Distressing video shows Chicago boy with Down syndrome being shoved to floor of high school bathroom

Distressing footage has emerged from a Chicago high school showing a teenager with Down syndrome being attacked by bullies, while other students film him and laugh.

Parents at York Community High School were told Sunday about the clip, which was filmed Thursday.

Elmhurst School District 205 Superintendent Keisha Campbell said they were “deeply disappointed and saddened by the actions of this small group of students”, with the principal vowing those responsible would be brought to justice.

The clip, filmed by a student, shows the teenager with his backpack inside the bathroom, surrounded by a crowd of other teenagers.

The student with Down syndrome is seen being pushed by another student (left) and trying to escape (right)

The disabled boy is pushed back and falls to the ground, as the crowd laughs and boos.

Some chant: ‘World Star,’ a phrase that has come to mean a fight is being recorded and shared online, originally on the World Star Hip Hop website.

Keisha Campbell, superintendent of the school district, said the video was disturbing.

The boy manages to get to his feet and run away, hiding in a bathroom.

The other students laugh and jeer.

Campbell, in an email to parents sent Sunday, said: “Bullying, intimidation and bullying diminishes a student’s ability to learn and a school’s ability to educate.

“Such behaviors are not tolerated, and any student who chooses to engage in these behaviors will face appropriate consequences.”

Shahe Bagdasarian, the principal, said: ‘Immediately upon receiving this report, our school team began to investigate.

Parents were contacted and students were interviewed. Upon completion of the investigation by the school, appropriate consequences will be issued for those involved.’

Students whoop and scream as the terrified teen tries to escape

The boy eventually locks himself in a bathroom to get away from the bullies.

Teenagers applaud as scared and humiliated boy runs away

Campbell said school resource officers with the Elmhurst Police Department have been in contact with the parents of the student who was pushed, as has the school’s administrative team.

“As we continue to work together to support our students, we are grateful for the individuals who have already reached out through our quick tip line to provide additional information to the district,” Campbell said.

“The immediate and overwhelming response from the York community is a testament to the fact that the actions of a few do not represent the entire school.”

Students are discussing organizing a strike on Friday to protest bullying, The Chicago Tribune informed.

A mother, whose son attends York High School’s Transition Center for students ages 18-21 with intellectual disabilities, said she did not receive the email about the clip and said it opened the floodgates for complaints from other students and fathers.

“I have a lot of questions,” Cris O’Connell said, speaking to the newspaper.

‘Why didn’t I get the email? Why isn’t this explained to people more, what are the consequences?

“People are going left and right saying: I’ve tried to report this, my son has been bullied, my special needs son has been through this and nothing is being done about it.

“As bad as the situation is, and you wish it didn’t happen or someone would step in and stop it for the poor kid, there is proof of that.”

Shahe Bagdasarian, the school principal, vowed that those responsible would be punished.

York Community High School in Chicago has promised to deal with those involved.

She added: ‘It is extremely serious.

So what do we need here in York? Do we need more people, more room monitors?

“I’m not sure what the answer is, but I know that the consequences of these actions will set the stage for moving forward because this is going to get a lot of attention.”

Another parent, Robin Petchul, told the newspaper that her two daughters attend York and returned home from school on Friday “upset and disappointed”.

“But not very surprised,” Petchul said.

“They just knew that a special needs child had been assaulted in a bathroom in York, and that they knew the children involved but were not friends with them.”

One of his daughters shares a class with a student seen in the video.

‘She says, ‘I don’t want to be around him. I don’t want to have to see it after what she did,’ Petchul said.

‘The students themselves want to know what the consequences are.’