6-year-old boy beaten by black fifth grader on Niles school bus as police and prosecutors now investigate incident involving Ballard Elementary School students in Michigan amid parent outrage and accusations of repeat bullying.
And yet another viral school beating … Video has captured the moment a ‘black’ fifth-grade girl mercilessly beating a six-year-old ‘white’ boy and leaving another injured while on a Michigan school bus.
Cellphone-shot footage shows the fifth grader throwing punches on the younger student from Ballard Elementary School during the afternoon route home on a Niles School Bus on March 4.
The unidentified students can first be heard arguing, screaming expletives and calling each other names.
Niles School bus beating
Their argument is said to have begun after the boy tried to knock the girl’s phone out of her hands after the girl allegedly bullying him.
The situation soon escalates when the young girl gets out of her seat and starts punching the boy over his head.
A female student can be heard laughing as the girl, dressed in a red-jacket repeatedly assaults the boy and informs her that her butt is in the camera.
The female student then tries to take a jab at the young boy and asks: ‘You mad cause you got beat up?’
At one point in the video, the boy can be heard yelling at his assaulter to stop, but quickly returns to hurling f-bombs at his assailant.
The red-jacket wearing girl is then seen once again attacking the boy as the video recorder laughs in the background.
Safeguards? Protecting children?
Since the video going viral, parents have been concerned for their children’s safety with some parents alleging that other children have reported altercations with the fifth grade girl as well.
Many parents have also been wondering why there was no bus assistant present or any other adult who could have intervened.
Brittany Ottinger, whose son was next to the male student who was hit told WNDU: ‘There was a little girl and a little boy fighting in his seat, and my son’s head got pushed up against the window.
‘He was terrified to go back to school, so I had to encourage him to go back to school.’
She also told the channel that due to the fighting, her son ended up with a bruised eye despite not being involved.
The school bus beating led to around 50 parents gathering and demonstrating, including the abused six year old boy’s father, TJ Camp to address their concerns towards the school district, WSBT reported.
Bullied boy’s father takes out kids out of school
Parents of students ranging from kindergarten to high school gathered, demanding change. Not only in Niles School busing, but Niles Schools as a whole.
Addressing his son’s school bus beating for the first time, the father said, ‘On Monday afternoon, I was notified by my sons nanny of an incident on my son school bus. The nanny told me that my son has been in some kind of altercation, and he had several bumps and bruises on his head.’
The parent said he then called the school district the very next day. At that point, he was told that the district was looking into the incident and they would be calling him back. The father then called on Wednesday and Thursday — never hearing from the school district again. On Thursday night, he saw the video of his son being beaten online. That’s when he went to the police. The father has since taken all of his children out of Ballard Elementary School and is exploring legal options.
But there’s more.
One parent at the protest said that her daughter was bullied by the same girl in the video and that the parent previously pressing charges. It remained unclear what resulted, if anything after the parent pressing charges.
But what changes will Ballard Elementary School make?
‘But we are getting tired of our kids getting bullied and it being overlooked and then they’re going oh while we were just now hearing about the how parents having been complaining about Ballard elementary schools for years for years…’ the parent said according to WSBT.
Niles community schools superintendent Daniel Applegate has since then released a statement and clarified that there was no assistant on the bus.
‘Since the incident occurred, our district has been in continuous cooperation with the local police department to ensure a thorough investigation is conducted. Concurrently, we have been diligently following our district’s disciplinary procedures to address this matter appropriately.
‘To that end, this Tuesday, our Code of Conduct committee will convene to review this incident, the disciplinary procedures that have already been implemented, including removal from the bus and school, in detail and provide a recommendation to the Board for their consideration.
‘It is important to clarify that safety protocols require the bus driver to pull over as soon as it is safely possible to intervene.
‘No assistant was on the bus to assist the bus driver. Immediate and abrupt stopping of the bus is not always feasible due to protocols and regulations designed to ensure the safety of all students on board. These guidelines are in place to prevent putting other students at risk of harm.
‘In response to the incident, I want to assure you that immediate actions were taken even before the student video was posted online. These actions included collaboration with the local police department and the initiation of our disciplinary process.
‘Our buses are equipped with video cameras, which have been instrumental in our review of the situation.’
The father of the young boy in the incident says that his children will not be attending Ballard Elementary School until he knows they are safe. It remained unclear how the school district intended to affect change and address the ongoing culture of school violence among students.
The Niles Police Department has also launched an investigation into the incident along with The Berrien County Prosecutor also announcing that they are reviewing Monday’s incident and exploring charges.
The episode mirrors a recent episode in Missouri, which involved a 15 year old school girl savagely beating another school girl outside school grounds, with the aggressor repeatedly smashing her head on the concrete, as the victim now fights for her life in hospital after the girl suffering severe skull fractures.
