A violent assault on a student at a local high school has parents and friends of the victim questioning the school and justice system.
The incident happened on Tuesday at Lambton Kent Composite School and exploded on social media after a video was posted depicting a student punching another multiple times, and then stomping on him twice.
BlackburnNews.com spoke with the victim's father and has chosen not to release his name to avoid identifying either student involved in the incident.
The boy's father said his son was jumped because the accused had a problem with his older son. He said he was disgusted by what happened.
"They way he did it and went about it, I mean, there was malicious intent there," the father said. "He was trying to permanently injure my kid."
According to the mother of the victim's brother's girlfriend, the accused's girlfriend was threatening her daughter and the victim's older brother over social media on Monday night.
"It was more or less death threats," the mother said. "She said her and her boyfriend were going to beat the hell out of my daughter and her boyfriend. There were a couple of death threats like 'you don't know who you're messing with, we're gonna f**k you up, you're gonna die tomorrow.'"
The mother said her daughter was confronted by the accused's girlfriend Tuesday morning and a fight ensued. She said both ended up in the principal's office. According to the mother, she was asked to come to the school where she said she showed the principal proof of the threats and asked that police be called because she feared the situation would escalate.
According to the mother, the principal said they couldn't report it because it isn't school protocol to call the police over threats made on social media. She added there is a big problem with bullying at the school, which needs to be addressed. She said the threats on social media from the accused and his girlfriend have been happening for months.
The mother took her daughter home and said less than 20 minutes after leaving the school her daughter came to her crying. She said her daughter received messages and video of the victim being attacked, along with pictures of the aftermath.
"I believe that if the principal would have listened to me and called [the police] it wouldn't have escalated to that," the mother said. "I'm just glad the boy has a friggin strong head."
After seeing the video, she called the mother of the victim and asked if she knew what happened, to which she said no. According to the mother she was on the phone with the victim's mother for roughly 20 minutes before the school called to inform her that her child was assaulted.
The father of the victim said he didn't understand why it took that long for the school to call and why an ambulance wasn't called considering his son had obvious head trauma. According to the father, there is no school nurse who could accurately diagnose his son, and he wasn't happy that his child sat at the school for two hours before his wife was able to take him to the Wallaceburg hospital.
The victim was transferred to the Chatham Kent Health Alliance to get a CAT scan and was diagnosed with a concussion. Contrary to rumours on social media, the family of the victim confirmed he did not require surgery of any kind.
The father said he understood the school can't call the police over social media threats but it doesn't mean he thinks the school is completely off the hook.
"Where I do blame them is the fact there was no teacher present in the cafeteria," the father said. "That is a law that there is supposed to be a teacher in every area. The cafeteria should have a teacher, there should be teachers monitoring the halls at all times."
The father said he saw the video and said it didn't show half of the incident. He said there are more lengthy videos which show the whole altercation and is disappointed in those who stood around and didn't stop the attack.
"Why were there 30 kids in that cafeteria not doing anything?" the father asked. "There are some places in the world where they would be charged too"
The mother of the victim's brother's girlfriend said she went to the hospital with the victim and his mother. She said the victim spent a total of about seven hours at both hospitals.
Gary Girardi, superintendent of education with the Lambton Kent District School Board, said the board couldn't comment on any specific incidents but would talk about its policies.
Girardi said there is a policy pertaining to the inappropriate use of technology, which includes social media. He said the school will investigate if parents have concerns something might negatively impact them at school and inform the police if deemed necessary.
The superintendent said there is always a teacher scheduled to be in the cafeteria only if students are also scheduled to be there. Girardi said at the beginning of each school year, the board assesses where staff and students are going to be and schedules supervision where it is deemed necessary.
"I can't speak to any specific situation, but there are places students may or may not be where we might not have staff if students are not scheduled to be in that location," Girardi said. "Safety is a priority for us. We make sure staff is in the vicinity where students are to be so we can observe and monitor situations."
Girardi couldn't comment on whether students were scheduled to be in the Lambton Kent Composite School cafeteria at the time of the assault.
He said while there are no school nurses, there are staff trained in first aid who will assess situations and deem whether an ambulance is needed or not. Girardi said the first step is to contact family as soon as possible. He added if a guardian asked them to call an ambulance over the phone, schools would be obliged to do so.
Ultimately, Girardi said student safety is the top priority for the board it will discuss with parents if they felt the process taken by the school was adequate after an incident.
As for the victim, the father said he is in good spirits and doing much better. He said his son can't wait to go back to school because he is getting bored.
"He's a good-hearted kid," the father said. "He tries to donate his time to service clubs. He is only 80 pounds, so he's not big or a scrapper. It's a shame this happened to somebody like him."
The father added he's concerned the accused will be let off easy because he is a minor. He wants the court system to be as hard as can be on the accused and hopes justice is served, but said he isn't holding his breath.
