'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."

The outlet added that District 200 spokesperson Alyssa Barry on the night of March 4 told parents about increased safety measures, but she said on March 7 that the district "cannot comment on student discipline issues."

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

This story has been updated.

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