*SMH* I'm also enclosing a link to this story because the boys were caught on video giving a beatdown to the other little boy. The video can be viewed.
http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/st...14796998.shtml
The Florida Times-Union
February 12, 2004
Student beaten on bus; it's caught on videotape
By DANA TREEN
The Times-Union
A Landon Middle School student who took a beating that was recorded on videotape during a bus ride home last week will move to another Jacksonville school, his mother said Wednesday.
Sashemia Small said she is upset that the First Student bus driver did not stop to help her 12-year-old son, who is seen on the tape being punched by several other students for about 30 seconds.
"Even after the incident occurred he finished his route," Small said. "I don't think at any time he had control over his bus."
The victim, who is not being named by the Times-Union because he is a juvenile, will be transferred to another school, the family was told Wednesday.
"I don't feel, at any point, safe sending him back to Landon," Small said.
The victim said he thought the driver could have intervened.
"He didn't stop the boys or anything," he said. "He just let them off at their stop."
Seven middle school students have been suspended and school administrators were told Wednesday that the driver has been placed on administrative leave, school system spokeswoman Marsha Oliver said.
Oliver said First Student's policy does not allow drivers to touch students who are in fights. The name of the driver was not being released by First Student, said John Ziegler, the company's regional operations manager. He said a review of the driver's actions will take a couple of days.
"I'm reviewing the whole situation," he said.
A regional vice president with First Student met with school administrators, gave them a copy of the videotape and spoke with Superintendent John Fryer on Wednesday, Oliver said.
The incident apparently grew out of a confrontation the victim had with the main attacker, a 13-year-old student who also rides the bus, during the school day, but an administrator stepped in to stop it. The victim said the other boy accused him of something he didn't do.
The attack started after school when the 13-year-old walked to the front of the bus after it had left the school and said something to the victim. After a motioning for others near the rear of the bus to come forward, the teenager took off his sweatshirt and began punching the boy in the head, according to a police report on the tape contents. The other attackers, some as old as 15, joined in, pummeling the boy's head before returning to their seats.
Oliver said the driver indicated he was making a turn when the attack occurred and could not help the victim. In his account of what happened, the driver said he pulled over after making the turn and asked the victim if he needed help or wanted to return to the school but was told that was not necessary. After finishing the route, the driver took the tape back to the school, Oliver said.
The students who have been suspended are also not named because they are juveniles.
The victim, who has only been at Landon since moving to the school zone in December, said he tried to ignore his attacker, who he does not know.
The 20-minute video began when students got on the bus at school and ran until the final student exited at a stop, according to the report. In addition to the assault, the tape showed students standing in the aisles and between seats, talking and listening to music. Some are disruptive and acting in an unsafe manner, according to the report.
Oliver said the students who were suspended must meet with a hearing officer who will determine disciplinary action that could include expulsion.