Belmont student punished after violence caught on camera

“Serious disciplinary action” was taken against a Belmont High School student after a video circulated online of him punching and taunting another student, school officials said Thursday.

“It was a person picking on another kid, that did punch him,” said Dayton Public Schools Superintendent Rhonda Corr.

The district is responsible for children on their way to and from school, officials said, and the school disciplined the student who is seen in an online video striking and yelling obscenities at another student.

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The incident, which took place on Monday on Phillips Avenue, occurred a few blocks from the school, which serves students in grades 7 through 12.

“We will not tolerate any kind of bullying,” Corr said.

Dayton Public Schools Board of Education member John McManus said the video is disturbing and the district will “get to the bottom of this and find some answers.”

McManus said from his experience as someone who was bullied as a child, it’s quite possible that the bullying caught on video off school grounds may be taking place on school property as well.

“As a child victim of bullying myself, you will not find a lot of sympathy from me” toward the offender, McManus said.

Corr said she has talked with the district’s head of safety and security and Belmont’s principal about the incident.

The student who was punched is “at school, doing well and has a lot of supports here and people who care about him,” Corr said.

The district does not provide transportation to and from its high schools, and students must walk, get a ride or take a Greater Dayton RTA bus, Corr said.

Bullying in all its forms won’t be tolerated, including put downs, name calling, racial slurs or any kind of discriminatory acts, Corr said.

The district cannot prevent students from sharing and viewing videos online and on social media, Corr said.

But, she said, if the district identifies who shot the video, officials will ask for it to be removed from the Internet.

McManus said he intends to visit Belmont and talk to school officials about what happened, and he wants to reach out to the family of the boy who was struck to find out how he is doing and any context behind the incident.

“What I saw in this video goes beyond words — this young man was assaulted,” McManus said.

The incident brings back some bad memories, said McManus, who also said he is “an adult survivor of domestic violence.”

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