A Polk County student is facing a battery charge and will miss at least ten days of school after a locker room attack.
Video of the attack has been shared more than 6,000 times on Facebook and has been removed off Facebook.
Polk County Public Schools Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd told reporters Thursday the district is reviewing videos and evidence related to the attack this week at Blake Academy in Lakeland.
A 12-year-old boy is shown on cell phone video being beat up by a student while others watched and recorded. It all happened during gym class.
The boy seen on video punching the child has been suspended for ten days and could face further disciplinary action, Byrd said. Boys who recorded the incident are also suspended.
The school district is not releasing the ages of any of those boys.
The victim’s mother, Lauren Springfield, posted the video on Facebook after she felt she wasn’t being provided enough information about the incident.
From Lauren Springfield posted on Facebook
Yesterday, my son was attacked. In a violent, malicious manner while in the school locker room at Blake Academy in Polk County. As one student repeatedly hit him over and over again, others not only held my son down so that the student could hit him but encouraged the attack. I am enraged.
The school nurse called us first and let us know our son was in the nurses office and could not give us any additional information. I immediately left my office and went to the school – not one school administrator contacted me on the way to the school. I got to the school to find a welt on my son’s forehead and back of head, a cut above his eye brow and bruising all around his eye. At the time we didn’t think it was anymore than a scuffle and still due to his injuries we decided to press charges on the boy – at this time we had no clue others were involved. UNTIL later last night when we received videos from the parent of a high school student (our son is in middle school) – the videos showed the attack that lasted well over 3 minutes with no adult supervision or intervention. You hear the kids not only cursing but encouraging the attack and not stepping in to stop what was happening.
I have asked the school administrators what will happen to the other children involved – would you like to know their response? We can’t tell you! We are entitled to know how the school system plans to protect our child. I do not need to know the specifics of the child’s name or any other personal identifiers however I believe due to the nature of this attack we should know what the consequences are and if the children are in school. What is our world coming to?
This could have ended much differently, our child has one kidney and after getting kneed several times this could have resulted in permanent damage. He was thrown on the floor over a bench, head his head all while others watched. And all they can tell me is they will handle it – this is unacceptable.
Today, we went to the Bartow Courthouse and try to get a restraining order or injunction and Judge Kelly Butz said that because the attack did not happen multiple times she would not award the protection to our son. It only takes one hit for a child to die. How many more times would you like this to happen to our child or any other child? Throughout the entire attack this little boy laughed and smiled – and you think he won’t do it again? Yet the malicious videos were not taken into account.
I can guarantee you had this been a group of black students on a lone white student we would be having a completely different conversation. I am disheartened, I am tired, scared for my son and completely enraged. These videos make my whole heart sad – nothing warrants this behavior. Policy must change to protect our children – or we will continue to mourn children for stupid reasons.
Dear parents,
We want to assure you that the safety and security of students is always our first priority at Blake Academy.
Earlier this week, a student repeatedly struck another student in our locker room. Other students in the room took video of this incident. One video was posted to social media.
To protect student privacy, we are unable to provide additional details. However, we can assure you that school administrators responded immediately once the incident was reported.
The perpetrator and the students who videoed the incident have been disciplined according to the Student Code of Conduct.
Additionally, law enforcement and the school district worked together to apply appropriate criminal charges to those involved in this incident. We continue to fully cooperate with the law enforcement investigation.
The teacher who was responsible for supervising the children is currently being investigated and discipline is pending based on the outcome.
We are deeply saddened this incident took place at Blake Academy. We pride ourselves on ensuring an inclusive, welcoming, supportive learning environment. What occurred earlier this week is in direct conflict with our school values and will not be tolerated.
Thank you for entrusting us with your children, and be assured that we are putting them first every day.
-Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd