8-year-old beaten unconscious by 3 students at elementary school, Texas family says

A family in Texas wants people to know that “bullying is a real thing” after they say an 8-year-old boy was brutally beaten by other students at school.

Christian Boynton, 8, had just arrived at Lakewood Elementary School in Tomball on Tuesday when three children approached him in the bathroom, KHOU reported. The family says the students beat and kicked Christian until he was unconscious.

“They pinned my brother down. They were beating him. They beat him to the point of unconsciousness, where they continued to beat him,” Christian’s sister Kailee Boynton said, according to the news outlet. “They went through his backpack.”

Christian was rushed to an area hospital where doctors informed the family that he was suffering bleeding in his brain, KPRC reported. He’s since been released, but the family says it’s not the first time Christian has been bullied at school.

They say they hope Christian’s experience will bring greater awareness to bullying.

“This traumatic experience, to be heard by a whole bunch of people, that way they can see that bullying is a real thing,” Kailee said, according to KTRK. “It needs to be addressed at school, it needs to be addressed at home.”

Tomball Independent School District released a statement announcing an investigation into the incident, according to KPRC.

“Tomball ISD is aware of an incident in the bathroom between several students at one of our elementary schools that resulted in one student being sent to the hospital with an injury,” the statement says. “That student has since been released home. Out of respect for the family and the student’s privacy, we are not providing any more details on the incident at this time. We are thoroughly investigating the incident and will take appropriate disciplinary measures for all those involved. As always, student safety is our first priority in Tomball ISD.”

The family says they hope to work alongside the school, KTRK reported.

“My parents don’t have anything negative to say about the school,” Kailee said, according to the news outlet. “They want to work with the school. They don’t think there’s anything wrong with Tomball ISD, they just want to address the situation all together.”

Kailee describes her brother as a “nice and kind” child who even defended his classmates following the attack, KTRK reported.

“He told me, ‘Maybe they’re just having a rough day,’” Kailee said, according to KHOU. “He is so nice and kind that he can’t even fathom the fact that someone would want to hurt him or be cruel to him.”

As of 2016, at least one in five students reports being bullied, according to PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center. Of those students, 9% were bullied in a bathroom and at least 30% reported being bullied once or twice a month.