9 year old Homestead, Florida white girl beaten by two black boys during school bus attack. Police arrest at least one of the students, with students attending Coconut Palm K-8 Academy. Parents of victim plan to pursue criminal charges.
Cellphone video has captured a 9 year old Florida girl mercilessly beaten by two boys aboard a school bus – the incident has since led to the child’s parents saying they now plan to pursue criminal charges against her attackers.
Footage of the assault (see below) shows two boys repeatedly pummelling the third grader at Coconut Palm K-8 Academy in Homestead as she sought to fend her attackers off.
No adults intervene during the almost 30 seconds of the attack which was video recorded by a classmate.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials confirmed they responded to the incident around 4:10 p.m. Wednesday in the area of 24400 SW 124th Ave. Officials said they assessed two children for injuries, who were then released to their parents. At least one of the two boys alleged to have attacked the 9 year old girl has since been arrested, NBCMiami reported.
The video shows a group of children onboard a school bus arguing one minute – the next minute, a student is seen punching a young white girl repeatedly. A second student then jumps in and pummels the girl, as well. Both boys appear to be black.
15yr old black boy who punched 9yr old white girl on bus charged
Homestead mother pressing charges after third grade daughter beaten on school bus https://t.co/17UhW19vCD
— Cherie (@cheriemum) February 3, 2023
Out of control school violence, overwhelmed school administrators
The mother of the victim told Local 10 she will demand criminal charges against her child’s assailants.
‘My goal is not to incriminate any other children,’ the mother said. ‘My goal is to make sure they have the security for the kids to make sure this doesn’t continue to happen.’
She told the outlet that school administrators are overwhelmed by spiraling violence inside and around the school — with the appalled parent saying administrators response was to advise her to enroll her three children elsewhere.
‘This needs to be taken care of right away. Our children are in danger at school where we are trusting other people to do their jobs,’ said the mother, who only wanted to be identified as Jenni. ‘That’s not justifiable. It doesn’t matter what was said. Our kids need to learn that through violence nothing is resolved.’
The mom noted her two older kids have also been bullied during their brief time at the school — with the parent claiming ‘overwhelmed’ counsellors and administrators doing nothing to address her complaints.
‘All ages are on that bus and it’s overfilled,’ the mother said. ‘It’s very crazy because there’s all this yelling going on in the bus and the two adults on the bus – the bus (driver) and the bus aide, only sit in the front.’
The victim’s mother said that her daughter and two other children – a 10-year-old boy and a 7-year-old boy – have only been attending the school since Jan. 9. The mother also said that her two other children were subjected to bullying and harassment on the bus, and also in the cafeteria.
‘The bullying must stop!!!’
The parent said she feared someone could get seriously hurt or even killed if the violence continued.
‘I’m very upset and disappointed in the response that children now take matters into their own hands with violence,’ another mother told Local 10 News outside the school Thursday morning. ‘This violence has got to stop. It’s starting from somewhere. Parents need to do more and pay more attention to their children that’s causing these violent acts.’
The 9 year old girl’s father took to social media to express his rage and vowed to launch protests in front of the school.
‘I want to set up a rally and confront the school head-on,’ the father wrote on Facebook according to a report via the nypost. ‘The lack of security is unreal, and the lack of security on the bus is ridiculous… The bullying must stop!!!’
In a statement, the Miami-Dade Schools Police said the offenders have been arrested.
‘The safety and wellbeing of our students is of the utmost importance,’ it read. ‘This school district goes to great lengths to promote the values of restraint and respect as well as using social media responsibly. We ask that parents reinforce these principles at home.’
Will adult on school bus be charged?
The age of the alleged offenders was not released. Social media commentators noted one of the two boys appearing to be considerably older than the other third graders on the school bus.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools reported the incident is under review to determine whether the employee who was near the students will face disciplinary action.
An increasing number of administrators have sought to ban the filming of fights across the country, cautioning kids that they will face disciplinary consequences along with those who actually throw the punches.
Some parents and students have pushed back on that policy, contending the leaked videos are often the only window parents have into school safety.
