Mount Roskill Grammar School, Auckland. Photo / RNZ
By Rayssa Almeida of RNZ
A 16-year-old student was knocked out by another teenager at an Auckland school on Friday afternoon.
The incident happened at Mount Roskill Grammar School, and was filmed by a student who gathered around the fight.
In the video, a group of teenagers could be seen in what appeared to be one of the school’s corridors.
Sean* seemed to be talking to another student when a third young man approached the scene and punched Sean in the face, knocking him unconscious.
Sean’s brother said the family received a call from the school around 2pm on Friday.
“The school called one of my older siblings, who is taking care of my brother and they told them that he had been bullied and punched at school.
“When we went there, it was worse than that. He was a knocked out, on the ground.”
When the family got there, he said Sean was being looked after by the school nurse.
“He seemed confused, lost. The school then told us we needed to take him somewhere that takes people urgently.”
Sean’s brother said the family took his brother to Three Kings Accident & Medical Clinic to get seen by a doctor.
“We had to carry him. The school didn’t call the police, didn’t call the ambulance. They said they had no idea what happened.”
After he was seen by a doctor in the emergency clinic, Sean went back home with his family.
“We took him home and he was resting and taking his medicine, but started to get worse,” his brother said.
He said the family then decided to contact the police about the incident.
“I believe the school talked to them [the police]; because when I called, they said they knew about the incident.”
“They [the police] said they were working on it, but for now they just needed us to take my brother to the hospital.”
Sean was then transferred to Auckland City Hospital in an ambulance and spent the night under observation.
“My and my family spent the night at the hospital with him,” the brother said.
“He was really tired, really cold, really stressed. He got hit in both sides of the head and twisted his legs. He is traumatised.”
Sean’s family is originally from Syria and arrived in New Zealand four years ago.
Sean’s brother said last year, after a fight with other students, one of his other siblings who used to attend Mount Roskill Grammar school got expelled.
Since then, he and his brother had been feeling alone at school, but he had never mentioned any problems with other students.
“[Sean] and my other brother used to hang out a lot, but since they kicked my brother out [of Mount Roskill Grammar School], Sean has been feeling lonely.”
“My brother is a peaceful guy, and that other kid came out of nowhere. [Sean] doesn’t even know who is that other kid,” he said.
“We have no idea why, [Sean] has no idea why [he got assaulted].”
He said his family is concerned for Sean’s wellbeing at school.
“My parents are really sad about it. My mum was crying yesterday the whole day and my dad, he is old, it was really hard to tell him.
“All of us are really uncomfortable with this. We saw him on the floor, he couldn’t talk, his eyes weren’t fully open. It was cruel.”
He said the family has not heard from the school about the incident since they were called when it happened.
They had not called to check on his condition, the brother said.
“The school didn’t give us any support. We haven’t heard from them since my brother was punched.
“They should have been the ones calling the ambulance, not us. My brother was under their responsibility.”
He said the person who hit his brother “for no reason” needed to be punished.
“He doesn’t know him; he came out of nowhere. He should either be kicked out or dealt with.
“[Sean] is scared. He is not talking to anyone at the moment, he doesn’t want to talk. Who knows if he will actually be able to go back to school.”
RNZ put the allegations from the student’s family to Mount Roskill Grammar School’s board chair Marjet Pot.
Over the phone, Pot said the school had no comment about the incident.
Through a statement, police confirmed it received a report of an assault on Friday afternoon and were making inquiries.
*Student’s name was changed to protect privacy