East side Councilman Cruz Shaw wants the North East ISD to administer appropriate punishment for a video that has emerged, showing 18 Roosevelt High School students making 'racist language about African Americans,' News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"I was in disbelief as I heard threats, slurs, and hate speech from children of all backgrounds," Shaw said.
Shaw says NEISD has said it will administer punishment to the students, but the district 'cannot legally divulge' the specific disciplinary actions.
The district says the video was created by an African American student as a 'social experiment' in which he asked various students to participate by 'saying the most offensive comments they could think of.' Shaw says the district told him the students in the video were assured that the video would not be released, and because of the circumstances, 'the district did not determine that the threats made in the video were 'actual threats.'
Shaw says that 'writing off threats and hate speech as a ‘social experiment’ is completely unacceptable.'
"We also need to keep in mind that suspension and alternative school placement cannot adequately address the underlying issues that cause students to behave this way. A restorative justice approach must be taken to truly educate our children," he said.
Shaw says school districts like NEISD have to show the public that they are serious about reporting and taking action on all threats made against schools and students.
“It is imperative that administrators exercise equitable treatment across the board when it comes to addressing threats made by students. In March, a female student was arrested for making four social media posts making bomb threats and is now facing four felony charges of terroristic threat.”
PHOTO; NEISD VIA SPECTRUM NEWS