'Culture of violence': 2-against-1 beatdown in HS restroom allegedly leaves victim knocked out, hospitalized with concussion



A two-against-one beatdown in a Wheaton, Illinois, high school restroom late last month allegedly left the victim knocked out, twitching, and hospitalized with a concussion — and parents are demanding solutions to what they're calling a "culture of violence" on campus.

What's the background?

A cellphone video shows the underage students in a Wheaton Warrenville South High School restroom Feb. 28 — and two of them were beating up the third student, who's lying on the restroom floor. A second video shows other students dragging the apparently unconscious victim into a school hallway where others try to help him.

The unnamed mother of the victim, a junior, told Patch of Wheaton that her son was "knocked out" and "was shaking at one point." She added to the outlet that he "regained consciousness" when an adult was "touching his face." The mother also told Patch her son was taken to an emergency room where he was treated for a concussion, "multiple contusions," and bruising, adding that he was released later that day.

The two students accused of beating him appeared in DuPage County Juvenile Court a week later and are facing felony battery charges, WBBM-TV reported.

More from the outlet:

The teen's mother told Patch the altercation began after one student called her son a name, which she says prompted him to ask the boy if he wanted to go into the bathroom. According to the mother, fights often happen in the bathrooms at Wheaton Warrenville South.

She said another student followed her son and the boy into the bathroom. The video footage obtained by Patch does not show this initial encounter.

The mother added to Patch that Principal Lorie Campos spoke to her son by phone a few days after the incident and suspended him for 10 days, an implication that the beatdown was his fault because he invited the other student into the restroom.

Another mother of a Wheaton Warrenville South student told the outlet that her daughter — a senior — was attacked in a school restroom earlier this year. This mother told Patch that she's "horrified at the lack of safety and security at the school and what they do have doesn’t seem to be utilized properly. We question what the [school resource officer] is there for. My daughter says they have bathroom attendants sometimes during busy times, but that the students know when they can get away with bathroom antics anyway, so it doesn’t matter."

She added to the outlet: "What I have noticed with the staff and administrators is that they try to downplay incidents and hope they can just smooth things over with you or, in my opinion, make you feel like what they say is the bottom line and there’s not anything you can do about it."

A follow-up Patch story reported that parents are demanding changes in the face of what one parent called a "culture of violence" at Community Unit School District 200 schools.

More from the outlet:

Several parents and some grandparents have reached out to Patch to share stories of children they say have been attacked unprovoked in bathrooms, students who have been shoved by other students in attacks that drew blood, and children who refuse to drink water during the day to avoid going to the bathrooms.

In the Facebook group "Our Pact-A Place for CUSD 200 Parents," one parent who has a child who attends Wheaton Warrenville South (WWS), wrote, "As many of you know there have been several safety issues at our schools this year, recently at a high school. Young people are being assaulted. Threats are being made. There is a culture of violence that seems to be brewing, and it’s time for our community to come together."

Indeed, one father of a teenage District 200 student told Patch his son refuses to drink liquids during the school day to avoid going to the bathroom, which other parents have confirmed is now commonplace in the district. The father added to the outlet that other students have attacked his son in locker rooms and hallways — and that one attack even drew blood.

One mother also told the outlet that even though her daughter didn't fight back when she was physically attacked, "she was treated as an equal partner when it came time for discipline. The school handled the incident so terribly."

Another woman whose grandson attends a District 200 school added to Patch that she's heard of students who fear going to the washroom because it smells like marijuana, or they fear they will be "pushed around."

Push for safety, accountability after fights at suburban Chicago high school youtu.be

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Students allegedly beat up cops inside HS where pro-Israel teacher hid from student mob during anti-Semitic riot days before



Students allegedly physically attacked police officers inside a New York City high school earlier this month — the same school where, just days before, a pro-Israel teacher hid from a student mob during an anti-Semitic riot.

What are the details?

Three students were fighting two other students inside Hillcrest High School in Queens around noon Nov. 15, the New York Post reported, adding that school safety agents who intervened in the brawl became beatdown targets themselves.

Cellphone video that the NYPD verified captured a physical attack on one of the officers, the paper added.

— (@)

Police arrested four students — a pair of 15-year-old males and two 16-year-old males — in the aftermath and issued juvenile reports to them, the Post said, citing the NYPD.

The paper said police issue juvenile reports in lieu of misdemeanor or felony charges when the suspects are young minors.

Three NYPD school officers were injured in the attack, the Post said.

Republican NYC Councilwoman Vickie Paladino said on social media that Hillcrest's "administration tried to cover this up in the same way they tried to cover up the riot."

More from her post:

It's clear that the administration of Hillcrest is totally compromised and either unwilling or unable to do what's necessary to provide a safe environment to their students or their faculty. Furthermore, they seem more than willing to cover up crimes committed by their students in service of a political narrative, and to prevent these criminal students from facing consequences.

Were it not brought to the attention of my office, this may have remained covered up. And who knows what else they're hiding at this point.

This cannot continue. Hillcrest High School must be shut down pending a full and thorough investigation, and the administration must be held accountable. Furthermore, the students who committed these acts must be arrested immediately and face appropriate criminal charges.

This cannot continue in our schools. Order and discipline must be restored. We've tried 'progressive' educational theory for far too long, and it's gotten us absolutely nowhere. Our students and our city deserve far better than this.

The Post said an email to the NYC Department of Education was not immediately returned late Sunday.

What about the anti-Semitic riot at the HS?

Just six days after Hillcrest students allegedly beat on police officers, a pro-Israel teacher there reportedly was forced to lock herself in a school office after hundreds of Palestinian-supporting students caused an anti-Semitic riot.

Hillcrest students reportedly found out that the teacher took part in an Oct. 9 pro-Israel demonstration in Queens, after which students reportedly stormed the school's hallways to protest the teacher's pro-Israel viewpoint. The pre-planned protest allegedly deteriorated into a riot, during which pro-Palestinian students reportedly attempted to barge into the teacher's classroom despite school staffers guarding it.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!