Outrage erupts over school staff's conduct in viral video showing brutal beating of middle school student

A viral video showing the beating of a student at a middle school has outraged parents and others over the lack of intervention from school employees.

The Bedford Police Department confirmed that a school resource officer had responded to the fight at about 8 a.m. on Tuesday between two students at the Harwood Junior High School in Bedford, a city between Dallas and Fort Worth. Police said the officer assisted a school staff member in separating the students and taking control of one student.

'The faculty were complicit in allowing it to happen.'

Video of the fight went viral on social media, where many noted that someone who appeared to be a teacher only half-heartedly tried to pull the aggressor from the boy being pummeled on the ground.

Police said in their statement that a school nurse gave medical attention to the beaten student and that they made a referral to a juvenile center.

Toby Givens, the principal of the school, said in a letter to parents that the officer and a nurse had responded to the fight within 60 seconds of it beginning. He offered few other details.

"However, I want to emphasize that fighting is a severely inappropriate behavior, and this type of incident is completely unacceptable," the principal said. "The incident is being taken very seriously, including investigation of the complete sequence of events using video and interviews, surrounding context, actions of additional students and staff, and district processes related to student fights."

The principal also apologized for not reaching out sooner.

Commenters online were angry at the response from school staff as well as the other students:

• "Truly disturbing to think that so many would sooner record a beating than stop it. Too many of us are mistaking real life for what we see all day on screens," read one response.
• "This is what happens when discipline is thrown out the window and teachers act like babysitters instead of authority figures," another commenter replied.
• "The faculty were complicit in allowing it to happen and just watching the attempted murder occur. The violent criminal would have murdered the other student if no one had eventually interfered," said another.

Police and the principal said the investigation into the circumstances of the fight are ongoing.

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