The mother of a Washington, D.C. school student is upset after she claims a teacher did not intervene during a fight involving her daughter.
The incident happened Monday morning at Woodrow Wilson High School.
The 14-year-old student told her mother she was attacked in the hallway. When her mother saw the video, she called FOX 5 upset about the fight and the lack of intervention by school staff.
It happened right in the hallway with many students watching, including someone holding a camera.
In the background, an adult walks up to the fight, but doesn't stop the fight and it continues and moves away from him.
The 14-year-old student hits the ground and then she is pulled by her hair across the hallway.
"When I saw that tape, my heart went numb," said the girl's mother. "I was so angry."
This mother, who does not want to be identified, said she was concerned because her daughter told her two adults were there, but did not break the fight up. In the video, you can see other students jump in trying to separate them.
We took the video to city hall and showed it to D.C. Councilmember David Grosso, head of the education committee, and Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh.
Grosso called the fight "just awful."
"I think there should have been intervention right away," said Cheh. "It's very disturbing and nothing upsets parents more than thinking that they may be sending their kids to school and they are not safe."
But the mother said she was told after the fight, staff members cannot put their hands on students -- only security personnel.
"I get that," she said. "You are not supposed to put your hands on them, but there should be some type of protocol that if you see something going on, call for help. Children get out of the way. Break it up. You can walk towards it [and say], 'Excuse me, this is not going to happen.' Say something."
The mother said fortunately her daughter is okay, and thankful for the students who jumped in to help. But she wonders if the adults could have done more.
We reached out to the school's principal to ask him about the fight, but he said he could not talk about it and referred us to a D.C. Public Schools spokesperson when it comes to a policy of breaking up a fight.
D.C. Public Schools said there is no policy in place that tells teachers and staff members to not break up a fight. There is also no policy in place that instructs them to get involved.
The incident is under investigation by the administration at D.C. Public Schools.