Colin Flaherty (Author of Don't Make the Black Kids Angry) Commentary News Video "Akron Public Schools and police investigate classroom fight captured on camera" bullying violence large fight gang up on white students
AKRON, Ohio - An Akron mother said her son's school should have done more to respond to a classroom fight that left the 12-year-old with head injuries and a concussion.
Cell phone video recorded by a student and shared on social media shows a confrontation between Liam Zirkle and a group of students that included an exchange of punches and several students kicking Liam while he was on the ground.
More than thirty seconds into the video of the fight, a teacher is heard telling students to "chill out" before making her way to Liam, prompting the other students involved to stop kicking him.
"I am disgusted," Liam's mother, Autumn Zirkle, said. "I could not believe there were two teachers like five feet from him."
She said a school administrator called to tell her about the fight before sending Liam home on the school bus, but she did not know how many other students were involved or the extent of the attack until she saw the cell phone video Friday night.
She filed a police report Saturday and took Liam to a hospital where she said he was treated for a bruised wrist and head injuries. Zirkle said Liam was experiencing nausea and was diagnosed with a concussion after returning to the hospital Monday.
She said the attackers had been bullying her son throughout the school year, and while she did not contact school administrators about the issue because her son feared retribution, she said school staff was aware.
She said Liam told her the fight started when another student punched him in the back while he was sitting at a desk.
"You worry about them in the bathrooms, in the hallways," Zirkle said. "I don't worry about my kids in the classroom; you think there's an adult there."
Akron Public Schools Director of Marketing Communications Mark Williamson said in a statement that the district is investigating and "will talk to all parties involved to find out exactly what occurred. The classroom teacher acted properly by calling the school resource officer to intervene and by calling parents."
https://fox8.com/2019/02/11/akron-public-schools-and-police-investigate-classroom-fight-captured-on-camera/
POSTED 6:31 PM, FEBRUARY 11, 2019, BY MATT WRIGHT
