A sixth-grade student in Prince George’s County, Maryland, was badly beaten for a period of about 40 seconds while riding a school bus, Fox 5 News reports, citing a video of the incident.
The fight allegedly started when a sixth grader sat down on a bus leaving Accokeek Academy, which serves students in fifth through eighth grades in the upper campus and kindergarten through fourth grade in the lower campus, both on Berry Road in Accokeek.
Once that happened, other students began bullying him and then pummeled him. “They were hitting me in my head a lot,” the young boy who was attacked was quoted as saying.
Prince George’s County reportedly issued a statement that read, in part:
School officials acted quickly to diffuse the situation and have issued disciplinary action to several students. Additionally, meetings have been held with concerned parents to be sure this type of incident does not occur in the future. Students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook at all times. Staff are trained in the appropriate steps to handle incidents like these.
The handbook states that students in any grade who “fight on the bus, causing substantial disruption” are subject to level 4 discipline, although the Fox affiliate didn’t report what that discipline might have been in this case.
Disciplinary action is supposed to include, according to page 22 of the handbook, “administrative referral with request for long-term suspension or extended suspension, suspension of bus privileges, referral to professional school counselor, and referral to pupil personnel worker.”
