Teen Suspended Over Anti-Bullying Video Returns to School

The superintendent said the matter had been "dealt with"

The Long Island teenager suspended for five days over an anti-bullying video she created that featured a fake suicide has returned to school. 

Jessica Barba, 15, and her father met with school district officials Thursday morning. Barba said the suspension will be wiped from her record at Longwood High School. 

Longwood Superintendent Allan Gerstenlauer said in a statement  that the matter had been "thoroughly investigated and dealt with" but added he could not comment with any detail because of student privacy laws.

Barba shot the controversial six-minute video for an assignment in her business and communications class. She says she had been asked to create a persuasive promo or advertisement. 

In the video, Barba plays a girl who is regularly bullied, falls into a depression, is taunted on social media sites and eventually kills herself. 

Statements at the beginning and the end say it is fictitious. 

Barba posted her school project on YouTube and Facebook May 15. The next day, she said a school official told her she was suspended because the video disrupted the school.

The suspension caused an uproar within the student body. Students began wearing t-shirts that said "Free Jess" and the controversy garnered national attention. 

After the hearing with school officials Thursday, Barba said she accomplished more than she could have imagined when she undertook the project. 

"Bullying is 100 percent preventable," she added. 

Michael Barba has supported his daughter throughout the ordeal. Now that it's over, he says, "I'm the proudest father in the world."

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