Videos showing her daughter being punched repeatedly in the head by two girls makes Andrea Langfeld cry.
“It’s awful, especially when it’s your own daughter being beaten and she literally sat there and just let them do it.”
The videos, supposedly taken by a friend of Julia, her daughter, show two girls taking turns punching Julia while she attempts to cover her face. In another video, she is standing facing away from the camera while one of the girls pours a liquid in her hair.
That liquid, according to Julia, contained three tablets of chlorine diluted into a water bottle. She said they made her take off her sweater while they poured the bleach on her hair trying to make it go green.
Julia, who spoke to Doppler with her mother Andrea present, said the incident began in the Huntsville High School parking lot while she was on break. The girls approached her friend group and began shouting at them accusing them of saying something about them. At some point, Julia was singled out. She said she tried to run back into the school but she was cornered and forced into a vehicle where eventually other youth piled in and they drove to Camp Kitchen. The two girls who would later pour bleach on her hair and punch Julia also headed to Camp Kitchen in a truck.
Julia said she thinks one of them was drunk. Their names cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act as one is 15 and the other is 17 years old.
The victim said they took her phone so she couldn’t call anyone. Eventually, the beating stopped. “I was really scared,” she said. Julia said she managed to grab her phone from the truck and ran back to the school where her friends helped her wash the chlorine out of her hair.
She said her father went to pick her up from the school and they went into the principal’s office to report the incident. He also contacted police and took her to the hospital. She suffered a minor concussion and bruises to her face and ribs.
“I was pretty upset. I was more concerned for her safety, ” said Julia’s father, Steve. “They poured pool chlorine, but it was in a concentrate, on her head. If she got that in her eyes she could’ve gone blind. If they made her drink it… it could have gone way worse,” he said. “I just really hope they throw the book at [them], make an example [of them], deter this from happening again for anybody. It’s just unacceptable. I hope the school takes this seriously too, which I think they will.”
The incident began circulating on social media and people reacted with indignation. The videos were shared among parents, and many came forward with their own stories about how their sons or daughters had been bullied at the school.
Huntsville Mayor Nancy Alcock said she had been informed of the incident. She noted that the Town had hired security at the Canada Summit Centre because some of the staff had been threatened and there were generally concerns regarding safety. She said the incident at Camp Kitchen is still under investigation.
“It’s shocking when you hear stuff like this,” she said. “Clearly, nobody wants their kids to feel unsafe.” She suggested that the municipality could partner with the school board and the OPP to come up with a strategy to address the issue. She said she would be bringing the conversation to the rest of council.
Similar incidents are happening in other places noted Huntsville Councillor Scott Morrison. He said one of the biggest issues he has is kids just watching and filming while others are being bullied. “Put your camera down and help this girl out or help this guy out, I have a real problem with that.”
He said kids are bullied at school and then they go home and they’re bullied on social media and they don’t get a break. “There’s no safe place anymore. There’s a reason we’re in a mental health crisis and that’s a big part of it… we’ve got to all do what we can to help these kids because they’re our future… if they don’t feel comfortable, they’re not being the best version of themselves…”
Morrison also had this to say: “The saying hurt people hurt people is true. These kids are damaged. The ones that are doing the hurting are hurting themselves…something has gotten them there…that doesn’t justify their behaviour at all but that’s part of the problem too. Hopefully, we can find a solution.”
The Huntsville OPP issued a press release on Friday about the incident and noted that two females, ages 15 and 17, had been charged with assault, assault with a weapon, theft under $5,000 and forcible confinement. You can find the release, HERE.
Via email correspondence, Trillium Lakelands District School Board stated that they are aware of the incident at Camp Kitchen Road and are working collaboratively with the police to investigate the incident.
“As this is an active investigation involving the police, we cannot offer any further details. The police have shared the charges laid with the media. There will also be school-based consequences as per the TLDSB Code of Conduct.
Administration at Huntsville High School and the Huntsville Adult and Alternate Education Centre have been working with students on:
- Self-regulation and social skills
- Restorative practices to help students learn how to have conversations with one another to overcome misunderstandings and/or misperceptions
- Speaking directly with classes and student leadership about seeking and seeing the value in reaching out to an adult to intervene and provide support
- Working together to resolve and speak up against conflict taking place
- The importance of not being a bystander
If a student or parent/guardian is aware of a bullying situation taking place at the school, please contact the school office immediately. Additionally, the Safe@School online form can be filled out any time.”
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This makes me feel almost sick to my stomach.
Too much of this has been happening for years..Names of EVERYONE involved should be published.