Long Island father suing school district after 14-year-old daughter was attacked
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. -- A high school attack was caught on video, and now a Long Island father wants the school district held accountable.
This comes two days after a 13-year-old was stabbed inside another Long Island school.
RELATED STORY: 13-year-old wounded in Lindenhurst Middle School stabbing upgraded to fair condition
As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reports, his lawsuit highlights what some say is out-of-control student violence.
The attack was recorded by Central Islip High School students, then posted on social media.
You can hear a student plan, saying, "There's no teachers here, just go." Seconds later, a 14-year-old is jumped from behind and beaten.
The victim is Ezra Hoyte's 14-year-old daughter, who's been unable to return to school.
"Pain in her head and the breathing, she's having a hard time breathing ... Emotionally, she is, like, just distraught," he said.
He's taking legal action against the district.
He claims the day before the attack, his daughter stood up for a friend who was being threatened and that an assistant principal was aware.
"The next day, that's when he assaulted her because she played peacemaker," Hoyte said.
"What, if anything, did the school do to protect the student once they knew there was a likelihood of an attack? And here, the answer is nothing," said Kenneth Mollins, Hoyte's attorney. "This case is to send a message that schools can't allow this to happen."
The teen suffered a concussion and bloody nose.
"This is an epidemic. It seems to be happening over and over and over again," Mollins said.
Just this week, a middle schooler was stabbed by a 12-year-old in Lindenhurst. The same day, at Uniondale High School, a teen snuck a utility knife through security and injured a classmate, and Tuesday, a Riverhead student was knifed by five teens outside the high school.
RELATED STORY: Student airlifted to hospital after stabbing at Lindenhurst Middle School
"Their lives constantly revolve around screens, and screens don't emit emotions," said Joe Salamone, the founder of Long Island Coalition Against Bullying.
He says school districts take the issue seriously, but bullying cases fueled by social media are way up.
"From new families this year, we have already seen a 109 percent increase in our call volume over this time last year," he said.
"They have zero tolerance for fighting, bullying. They're pretty much on top of things," Central Islip parent Tanisha Scott said.
Some parents call them isolated incidents; others see a troubling pattern.
"I want to see more security in the hallway. In this case, my daughter had nobody there in the hallway," Hoyte said.
The student was charged with third-degree assault, which is a misdemeanor.
Hoyte says stopping these incidents will take more severe consequences; that's why he is suing.
The Central Islip School District released the following statement:
"As the subject matter is under investigation the District has been advised by counsel not to provide any commentary on the subject incident. However, the District regards the safety of its students as a paramount obligation and seeks to avoid the consequences of student altercations by proactive approaches to establishing a school climate free of physical engagements between/among students."
Meanwhile, the Riverhead Central School District said in part that they are "working closely with the Riverhead Police Department to address safety and security measures that might be implemented in areas surrounding the high school campus as well as areas on the perimeters of our other schools where students are walking to and from school."
In a letter to the community, the Uniondale Union Free School District said the high school has put additional security protocols in place through the end of the week