Indian American Teen Headlocked, Bullied in Texas School

HI INDIA NEWS DESK

COPPELL, TX- A video recorded at Coppell Middle School North in Texas shows 14-year-old Shaan Pritmani being headlocked by another kid

While many kids of color across America have reported some form of verbal bullying in the schools, an incident in a Texan middle school has once again brought to the fore the reality of racism that can be dangerous and threatening.

A video which has been widely shared across the country has left parents of all school going kids a bit rattled. A video recorded during school lunch hour at Coppell Middle School North in Texas shows how bullying can turn concerning. In the video 14-year-old Shaan Pritmani was seen being headlocked by another kid. The incident which led to this chokehold scenario seems pretty trivial as the students can be heard altercating over a seat in the school. The video shows that Shaan is being held in a chokehold by another kid. When Shaan refuses to vacate the seat as no one else was sitting there before him, the other kid (whose name has not been released) tries to headlock him again with Shaan falling to the ground.

The incident has left some unanswered questions once again on what bullying can look like across the country. The parents of Indio American teen Sonika Kukreja and Kamlesh Pritmani have taken it upon themselves to seek justice for their kid. As they say that the school took an unfair disciplinary action. Shaan was subjected to three days of in-school suspension while the other kid was given only a day of in-school suspension. When the parents saw the video shared with them by other kids they went back to the school authorities who refused to change their stand even though they had seen the video. Not just this, when the parents tried to complain the Coppell ISD SRO officer refused to file a citation because school administration asked it not be written, as there have been too many bullying complaints lately.

““It was horrible. I couldn’t sleep for three nights straight,” says Kukreja to in an interview to NBC 5

The mother of the kid has also started a change.org petition where over 271,765 signatories are already calling out the school for its alleged unfair treatment.

The parents said in a statement on Change.org — Shaan’s friends shared the video of the assault with parents and reached out to inform them that Shaan wasn’t at fault. Shaan’s parents reached out to school authorities, shared the evidence and requested a reassessment. The school informed the parents that they have seen the video and that there will be no change in the course of action. The Coppell ISD SRO officer refused to file a citation because school administration asked it not be written, as there have been too many bullying complaints lately. The Coppell PD also dropped the ball. The parents tried in vain for over 2 hours to get a complaint filed, but were refused.

After the incident gained momentum Coppell ISD’s Superintendent Dr. Brad Hunt said in a statement, “Coppell ISD is aware of a video circulating on social media showing an incident at Coppell Middle School North involving a physical altercation between two students. Bullying, both verbal and physical, as well as physical acts of aggression are never acceptable and do not align with who we are at CISD and our core values.”

The parents in their statement on Change.org say: “Shaan’s aggressor can be seen carrying out a very dangerous carotid restraint on Shaan’s neck. This technique restricts blood flow to a person’s brain by compressing the sides of the neck where the carotid arteries are located. Shaan appears to briefly lose consciousness at the end of the neck choke maneuver.

The petition also says: “Our goal is to bring awareness to the bullying and assault problem in schools everywhere. All children deserve to be safe at school. Serious repercussions need to be in place for all violence against our children. This type of aggression needs to stop!”