Distressing footage has emerged from a Chicago high school showing a Down syndrome teenage boy being attacked by bullies, as other students film him and laugh.
Parents at York Community High School were told on Sunday about the clip, which was filmed on Thursday.
The superintendent of Elmhurst School District 205, Keisha Campbell, said they were ‘deeply disappointed and saddened by the actions of this small group of students’, and the principal vowed those responsible would be brought to justice.
The clip, shot by a student, shows the teenage boy with his book bag inside the bathroom, surrounded by a crowd of other teenage boys.
The disabled boy is shoved backwards and falls onto the floor, as the crowd hoot with laughter and catcalls.
The Down syndrome boy is seen being shoved to the ground by bullies in a Chicago high school
Some yell: ‘World Star’ – a phrase that has come to mean a fight is being recorded and will be shared online, originally on the website World Star Hip Hop.
The boy manages to get back to his feet and run away, hiding in a bathroom stall.
The other students all laugh and jeer.
Campbell, in an email to parents sent on Sunday, said: ‘Bullying, intimidation and harassment diminish a student’s ability to learn and a school’s ability to educate.
‘Such behaviors are not tolerated, and any student who chooses to engage in these behaviors will face the appropriate consequences.’
Shahe Bagdasarian, the principal, said: ‘Immediately upon receiving this report, our school team began investigating.
‘Parents were contacted and students were interviewed. Upon completion of the investigation by the school, appropriate consequences will be issued to those involved.’
Campbell said Elmhurst Police Department school resource officers have been in contact with the parents of the student who was pushed, as have the school’s administrative team.
‘As we continue to work together to support our students, we are thankful for the people who have already reached out through our quick tip line to provide the district with additional information,’ Campbell said.
‘The immediate and overwhelming response from the York community is a testament to the fact that the actions of a few do not represent the entire school.’
Students are discussing organizing a walk-out on Friday in protest at the bullying, The Chicago Tribune reported.
One parent, whose son attends the York High School Transition Center, for students ages 18-21 with intellectual disabilities, said she did not receive the email about the clip, and said it opened the floodgates for complaints from other students and parents.
‘I have a lot of questions,’ said Cris O’Connell, speaking to the paper.
‘Why didn’t I get the email? Why isn’t this being explained further to people, what the consequences are?
‘People are coming out left and right saying, I’ve tried to report this, my child has been bullied, my special needs child has gone through this, and nothing gets done about it.
‘As bad as the situation is, and you wish it didn’t happen or someone stepped in and stopped it for the poor kid, there’s proof of it.’
She added: ‘It’s extremely serious.
‘So what do we need here at York? Do we need more people, more hall monitors?
‘I’m not sure what the answer is, but I know that consequences to these actions are going to set the stage moving forward because this is going to get a lot of attention.’
Another parent, Robin Petchul, told the paper that her two daughters attend York and came home from school on Friday ‘upset and disappointed.’
‘But not very surprised,’ Petchul said.
‘They just knew a child with special needs had been assaulted in a bathroom at York, and that they knew the kids involved but weren’t friends with them.’
One of her daughters shares a class with a student seen in the video.
‘She’s like, ‘I don’t want to be near him. I don’t want to have to see him after what he did,’ ‘ Petchul said.
‘The students themselves want to know what the consequences are.’
