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May. 14, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Broadcast beating, school's response shake family's faith

By ANTONIO PLANAS

REVIEW-JOURNAL

Nicholas Cotton, 16, has stayed out of Green Valley High School following an Assault in his algebra class last month. The incident was broadcast briefly on YouTube.
Photo by Ronda Churchill



A photographic still frame shows the incident in which Nicholas Cotton was struck on his head, neck and back. The video was posted on YouTube.com, but it has since been pulled.

Nicholas Cotton isn't the first student to get beaten up in school.

But what happened to the 16-year-old freshman at Green Valley High School last month has his mom questioning how school officials responded.

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    • Nicholas was assaulted in a classroom just before the start of his late-period algebra class on April 13. The incident was recorded by another student on a cell phone camera and then broadcast on the popular YouTube.com Web site. The video showed a student whose face could not be seen pummeling Nicholas on the back of his head, neck and back.

    Nicholas said the attack was unprovoked and done by a classmate to whom he had never spoken.

    "I was surprised, shocked that it was happening," he said.

    Nicholas said he "relived what happened in the classroom" when he learned that video footage was posted on the video-sharing Web site.

    It has since been pulled from YouTube.

    Nicholas' mother, Karen, said seeing what her son has gone through has "put a hole in her heart."

    But she is also upset by the way Green Valley administrators handled the situation. Karen Cotton said Principal Jeff Horn told her the school couldn't protect her son after the alleged attacker returned to the school after a week's suspension.

    Nicholas, who said the other teen has threatened him after the initial attack, hasn't gone back to Green Valley since April 26.

    Karen Cotton also said Horn tried to dissuade her from pursuing charges with Green Valley's campus police.

    Horn denies telling the mother that the school couldn't protect her son. He also denies trying to thwart her attempts to go to campus police for help.

    "That absolutely was never said," Horn said.

    Karen Cotton said she unsuccessfully tried to press charges against the attacker twice after the assault. Both times, she said, she was told by school officials that police officers at the school were busy.

    She said she finally filled out all the paperwork April 26 with campus police for charges to be pressed. She said the attacker has a juvenile court hearing on June 22 as a result of the attack.

    Joseph Sciscento, the lawyer representing the alleged attacker, confirmed his client has a June 22 arraignment date.

    Sciscento said he still hasn't reviewed all the facts of his client's case, but he did say that the incident involved something more than what was described by Nicholas Cotton. Sciscento said his client and Nicholas Cotton did know each other.

    "It wasn't just that my client walked up and hit him," Sciscento said. "There's more there and the case is going to show that."

    Karen Cotton said she does not know whether the student who videotaped the fight and posted it on YouTube was punished.

    Horn said he won't comment directly about the investigation into the fight or the punishment that was dealt to any student involved because of confidentiality laws.

    But he said in general terms that any instance in which a student or faculty member was unknowingly videotaped or tape recorded may lead to a punishment.

    "Any student or staff member at the school has a reasonable expectation that they are not being taped or recorded in any way," Horn said. "If someone is videotaping or recording, they are in violation of some kind of regulation. We would investigate and take action depending on what happened or occurred."

    Karen Cotton provided the Review-Journal with a signed confession by a Green Valley student who admitted recording the fight on his cell phone. In the letter, the student admitted he downloaded the video footage on YouTube. The teenager apologized to the Cotton family.

    Horn said that fights at his school are uncommon and that his school does treat victims appropriately.

    "School should be a safe place to go where teaching and learning goes on," Horn said. "Unfortunately, from time to time, fights happen. But in 99.9 percent of the time, they (victims) return to school successfully and are fine."

    Edward Goldman, the associate superintendent of the Education Services Division, which oversees student expulsions, said principals have the authority to determine on a case-by-case basis how much punishment to dole out to students who fight.

    He said principals can recommend expulsion for students who beat up other students.

    Goldman also said there is no district regulation against students who post questionable material on the Internet outside of school grounds unless a threat is involved.

    "I'm not aware of any violation unless it's accompanied by a threat," Goldman said.

    The district does have a regulation that says students should not willfully terrorize, intimidate or harass other students, Goldman said.

    Katie Barmettler, Clark County School District's coordinator for Safe And Drug-Free Schools, said bullying has been a focus of educators since the 1999 Columbine shootings.

    Barmettler said the fact that the two students behind the school massacre were bullied made people more aware of how serious the problem can be.

    Barmettler said bullies in elementary school typically appear on the playgrounds.

    "At the secondary level they appear in the hallways, shoving kids in the lockers and in classrooms," Barmettler said.

    He said the district doesn't keep track of how many bullying incidents occur, and that bullies tend to stay under the radar.

    Barmettler said the program teaches students and administrators proper techniques to deal with bullies.

    She said the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program focuses on bystanders who witness bullying. The program emphasizes the difference between reporting and tattling.

    Barmettler said reporting occurs when students tell the proper authorities about a bully in order to help them and the victim, while tattling is meant to get someone in trouble.

    Barmettler said school administrators need to let students know there are serious consequences for students who bully.

    Karen Cotton said her son's grades have dropped dramatically from A's and B's to D's and F's after the incident.

    She said Nicholas will finish the school year by completing his homework from home. He will be home schooled next year, she said.

    Cotton said the only justice in the matter will be if her son's attacker is locked up.

    "The student is a danger and he doesn't deserve to be at any school in Clark County."

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    gorna black wrote on June 20, 2008 02:40 PM: i dont get it


    KL wrote on May 18, 2007 07:20 AM: People...
    A. It wasn't a black kid that attacked so please get your facts straight and stop trying to sensationalize the story.
    B. It was not unprovoked, the whole fight was not taped.
    C. The 2 boys did know each other
    D. The boy who got accosted has been spreading rumors and been talking negatively and derisively about his classmates all year.
    He was asked to be quiet and to stop numerous times but he continued .
    Children have to learn that there are consequences to verbally abusing others. Granted,I don't condone physical violence but these are both kids and one is not more responsible for the occurence at Green Valley than the other.Nick bears at least 50% responsibility.


    Bri Keiko wrote on May 17, 2007 09:47 PM: I go to school with the alleged "attacker" and the whole thing was not unprovoked he talked a lot of garbage about the "attacker" so people shut up about that and I am not surprised that he got beat up I am surprised that he didn't get it sooner I'm not saying that I would have done it its just that kid had a reputation for talking too much smack I understand its Highschool and everything but if you have a reputation for it,it means you run your mouth way to much and you can never back it up.So Nick Cotton and his mother should just stop while they are behind because everything will catch up to them in the end


    KMC wrote on May 16, 2007 11:03 AM: The reason you hear nothing good about youtube or myspace is because good news doesn't get ratings. Teach kids to use the net responsibly is all you can do - the sites themselves can't 100% control everything on them, they rely on users to report innapropriate content.I am not on MySpace, but there are a lot of people who make their own videos for YouTube that don't involve fights or lewd behavior - it's a new outlet for people to express themselves, but it has to be used responsibly, just like anything else.

    As for the story itself, I don't understand why this falls under just the school police, and not the city police. It was assault, plain and simple. Doesn't matter if the kids knew each other. Assault is assault. And the video is hard proof it happened. Forget the disctrict punishing this guy, take the kid to court.


    CODY CLAVER wrote on May 15, 2007 10:03 AM: THESE ARE THE TYPES OF INCIDENTS THAT WILL HAVE PARENTS SEEKING AN OPTION TO SCHOOL AT HOME WHERE LEARNING CAN TAKE PLACE UNIMPEDED.

    K12 INC. WWW.K12.COM HAS GREAT CURRICULUM AND ONLINE SUPPORT FOR SITUATIONS LIKE THIS.


    lee wrote on May 15, 2007 08:14 AM: All I can add is that each of us parents needs to be more responsible for our children and more involved in their lives, even if that means keeping them home for their education through thier High school years.
    I have seen and heard this story so many times, how can anyone deny to save face in thier schools?


    mother wrote on May 15, 2007 06:00 AM: i have not seen anything positive about myspace.com or youtube.com. parents start suing these websites including the school, and protect your child, they don't need to attend school to be educated. i will easily kill anyone who hurts my child.


    CV wrote on May 15, 2007 02:04 AM: Not to outwardly dispute Mr. Huntington's or Hoaglan's claims, but I'm sure racism had very little bearing on this attack. I offer that the attack was likely motivated by peer pressure directed toward a popular kid (the black student), to inflict unwarranted harm upon the school or class "nerd" (no offense Cotton Family).

    I do agree that if the fight had somehow swung into Cotton's favor and he ended up whippin' the black kid, this incident would be all the rage in a completely different way.

    I graduated not too long ago, and to be honest, things like this always occured. Some kid, sitting up in his ivory tower, sees another student as meek or meager and decides to embarrass him or make a spectacle out of him. High School is a jungle these days. It's Darwinism at it's finest- kill or be killed.

    Unfortunately, back then (we're talking late 90's) we didn't have cell phones with cameras and camcorders on them to document these things. I'll never justify the black student's actions, or the apparent inaction of School Police and/or GVHS Staff, but parents need to teach their kids how to behave like responsible human beings. I know...it sounds cliche. But if the black student wasn't such a sheep; so willing to act on pressure from friends; maybe this wouldn't have happened.


    ERIC wrote on May 15, 2007 01:09 AM: A law suit needs to be filed against the school district.


    David Huntington wrote on May 15, 2007 01:05 AM: If it was a racial attack, as suggested by Michael Hoaglan, where is that scumbag Al Sharpton to press his racist issues? Why is it when a black person attacks a white person, the incident is brushed under the carpet and yet when the opposite occurs, it makes national headlines with black activists screaming bloody murder?


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