Colton parents demand answers after middle school fight caught on camera while teacher stands by
A viral video showing two middle schoolers fighting in the midst of class at Jehue Middle School in Colton has prompted outrage from parents as they learn that the ordeal happened while a teacher failed to intervene.
The footage shows a boy and a girl, engaged in a violent brawl on Monday. The girl can be seen hurling a laptop at the boy before he picks her up and slams her onto the desk. She falls to the floor where she lies motionless. Eventually other classmates help her to her feet.
The ordeal has incited rage from many parents who now feel that the campus is not safe for their own children. One of those parents is Elena Tapia, whose 14-year-old daughter witnessed the fight.
"The boy had hit her, and she blacked out. So, she walked her, she assisted her to walk to the office," Tapia said. "What I was more upset about was to know that the teacher that was in the classroom at that moment wasn't really trying to stop it until it got out of hand."
Throughout the video, racial slurs can be heard from other students in the background of the fight.
Other parents say that there was a substitute teacher assigned to the class that day.
School district officials say while an investigation into the incident has been launched, they cannot answer questions on the matter as it involves minors. They say that hate speech and violence are not condoned and that the safety of students is top priority.
"It is important for the community to know that quick and decisive action has been taken regarding the staff member involved," said Rialto Unified School District spokesperson Syeda Jafri. "We are treating this unfortunate incident with the utmost seriousness."
Both of the 14-year-old students involved in the fight were cited and released to their parents, according to the Colton Police Department.
They say that the video does not capture the moments in which one of the students "was struck in the head multiple times by a metal object." They say that the boy, who was cited for batter on school grounds, was the victim in the fight as he was struck by the object.
The girl was cited for assault with a deadly weapon, police also noted.
Neither has been seen at school since Monday's fight.
