A Kitchener girl says she’s worried about her safety after being attacked by several of her classmates last week.
Brianna Bishop, 14, was walking home from school Friday when other students began to taunt her.
“There were people surrounding me and telling me to go fight this girl,” she says.
The taunting continued as Bishop left school grounds and walked onto the sidewalk. Then – as cell phone cameras were rolling – another girl ran onto the scene and attacked Bishop.
“She comes up and pulls my hair … and then I turned around and we fell to the ground, and we’re just fighting on the ground,” she says.
After a few moments of struggling, other students then joined in, kicking Bishop as she was on the ground and injuring her.
“I had bruises all over my butt and my legs. I had a bruise on my knee,” says Bishop.
At that point, school staff rushed in and broke up the fight.
But Bishop says teachers knew trouble was brewing, and her mother says authorities should have intervened sooner.
“If you know of something that’s going to happen, you need to nip it in the bud before it happens,” says Lisa Bishop.
The Waterloo Region District School Board would not confirm if any students were suspended over the fight, but police say they’ve charged two of Bishop’s assailants with assault.
“We have a 13-year-old male teen and a 14-year-old female teen, both are jointly charged with one count of assault,” says police spokesperson Olaf Heinzel.
“It’s particularly distressing that this type of incident occurred at this time when there is more attention being drawn to that type of taunting.”
Lisa Bishop says she doesn’t blame the attackers for what happened to her daughter.
“Children are not bullies because they were born bullies. They’re raised that way,” she says.
Police say they expect to lay more charges as they continue their investigation. The two students already charged will appear in court in April.
