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A Northland parent has raised the alarm after a video appeared to show a Dargaville High School student being assaulted with a homemade taser.
The parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said the video reflects an ongoing fighting culture within the school that has left her teenagers feeling unsafe.
Police said they were investigating the incident and allegations of a “homemade taser or stun gun-type device” and the school was working through its own processes.
A Dargaville High School spokesperson said the incident which occurred last Thursday was isolated and it was working through its pastoral care process to resolve the issue in partnership with whānau, the school community and police.
However, the parent said the school’s response felt like it had swept the issue under the rug the school community was unaware of how serious the incident was.
A video which the Advocate has seen shows five students approaching a single student who could be heard saying “I don’t care!″.
The student then throws the first punch before another steps forward and hits them. Multiple other students then join in before one student pulls out what looks to be a homemade taser from their waistband.
The student then falls to the floor during which the taser is audible and five other students are seen kicking them. The taser is swapped between two students.
The fight is then broken up, and the taser can be seen being handed to the other student again before he tucks it back into his waistband.
The mother said she had approached the school about the incident on Thursday but did not receive a response.
Her children showed her the video which was circulating on social media and told her fights occur “nearly every day” at the school.
Dargaville High School said it was confident the incident was isolated.
“We are aware of an incident between students which took place on school grounds last week. We believe every student has the right to be safe in school, and work extremely hard to ensure this,” the school said in a statement.
“We encourage our school community to report any incidents of violence online, as this type of behaviour is not entertainment and is certainly not condoned in the Dargaville High School environment. Student wellbeing and safety remains our priority.”
Parents received a letter about the incident on Monday afternoon after the Advocate approached the school.
A letter to parents said there was a school counsellor available for those wanting support.
The mother said she was “disgusted” by the incident and said the letter did not address “how bad it was”.
“A kid was brutally attacked and there was a weapon involved,” she said.
“I feel like if all the parents knew what actually went on, there would be a huge uproar.”
The parent also said her children had told her there had been several alleged incidents where students had taken weapons to school.
The mother said her two children had expressed feeling overwhelmed by the fighting culture within the school, and had said if it weren’t for the cost of living crisis she would consider moving schools.
“I understand there are fights in every school. But there gets a point where, what’s next, are they going to start shooting up the school?”.
The mother sympathised with the school which was suffering like many others due to understaffing, however, believed more needed to be done to stop the fighting.
“I never, ever thought this would ever happen in our schools in New Zealand,” she said.
