BUFFALO, N.Y. — A 16-year-old Hutchinson Central Technical High School was stabbed Tuesday afternoon in the area of Court Street at Niagara Square during a fight involving several teenagers. Authorities say the incident was an escalation of a scene seen countless times this year: Buffalo Public School students fighting after dismissal.
The student ran from the scene and ended up in front of Buffalo City Hall from which he was taken by ambulance to Oishei Children’s Hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The incident served as a wake-up call for many to call for action on a problem that’s been reoccurring all year.
Fighting and violent outbursts by students toward classmates and teachers have been an issue at several Buffalo Public School campuses, including Riverside High School, International School, and Burgard Vocational High School.
Murray Holman, the executive director of Stop The Violence, and Pastor James Giles, the coordinator of the Western New York Peacemakers, are two of those working to address these concerns.
They say many factors are contributing to the fighting, such as students not having a place to go after school or dynamics at home.
“There’s no accountability for parents to know where their kids are,” Holman said.
Giles said he believes students are choosing violence as a form of seeking attention.
“We have this arena, sometimes staged arena, where are they very intentionally picking fights so that they can film this stuff up and put it on Facebook,” Giles said.
They said implementing more after-school programs and serving as mediators in some of these disagreements are ways they plan to get involved and assist Buffalo Public Schools.
The district has worked with the NFTA to implement policies aimed at limiting the fighting over the past few weeks. For example, BPS recently threatened to take students’ transportation passes away if they engage in violent activity after school at NFTA bus and train stops.
Giles and Holman said those steps are well-intentioned, but they are just a start in a larger fight.
“It's gonna take everybody,” Holman said. “If not, it's gonna come to a head. We don't want to see that. I don't want to see a person hurt, just like yesterday, or escalate to something else. I don't want to see that happening.”
Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Tonja Williams released a statement in response to Tuesday’s incident:
“As the Superintendent of the Buffalo Public Schools, I have been vocal about the importance of safety. It is our highest priority. While I am very thankful that the student who suffered injuries yesterday is healing and the injuries that were sustained are not life-threatening, I am still very concerned. Our staff and partners, including the Peacemakers, have been diligent and proactive about working to mitigate any harm that staff or students experience while on any of our school campuses, buses, or even while at BPS sporting or artistic events. The issue of community safety for youth is becoming increasingly complex and will require collective efforts from all stakeholder groups. The Buffalo Public Schools cannot do it all alone. Our youth are experiencing extreme levels of mental health issues and trauma like we have never seen before. There is a growing need for the youth in our city to be engaged in appropriate, meaningful, safe, and well-supervised social, counseling, recreational, mentoring, and employment apprenticeship opportunities after school.”