Mar 12, 2009 5:00 am US/Pacific
High School Beating Caught On Tape
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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A 16-year-old girl was targeted and beaten by two other students at Proviso East High School. The fight was recorded and posted on YouTube.
CBS
Imagine your child being attacked at school, the attack caught on video and that video posted on the web. What's worse - none of the classmates really seemed to care. It happened in Maywood, and now the sheriff's department is involved. CBS station WBBM-TV in Chicago's Dana Kozlov reports with the fallout from the fight.
Some of these teenagers say way too much is being made of this fight. But this was a very real act of violence.
By watching the video on YouTube, it's clear an assault on a 16-year-old Proviso East High School student was planned and deliberate. It left Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart shaking his head.
"There's nothing pleasant about this," Dart said. "It's very disturbing."
The attack happened in Proviso East's cafeteria. The victim was walking along when another 16-year-old pulled her hair, slammed her down into a table and then threw her to the floor before someone else began kicking her.
What really bothers the sheriff is the reaction of everyone watching.
"Then to have people jumping up and down, celebrating and then to have people pulling out cell phones, someone videotaping this and putting it on YouTube, it's horribly upsetting," Dart said.
The video was eventually posted on YouTube after sheriff's police started their investigation.
Now two teenage girls are charged with aggravated battery and mob action. A third was charged with mob action for recording it.
And Proviso East students say this isn't unusual.
"It's an everyday thing," said high school junior Anna Iannelli.
In fact, students WBBM-TV talked to were remarkably candid about hallway justice and how they solve their high school problems.
"If you don't do something, I mean they might think of you, like 'why aren't you doing anything? She said this and that,'" said high school sophomore Brianda Sanchez.
When asked if that means hitting or beating, Sanchez said, "Yeah, it does. That's what it means, that's what they do."
And this isn't the only Proviso East conflict posted on YouTube. Sheriff Dart is also concerned about that trend. And he says committing a crime and then appearing in an online posting is 15 seconds of fame that you don't want.
"I would tell anybody who would be so stupid to do something like this that we will attempt, as best we can, to prosecute you as well," Dart said.
Proviso East's principal never returned a call for comment about how the school handles matters of violence and violence prevention.
But Sheriff Dart says the high school works hard to maintain a safe and respectful environment.
The question is - is that resonating with most of the students?
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