Mother demanding answers after daughter attacked during recess

BOSTON — A disturbing video shows a group of middle school students beating up a student during recess at Young Achievers School in Boston.

“Sick to my stomach, completely sick to my stomach,” said Tina Trent, the victim’s mother.

Trent says her 8th grade daughter has been bullied by a group of girls for weeks.

“They lured her to an area like where they know no staff is,” said Trent.

Trent says the group made fun of her daughter for telling on them, and then one student attacked her from behind, pulling her by the hair and onto the ground, where she’s kicked and punched by other students too.

“He’s kicking her, you can see in the video, you can see his shoe kicking her while she’s down on the ground and everyone’s on top of her,” said Trent.

Now Trent says her daughter doesn’t want to go back to school.

“My daughter said her neck hurts, she’s been complaining of headaches since Monday,” said Trent.

Her hair was also pulled out.

Now Trent worries her daughter isn’t safe at this school if those other students don’t face any consequences.

“She loves it there, and it’s not fair that she should have to be transferred or go to another school because she’s not safe there when they have known students who are trouble,” said Trent.

Boston 25 News reached out to Boston Public Schools about the assault and the district released the following statement:

“Our top priorities are keeping our school communities safe and supporting the whole child. Boston Public Schools takes all allegations of bullying and violence incredibly seriously. Under Superintendent Mary Skipper’s leadership, BPS is committed to investigating all allegations of bullying and working closely with schools, students, families, and community partners to fully and holistically support our students as they heal from the trauma caused by the pandemic. The Code of Conduct offers progressive discipline measures partnered with internal resources, including Succeed Boston and Restorative Justice, to mitigate violence and bullying and provide social-emotional support to promote positive social interactions among students.

Boston Public Schools is taking several steps to decrease bullying and make students feel safe and welcome. We are focused on increasing access to social and emotional learning, enhancing de-escalation practices, enforcing the code of conduct, promoting restorative justice and peer mediation, and fostering strong student-staff relationships to ensure students have access to a trusting adult. We have increased district and school based supports to ensure that this access is practical and accessible to all.”

“I never got a call from the school, my daughter called me from her cell phone, I hurried there, when I got there they never let me in the building, and then they called the police on me because I refused to leave without some answers,” said Trent.

Trent says no one from the school has been willing to meet with her to discuss whether those students will be held responsible.

Boston 25 News obtained a police report that was filed for the aggravated assault, listing a few juveniles as suspects.

BPS has implemented a new BPS Helpline/Call Center at 617-635-8873, or helpline@bostonpublicschools.org, to make it easier for parents to report concerns and for BPS to track and resolve issues.

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