expulsion in May 2012</a> after he fired a stun gun at bullies he claims were about to beat him up.

• Oklahoma Student

  A 14-year-old student from Longfellow Middle School in Enid, Okla., <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/26/oklahoma-middle-schooler-seriously-injured-in-school-bullying-incident_n_1456356.html?utm_hp_ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">was left seriously injured</a> and had to undergo surgery after an incident of bullying went too far.

• Corey Pingeton

  Cory Pingeton, an 18-year-old student at Franklin High School in Franklin, Mass., <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/30/cory-pingeton-high-school-student-sucker-punched-at-school_n_1465390.html?utm_hp_ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">required medical attention</a> in April 2012 after an unnamed suspect viciously attacked him in the school's hallway. After fleeing the campus following the attack, the suspected assailant now faced criminal charges.

• Julio Artuz

  15-year-old Julio Artuz in November 2011 spoke out about his special needs teacher bullying him, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/julio-artuz-15-records-teacher-verbally-abusing_n_1097166.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">filming an encounter with the teacher at Bankbridge Regional School in New Jersey.</a>

• Ohio Boy

  A 10-year-old Ohio boy in April 2012 brought a BB gun to school <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/19/ohio-school-bb-gun-bullies_n_1438333.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">to fend off bullies.</a>

• Sawyer Rosenstein

  New Jersey student Sawyer Rosenstein received <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/18/nj-bullys-paralyzing-punc_n_1435176.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">a $4.2 million settlement</a> from the Ramsey school district years after a bully's punch paralyzed him for life.

• Female Students

  In March 2012, two female students from Mooresville High School in North Carolina were suspended after another student used her cellphone to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22/mooresville-high-school-bus-bullying-video_n_1373894.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">film the girls viciously bullying a male student on a school bus.</a>

• Lennon Baldwin

  15-year-old Lennon Baldwin, a freshman at Morristown High School in New Jersey, committed suicide in April 2012, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/02/lennon-baldwin-15-year-old-commits-suicide-after-being-bullied_n_1398147.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">and police are investigating whether bullying was to blame.</a>

• David Pecoraro

  David Pecoraro, a math teacher at Beach Channel High School in New York, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/19/david-pecoraro-serial-spi_n_1287929.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">was reassigned to an administrative office </a>after video of him swatting at and spitting on a student surfaced online in February 2012.

• Kaleb Kula

  Kaleb Kula, a sixth grader with autism, was brutally beaten to the ground at his Maryland school bus stop in January 2012 while his peers stood by to watch -- <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/22/kaleb-kula-autistic-6th-g_n_1222068.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">and catch the act on camera.</a>

• Warren Lewis

  Warren Lewis, a Houston teenager accused of shooting a classmate in the leg at school, said in January 2012 that he was defending himself from a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/11/teen-in-texas-school-shoo_0_n_1200385.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">group of boys who had been bullying him.</a>

• Phoebe Prince

  A lawsuit brought by the parents of Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old Irish immigrant in Massachusetts who committed suicide after relentless bullying,<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/phoebe-prince-bullying-la_n_1172755.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink"> was settled for $225,000 in December 2011.</a> <strong>Correction:</strong> A previous version of this slide incorrectly stated the date of settlement.

• Restraining Order

  Kentucky mother Joy Furman claims her 9-year-old daughter has been bullied for two years at school, and seeks a restraining order against a fourth-grade boy she accused of tormenting her daughter, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/24/girls-mom-seeks-restraini_n_1450299.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">kicking her in the chest and chasing her with scissors.</a>

• Ashlynn Connor

  In November 2011, 10-year-old Ashlynn Connor hanged herself in her closet by a scarf, just a few weeks after she told her mother she was being bullied at Ridge Farm Elementary School in Illinois <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/14/ashlynn-conner-ten-year-o_n_1092683.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">and her mother denied the girl's request to be home schooled.</a>

• Kelly Chafins, Christy Wilt

  Kelly Chafins and Christy Wilt of Miami Trace Middle School in Ohio were caught on tape in the fall of 2011 <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/kelly-chaffins-christy-wi_n_1081980.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">verbally abusing a 14-year-old special needs student.</a> Chaffins resigned and Wilt was scheduled to undergo a probation period as well as eight hours of mandatory training in "how to recognize child abuse and stop bullying."

• Patty Fabian

  In October 2011, 15-year-old Patty Fabian was left with black eyes and a broken nose after <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/07/patty-fabian-15-year-old-bullied_n_1079761.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">a peer at Garland High School in Texas viciously assaulted her.</a> Video of the assault was posted on YouTube while Fabian was rushed to the hospital.

• Rebecca Arellano, Haileigh Adams

  In the fall of 2011, Rebecca Arellano was crowned Patrick Henry High School's first lesbian homecoming king. The next day, her girlfriend Haileigh Adams was crowned queen. Despite widespread support from the school and the couple's friends and family, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/01/rebecca-arellano-haileigh_n_1070436.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">the couple subsequently received waves of hateful phone calls and emails.</a>

• Nicolette Taylor

  In the fall of 2011, 13-year-old Nicolette Taylor from Long Island <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/12/nicolette-taylor-13-year-_n_1007371.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">decided to get plastic surgery</a> after enduring online harassment and name-calling multiple times a week because of the shape of her nose.

• Jamey Rodemeyer

  Taunted since grade school for hanging out with girls, 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer told his parents things were finally getting better since high school started. Meanwhile, on a blog his parents didn't know about, he posted increasingly desperate notes ruminating on suicide, bullying, homophobia and pop singer Lady Gaga. A few days later, he hanged himself outside his home in suburban Buffalo, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/29/jamey-rodemeyers-suicide-_n_987054.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">quickly gaining a fame like that described in one of his idol's songs. </a>

• Justin Aaberg

  15-year-old Justin Aaberg committed suicide in July 2010 after what his mother Tammy Aaberg says was relentless anti-gay bullying at his Minnesota school. Tammy Aaberg has since gathered signatures for a petition and marched to the office of her congresswoman, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/16/tammy-aaberg-mother-of-te_n_966455.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, to call on Bachmann to publicly address gay bullying.</a>

• Zachary

  When video of 15-year-old Zachary being beaten over and over again by a classmate went viral in October 2011, the school told the gay teen that he need to "tone [himself] down." The school's handling of the attack outraged Zach's mother Becky Collins, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/15/teen-speaks-out-after-vic_n_1095874.html?ref=school-bullying" target="_hplink">who couldn't understand why officials would say her son needed to change, instead of the bullies. </a>

Comments

[Mic Check]

09:31 AM on 06/12/2012

So should the school give him all day security. Lets talk truth. People dont like what they dont understand. The course of wisdom would be to tell your son to dress and act like a man while at school so as not to provoke the other students. Thats just a real life lesson. I wouldn't walk in the hood waiving thousands of dollars. ( I may have the right to do so, that doesn't make it smart ) We learned in school in order to survive you Focus on your education not your freedom of expression, save that for college and adulthood.

[rmayynrd]

03:55 PM on 05/17/2012

Don't SAY you'd do it again. DO IT AGAIN. I'd love to see what happens after a second or third time.

[stopexcusesforsadistics]

01:54 PM on 05/11/2012

She should indeed allow him to protect himself by any means necessary....I say this only in the case that there is clear bulling. We must stop making excuses for those who emotionally and physically pursue and assault folks.

The bully's parents should tell the little monsters that if they pursue and harass another person, you may just get an equally damaging response in the form of a few volts. This may dissuade the bully from pursuing. Granted sometimes even something like that is not enough. They will continue and advance. It is insidious.

[greg33305]

08:48 PM on 05/10/2012

The only problem here is with the bullies. I hope this mother has a wonderful mother's day weekend. Mr. Dynasty Young is fortunate to have a loving and accepting mother. The school district should be ashamed for even considering expulsion. Expel the bullies instead and let the good children focus on learning while in school.

[Fiona123]

04:27 PM on 05/10/2012

That school should be held accountable for their failure to protect her son. I would have done the same thing as her.

[dennishastings]

12:46 PM on 05/10/2012

The school was not doing it's job, pure and simple. It happens over and over. The parents complain, the school does nothing. Then apologizes. Apology is policy.

More kids should have to pay a penalty for bullying, but I haven't heard of any punishment being meted out to kids who are in the process of bullying someone. Only after someone dies does something get said or done, but I don't even hear about that too often.

[NYtoVT]

06:28 PM on 05/09/2012

Finally, a parent who treats the safety of her son as a higher priority than following the rules of a school that failed to protect him. She'll probably face a lot of criticism from school officials and media talking heads who don't understand the concept of self-defense, but hopefully she and her son will stay strong. They have done nothing wrong. Nobody was hurt, an assault was averted, and hopefully homophobic students everywhere will think twice before attacking their classmates. It's horrible that we've let bully progress to the point where this was necessary, but until the problem is solved, we have no right to tell victims that they aren't allowed to fight back.

[art318]

05:29 PM on 05/09/2012

Going to school with a weapon is always a mistake but I can't fault them. The school didn't bother to help him because they had a personal problem with the way he dressed. It's scary to think that the ones who are supposed to protect the kids would just turn a blind eye like this.

[Marian Dorsey]

04:46 PM on 05/09/2012

I would recommend labeling bullies. Once caught, they should be labeled and forced to wear a bright neon yellow shirt so that everyone see them coming. They should also be separated from the general school population.

[Anti-Panoptic]

04:07 PM on 05/09/2012

I say good for her.

[candlesmp]

03:46 PM on 05/09/2012

If the schools handled bullying properly when it occurs while on **their* watch - the kid shouldn't have to come to school with a stun gun. They get caught bullying - do something about it, swift harsh punishment.

Parents of bullies - while the kids can learn this type of behaviour at home, regardless: parents should be held accountable for their kids actions. Especially if the kid is a repeat offender: pull the kid and the parent in to school and find out what is going on, as to why the kid is acting like a piece of trash.

[aunice reed]

01:28 PM on 05/09/2012

The schools do not handle this bullying problem at all. By and largely, it's simply ignored. It's terrible and it has been my experience that school officials do very little, if anything. Next thing we know, someone's child is committing suicide. Parents of bullies should be held accountable and told to keep them at home indefinitely. Once a bully, always a bully. It all starts in the home and they bring that garbage to school.

[Anti-Panoptic]

04:06 PM on 05/09/2012

Huh? How is welfare relevant? Or are u perpetuating the racially bigoted welfare queen stereotype?

[eripley]

01:47 AM on 05/10/2012

Who said she was on welfare?

[yeahhbethy]

11:11 AM on 05/09/2012

i applaud the mother. she made the right choice in trying to protect her son.

[Nippy48]

10:37 AM on 05/09/2012

Tired of seeing the names of the victims...how about putting names and faces of these bullies in the public eye. Let those who victimize feel the power of contempt.

[Lunamoth]

11:32 PM on 05/09/2012

Excellent post.

[Lunamoth]

11:33 PM on 05/09/2012

Fanned.