College Avenue Secondary School was the scene of a violent assault recently. Two young offenders have been charged after a pair of attacks at two Woodstock high schools. (TVDSB Photo).
Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A pair of disturbing assaults at two Woodstock high schools has led to charges against two teenagers and serious injuries for two victims.
A young offender has been charged with assault as the result of an incident at Huron Park Secondary School where a student was attacked and received serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
“There was an attack with a pipe and a charge of aggregated assault with a weapon laid. The suspect is in custody but I can’t release the name as it is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act,” explained Woodstock Police Detective Jamie Taylor.
Sources tell the Echo the assault was a case of student-on-student and the injuries were very serious and extensive. A video of the incident was also circulating on social media.
The Criminal Code of Canada describes aggravated assault as “someone who wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of the complainant. Every one who commits an aggravated assault is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.”
A minor could potentially be tried as an adult and face the same sentence.
The Echo reached out to the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) and asked to interview someone regarding the two disturbing acts of violence in Woodstock. Instead, a very brief statement was provided.
“We are aware of an incident at Huron Park Secondary School earlier this month and Thames Valley District School Board is cooperating with Woodstock Police Service. As this is now a police investigation, we would encourage you to contact Woodstock Police Service for more information and updates.”
The Echo received another report of a recent violent assault at Woodstock’s College Avenue Secondary School. A parent reached out and provided a video of the incident which showed one male student beating the victim until he was incapacitated on a hallway floor. Inspector Taylor said another young offender was charged with assault. The video shows what appears to be a teacher yelling stop but no students stepped in to help either during or after the one-sided beating. Several could be seen videoing the incident with cell phones.
The parent who reached out to the Echo said more needs to be done. “I would absolutely love to see a police presence in schools. My daughter was afraid she would be jumped. It is scary sending her to school.”
The parent added the student charged in the case is back in class.
We followed up with the TVDSB’s communications department and board chair Beth Mai after a report of the second assault but did not receive a response by press time.
Rebecca Avey is the President of CUPE Local 7575 representing Educational Assistants and Student Supervisors of the Thames Valley District School Board. She said Ontario’s education system is in a crisis.
“The reality is scary. Schools are facing significant understaffing, and significant cuts to per pupil funding. Violence in schools is at an all-time high. Student and educators’ supports are at an all-time low. Communities are exhausted and feeling the impact of massive cuts.”
Avey said she is hearing from her members that over 80 per cent of them have experienced violent or disruptive incidents in their workplace.
“Over 40 per cent experience violent incidents every day,” she added.
When asked if the CUPE would like to see police in area high schools, Avey said that is just one part of the solution.
“Ultimately, we’re in favour of anything that would keep people safe. However, we feel like a policing program is a band-aid and it’s a blame on students, although ultimately, they are or should be responsible for their actions. The grassroots underlying issues cannot be fixed with policing. It can only be fixed with proper funding, proper programming, resources and adequate staffing.”
Comments