A Texas dad is outraged after his daughter was suspended for standing up to a male bully who slapped her in the face in the middle of class and wrestled her to the ground in a wild brawl caught on video.
Viral video from inside the Taylor High School in Katy shows the moment a teenage boy slaps a girl in the face as they stand in the front of the class last month, shocking everyone.
The girl points out what had just happened to the teacher, who stands frozen. The girl then takes a swing at the boy, who had been allegedly tormenting her all year.
The two wrestle each other to the ground, with the large boy pinning the girl to the ground as he yells profanities at her.
A student is seen trying to get the boy to get off the girl, while the teacher appears to run from the classroom.
The boy punches the girl a few times before they are eventually separated. The incident caused the two of them to get suspended for three days after the district claimed it was a “mutual” fight.
Danny Gianfrancesco, the girls’ father, said Monday that the video proves that his daughter was the victim in the situation and acted in self-defense after the boy slapped her.
“There shouldn’t be so much confusion on a situation like this that is plain as day: an assault of a boy on a girl,” Gianfrancesco told ABC 13. “When did that change to be OK?”
The upset father said the incident devolved after the boy, a football player, began harassing his daughter during the current school year.
The girl sought help from her boyfriend, another football player, who warned the alleged bully to stop bothering her.
Rather than end it there, the boy confronted the girl in front of the class, Gianfrancesco said, adding that his family plans to press charges against the boy.
“I don’t want that to happen to anyone else’s daughter,” he said. “That video is so hard to watch. I can’t even watch it anymore.”
The Katy Independent School District said it had investigated the incident and carried out the appropriate punishment per the district’s code of conduct, triggering a debate Monday night over the school’s self-defense policy.
According to the district’s director of student affairs Sherry Ashorn, a claim of self-defense isn’t enough to prevent disciplinary action
“If you are confronted by another student, you should avoid from striking back,” Ashorn told parents. “It does state that regardless if you start to fight, both students can be disciplined accordingly.”
Katy ISD School Board president Victor Perez, however, said the district would be reviewing the policy to see if any changes need to be made.
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