JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Mandarin Middle School mother says her son was violently attacked during P.E. class last week — just weeks after recovering from heart surgery.
She says another student slammed a book bag into his face last Wednesday, knocking him unconscious and leaving him with serious injuries.
The mother also claims that weeks earlier, another student attacked her son, and the only suggestion she says she received from the principal was to pull him out of P.E. and put him into art class instead.
Red marks on his forehead. An injury around his eye. A knot on his head.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE
A doctor’s note confirms a concussion — injuries the mother says should never have happened in gym class.
“He was hysterically crying,” said mom Lauren Lowery.
Lowery says her sixth-grade son was left shaken and injured after what she describes as a violent encounter in gym class.
“My son sat with a friend and asked the student, can you move your book bag? The child said no. And walked away,” Lowery said.
When her son nudged the bag aside, she says the other student snapped.
“The student saw him do it. Picked up the bag… like if you were swinging a golf club full speed, took the bag and hit him in the face. When that happened… his head hit behind him. The walls are cinderblock,” she recalled.
Lowery says the other student’s criminal charge doesn’t reflect the damage done to her 12-year-old son.
“They charged the child with simple battery, based off of the pictures,” she said.
But she says those pictures don’t paint the full story.
“This is what my child’s injuries are. This is why I feel they should be upgraded,” Lowery said.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
According to a Duval County Public Schools police report, the student faces a misdemeanor simple battery charge. Lowery believes that it should be upgraded to felony assault.
She says she’s frustrated by the lack of answers from the district and its police.
“I have personally lost sleep over worry, because that’s what you do as a parent. You worry about everything,” Lowery said.
Action News Jax reached out to DCPS with a series of questions, including what discipline the student faces both academically and criminally.
DCPS emailed a statement that states:
“Thank you for reaching out. Violence has no place on our campuses, and we are aware of a report from school leadership that a student allegedly struck another student on campus. District protocol was followed, including immediate contact with the families of both students involved, providing immediate assistance to the victim, and submitting an incident report. In this case, school staff escorted the alleged victim to student services to assist in contacting their parents. While we cannot disclose specific disciplinary details, we can share that we take these incidents very seriously. Acts of violence like this can result in both school disciplinary consequences and possible criminal charges.”
Lowery says she plans to keep pressing for tougher charges, hoping no other child has to go through what her son did.
DCPS did not answer Action News Jax’s specific questions on whether the principal suggested moving the student from PE to art class following the incident.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Action News Jax Top Stories