Mom defends teenage son caught on camera punching another student

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — The mother of a Gwinnett County high schooler caught on video punching another student is coming to his defense.

The Discovery High School student is facing criminal charges. His mother says the teen will have to appear in court and may also be expelled for his actions.

Thousands of people have seen the video of the 14-year-old boy punching a fellow student, which led to a suspension and a battery charge. But the teen’s mom says what the public doesn’t see is what happened before the camera started recording.

“I could tell that he felt his back was against the wall and he had had enough,” she said. “I recognize the frustration in him.”

The mom told Channel 2’s Matt Johnson that before this happened in class Wednesday morning her son told his teacher that the other student stole his lunch money.

She says no one helped her son so he snapped.

“That’s how bullying works. You poke, you prod, you tease and you leave these children with a decision to either continue to be victimized or to stand up for themselves and my son didn’t want to be a victim anymore,” she said.

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She says students have bullied and stolen from her son since the beginning of the school year.

She showed Johnson her son's most recent report card to point out that he gets A's and B's in school.

“All the hard work he's put in for the whole school year, I mean, it's gone to waste now,” she said.

Johnson looked at state data that shows Discovery High School reported the most fights of any high school in the Gwinnett County School District.

On Monday, we reported on another violent fight that happened on campus last week.

The principal sent a letter to parents Thursday about the fights, saying this action will not be tolerated.

The teen told Johnson he is good friends with the teen who was badly injured in last week’s fight.

“He saw his friend being victimized the other day and he was taunted repeatedly and he was fed up and frustrated,” his mother said.

The mother says her son could have made a better decision but she feels like the school abandoned him.

“I don’t condone violence. I understand he made the choice. If action had been taken before now, this would have never happened,” the mom said.

Cox Media Group