Parents Disgusted By Middle School Fight Club
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4)- Parents in Englewood feel disgusted by a "fight club" at their children's middle school after the vicious attack of a 7th grade girl on campus.
The videos that went viral on social media are difficult to watch.
A school official also said the district is aware of ongoing fights and that one student is facing disciplinary action from an incident that happened Thursday.
According to one victim's mom, a 13-year-old girl has been recovering at home for 10 days after being beaten in an unprovoked assault.
"My child did absolutely nothing in this. And I feel helpless," said Ina Robertson, the mother of the latest victim.
She said that despite threats and retaliation from speaking out, she would not back down from her efforts to put a stop to the violence at her daughter's middle school.
The video shows the girl sitting down in the outdoor section of Englewood Middle School's cafeteria Thursday when another student pulls her from behind by her backpack and begins beating her badly.
Doctors told the girl's mom that she suffered a concussion.
"No teachers (stepped in). No security. My baby girl got up on her own two feet and walked away by herself," Robertson told CBS4's Melissa Garcia.
Peers captured the attack on cell phone and posted the video on Instagram. Robertson said the fight club assaults have been going on for months. She provided screenshots of posts that have since been taken down. She was keeping track of multiple retaliatory threats as evidence in court.
"I'm not going to be bullied," Robertson said. "I'm (speaking out) not only for my daughter, but all these children that are being bullied… I'm going to fight this until my last breath and I'm full of air… These children are out of control."
The school district declined to comment Sunday but provided a letter sent to parents over the weekend.
The letter states that the school will revisit training for staff on how to prevent and safely mitigate potential conflicts between students. It also asks parents to speak with kids about ways to resolve disagreements without violence. School officials said they also plan to increase security presence at the campus starting on Monday.
Englewood police issued the teen suspect a citation for assault with an upcoming summons to municipal court.
Melissa Garcia has been reporting for CBS4 News since March 2014. Find her bio here, follow her on Twitter @MelissaGarciaTV, or send your story idea to mkgarcia@cbs.com.
