Protest outside Dresden high school cites safety fears after student beaten
A small group of students and parents protested in front of the high school here on Monday to express their concern about safety at the school.
The protest stemmed from an incident on Dec. 11, when a Grade 9 Lambton Kent Composite School student was attacked by an older, larger student.
Nine seconds of the altercation was captured on a video taken from a cellphone that showed the younger boy being punched several times while lying on the floor in the school’s cafeteria, before being stomped on the head twice. The incident left the boy with a severe concussion.
A 16-year-old Dresden youth is facing a charge of assault causing bodily harm and has a scheduled court appearance on Jan. 9. The younger student, who cannot be identified due to the court proceedings, was among those taking part in Monday’s protest. He said his only concern about returning to school is if the attacker or his girlfriend, who many people claim “orchestrated” the attack, return to school.
“As long at they ’re not there, I’m fine,” he said of returning to class. He said he previously had no problems with the alleged attacker, noting, “I had one conversation with him and that’s it.”
The boy’s mother is worried about his safety, particularly regarding the older student’s girlfriend.
“My only concern is they have classes together,” she said. Four of the students who took part in the protest said they had all received their parents’ permission to walk out of class.
Ethan Cole, 14, said his mother wanted him to support the student whowashurt.
Having seen the video of the fight, the Grade 9 student said, “It was scary ... I didn’t know there were that kind of people in my school.” Cameron Trepanier, 14, said the boy is “one of my friends and I thought I’d just support him as a friend.”
Kyra Fields, 16, in Grade 11, is not concerned about possible repercussions of taking part in the protest.
“I know what I’m doing is right,” she said.
LKCS principal Jim Keane and Lambton Kent District School Board education superintendent Gary Girardi agreed to speak with Postmedia News on the condition the specific fight was not discussed. However, Keane acknowledged the incident has had an impact on the school, overall.