Mother outraged by son's beating near Mission high school
WARNING: Video shows Grade 10 student repeatedly punched and kicked on the ground
A mother in Mission is asking for a criminal investigation into the beating of her son, a Grade 10 student at Mission Secondary School.
CBC is not naming the woman to protect the identity of the victim. She says that a video circulated online shows the incident, which happened Thursday over the lunch hour.
She alleges that her son, 15, went to a nearby convenience store down the road from the school on 7th Avenue.
Once there he began visiting with a group of friends and pulled out his vape. The device was eventually taken from him and not returned.
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Some youth in the group told the victim that he would have to fight the teen boy who had it to get it back. The victim's mother said he refused.
"And my son said, 'Nope, I'm not fighting,'" she said.
Instead, the victim went to an adjoining pizza shop to buy food.
Afterward, a group of 10 to 15 youth, including the instigators, walked back toward the school, the victim's mother said.
At one point someone shoved the victim toward the aggressor, who then attacked the youth, she said.
'Knocked him right to the ground'
"He [punched] my son, knocked him right to the ground as you can see in the video and as he was going down and on the ground, punching him in the head and face and kicking him and they then left, they walked away," she said.
She says her son was helped back to the school by two friends and reported the incident to officials, but stayed in class until the end of the day.
When the victim's mother returned home around 3:45 p.m. she found her wounded son, who told her he had injured himself in a fall. But the school later called to ask how he was doing and she learned what actually happened.
After that she took him to the RCMP detachment to report the beating and then to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion.
The victim's mother says he will have to stay home from school until his concussion symptoms ease.
Amount of fighting 'disgusting'
In the meantime she's hopeful the RCMP will recommend criminal charges and the school will do more to ensure students' safety.
"It just is disgusting with the amount of fighting that is going on through that school," she said. "Something has to change. At this point my son's no longer going to be allowed to leave the property on my accord and [has] to be driven to and from school because I don't trust anybody else's children."
On Friday, Mission Public Schools told media it was aware of the incident and officials have investigated.
"Appropriate action is being taken against some students, but we will not be sharing that information with the public," it said in a statement.
The school board also said police have been in contact regarding the incident.
School teen violence
The violence follows a similar incident at Fraser Heights secondary in Surrey. On Wednesday, a 14-year-old student was kicked in the face by another teen after being forced to kiss his shoe.
Surrey RCMP said charges are being forwarded to the B.C. Prosecution Service for assessment regarding that incident.
With files from Yvette Brend and Megan Batchelor