It was an ordinary Thursday morning. I hurried my two sons, the older in first grade and the younger in pre-kindergarten, to eat breakfast and get ready for school. Although their faces were not as bright as usual, I didn’t think much of it. After finishing my day and coming home, I noticed that my older son looked even more down than in the morning. Then my wife’s phone rang. It was a parent of one of my son's classmates. After finishing a serious phone call, my wife called our son over, her voice trembling, and asked him what had happened at school today. Our introverted child hesitated to speak, so I asked what had happened. My wife answered in his place: our son had been assaulted by a group of students at school. It was the moment that our ordinary life shattered.

This is the testimony of a Korean parent whose child, attending a well-known charter school near LA’s Koreatown, was assaulted by a group of white students. Despite the physical and severe emotional trauma experienced by the two Korean elementary students who were attacked at Larchmont Charter School, where many Korean students are enrolled, the school has maintained a passive response, causing an uproar.

In an interview with our newspaper, the parent expressed deep frustration: “This school claims to provide excellent public education to students from diverse social, economic, cultural, and racial backgrounds, but in reality, it’s a place where group assaults and adult-perpetuated racism occur. The school’s attitude of defending the perpetrators is essentially secondary victimization.” According to Mr. Jung, the father of the victim A, on the morning of September 19th, during the second-period break on the playground at Larchmont Charter School, A and another Korean student, B, were assaulted by a group of six white elementary students. The assailants trapped the victims inside hula hoops, hit them, pinned them down, choked them, and stomped on them. While attacking, they shouted things like, “They don’t speak English, someone needs to interpret for them,” and even urged nearby classmates to join in by shouting, “Help me.”

The assault continued for about 20 minutes during the break, and not a single teacher or staff member noticed or intervened.

A suffered bruises all over his body, while B experienced so much pain in his legs that he could barely walk that day. However, the more serious issue was the emotional trauma. Since the incident, A often wakes up in the middle of the night, sitting in bed with a blank expression. When asked why, he simply responds, “I’m just scared.” He has shown visible fear even near the school, occasionally hitting his younger sibling or getting extremely angry over small things.

B’s condition is even worse. He breaks out in cold sweats, becomes too scared to use the bathroom, and sometimes has accidents followed by uncontrollable crying. Mr. Jung stated, “Since the incident, our children have not been able to attend school, but the school has never once inquired about their well-being. I once saw the group of perpetrators casually laughing and attending school, which broke my heart and filled me with rage, comparing them to my son, who has been stuck at home.”

Mr. Jung continued, “The school has never officially mentioned the incident details or the perpetrators’ punishment, and they’re trying to downplay it as just a fight between students. Whenever we ask questions, they simply repeat that they cannot share any information due to student privacy.”

After the incident, Mr. Jung and B’s parents had a meeting with the school, demanding punishment for the perpetrators. However, the school’s response was dismissive, with one official mockingly asking, “What kind of punishment do you want for a 6-year-old?” When Mr. Jung countered by asking, “Do you really think what happened could be done by 6-year-olds?” the school official evaded the question. Mr. Jung requested that the perpetrators be separated from the victims, but the school refused, stating that the children must continue to share the same classroom. Instead, the school offered to have the teacher review the daily schedule after class, which made Mr. Jung feel that the school showed no concern for the victims’ trauma.

According to Mr. Jung, A and B were not the only Korean students to suffer at the hands of this group. “Another Korean girl was bullied by them in kindergarten. Her parents asked for her to be placed in a different class when she moved to first grade, but the school ignored the request and placed her in the same class as the bullies. I can’t understand why the school would make such a decision.”

Mr. Jung concluded, “Since the incident, both our family and B’s family have had our daily lives destroyed. B’s mother even quit her job to take care of her son, who is in a bad state. If this incident is covered up, who will guarantee the safety of other Korean students in the future? We will fight to the end so that no more victims appear. I will fight to keep my child in this school without having to transfer.”

Our newspaper reached out to the school for comment based on the testimonies of the victims’ parents but has not received a response.

<Hwang, Eui-kyung>