A fight that left a 14-year-old boy in hospital with a concussion and broken hand and was all caught on video could have been prevented if school officials at Don Ross Secondary had heeded his pleas for help days before, says the victim's mother.
"Kids are being bullied and killed," said Zoe Aldridge. "They say 'What are you waiting for, for them to die?' Well kids are already dying. Look at Reena Virk. It's happening so do something about it."
On Friday (Sept. 24), her son Austin Aldridge and another boy were suspended for three days for fighting despite cell phone video showing both he and the other boy attempted to escape but were pushed and threatened into fighting as more than two dozen other teenagers surrounded them.
"They had a video of Austin and this boy fighting, Austin breaking his hand on the video. He was curled on a ball on the ground, they were video taping it and calling him names and you could see Austin trying to get away and the bigger kids threw him back in," said Aldridge.
"It was almost like a cock-pit fighting. It was disgusting."
Austin had told his mother of the bullies' plans the previous Sunday.
"He said he was scared, he said he didn't want to get suspended and he didn't want to hit this boy, he was being pushed into fighting," said Aldridge.
She said she told the vice-principal and was assured something would be done to protect her son, but Friday, she received a phone call from the school advising her that her son had been injured and would need to go to hospital.
"That's telling children they can't even go to adults because nothing will help anyways," said Aldridge. "I think they don't have any control. I think these kids are running the school."
When she arrived, school officials showed her a video of the fight, which happened off school property in a wooded area.
"If a whole group of 25-30 kids can walk up who's watching?" asked Aldridge.
She said she was told Austin was partially at fault because he willingly went, so he and the other boy would be suspended for three days.
"He wouldn't have come to me on Sunday if he knew that was going to be happening and he willingly wanted to fight," said Aldridge.
It's not the first time the bullies had picked on Austin, said Aldridge.
"He's smaller than all these boys, he's been picked on by the same boys the last three years, him and his best friend," said Aldridge.
His family has been trying to address escalating problems with a handful of boys in particular for years, she said, which makes it all the more disturbing that the video was deleted.
"That was evidence," she said. "They're not bullies anymore, I consider them criminals. It's been three years, they're not learning their lesson. Why should they be in a normal school if they can't behave themselves?"
Calls to school officials were not immediately returned.However Sea to Sky director of instruction told the Vancouver Sun this week that the video was deleted to keep it from appearing on the Internet. The RCMP is investigating the incident and, according to a police news release, "a decision will be made" further along in the process.
Police also took the opportunity to comment on the trend of videotaping violent crimes among youth, which also occurred in Pitt Meadows on Sept. 10 when a 16-year-old girl was repeatedly sexually assaulted at a rave party while being videotaped. The images ended up on the Internet.
"Some people feel that videoing an event and posting it on a website is of utmost importance instead of using the phone to report an event or incident which could have tragic outcomes," stated the release. "Police encourage anyone witnessing a fight or disturbance to contact 911 so that they may investigate the matter promptly and thoroughly."
Although Austin is allowed to return to school on Thursday (Sept. 30), Aldridge said she won't send him until she's certain he'll be safe."I'm scared to send him back because the consequences of all of this could be worse."
Calls to school officials were not immediately returned.The final straw, said Aldridge, was when her nine-year-old daughter approached her in tears to ask if she was going to be bullied too."I thought 'Kids should be going to school to learn, not be humiliated and have anxiety about having to deal and defend themselves all day.'"
