A Mission mother is outraged after a video has surfaced of her 15-year-old son being beaten by another boy.
The video shows the boy having a piece of pizza knocked out of his hand, then another boy punches him in the head. The victim falls to the ground and gets kicked several times as a crowd of kids watch.
Warning: Language in this video may be offensive to some viewers.
Nicole Townsend, the victim’s mother, said the incident took place at lunchtime on Thursday (June 6). However she said while the school knew about the assault at about 12:45 p.m., she never received a call from the school until after 4 p.m. that day.
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When she heard about the incident, Townsend said she “freaked out.”
“As soon as I saw his injuries, I took him straight to the RCMP in Mission And then we went to the hospital to the emergency room.”
Townsend was doubly concerned because her son has already suffered a concussion at work a few months earlier.
A Mission RCMP officer met them at the emergency room to take her son’s statement. According to Townsend the officer almost immediately asked her if she would be willing to take the Restorative Justice option, rather than criminal charges.
“I said ‘not a good time to be asking me that, but the answer is probably no.'”
To add insult to injury, somebody sent a video of the attack to the victim’s phone. Townsend saw it for the first time while in the emergency room.
“It devastated me. I wasn’t prepared for that.”
On Friday, she met with both the principal and vice-principal of Mission Secondary and was told the student who assaulted her son wasn’t at the school as they asked him to leave.
“But they can’t tell me if he’s suspended or expelled. Apparently there’s a privacy act.”
To make the matter more difficult, Townsend works for the Mission School Board as a supervisor assistant.
“I protect other people’s children.”
She said she has called school superintendent Angus Wilson, but has not heard back from him at this time.
The Record contacted Wilson on Saturday for a statement.
“Mission Public Schools is aware of the incident that occurred Thursday and school admin have investigated it. Appropriate action is being taken against some students, but we will not be sharing that information with the public. The RCMP are also aware of the incident in question and have been in contact with school district officials,” he said.
Townsend said she feels the school failed her family by not contacting them immediately after they learned about the incident.
“My son went back to class – after being beaten up – with a head injury, and sat at school for three hours.
Townsend is hopeful that steps will be taken to deal with this and any other bullying issue that take place.
“I don’t want any more problems for my son. I want him protected.”
Another concern is Mission only has one high school and there is no where else to send her son, or any other student who may be being bullied.
Another Mission resident, Juanita M Letkeman, has posted on Facebook that she has arranged a parent information meeting about bullying. According to her post, it will take place on Friday, June 14 at 7 p.m. at the Mission Seniors Centre (33100 10 Ave.) and will include the RCMP, local principals and school workers.
There is also an online anti-bullying petition created by Mission resident, Mateo De Sousa.
On the website, De Sousa claims there is a group of kids called the Rat Pack “who beat kids up for no reason, steal items” and ruin kids lives.
To sign the petition, click here.