Cellphone videos of school fights raise safety concerns at Chicago campus

Cellphone videos of school fights raise safety concerns at Chicago campus

A violent hallway fight captured on cellphone video at Perspectives Rodney D. Joslin Campus is prompting renewed concerns about bullying and school safety, as a student and her family say repeated threats and attacks were not adequately addressed before the situation escalated.

CHICAGO - A violent hallway fight captured on cellphone video at Perspectives Rodney D. Joslin Campus is prompting renewed concerns about bullying and school safety, as a student and her family say repeated threats and attacks were not adequately addressed before the situation escalated.

The backstory:

In one of the videos, students can be heard yelling before a physical confrontation breaks out in a school hallway.

"We walked up the stairs around 8:15, went to our lockers, and they ran to us," said student Jada Gray. "They’re charging at us, they say, ‘Yo, let’s go,’ and then we started fighting. Well, they jumped me."

The student at the center of the allegations, 11th grader Jada Gray, says the fight was not random but the result of ongoing harassment by a group of students.

"It was because I removed a girl who I was prior friends with from a group chat," Gray said. "They felt some type of way about that, and that’s how it started."

Gray and her mother say the conflict escalated quickly in April and soon moved beyond school grounds.

"I realized when they were at my house," said her mother, Dezette Gray. "They were downstairs, two carloads, saying they wanted Jada to come down so they could jump her."

Gray said she did not allow her daughter outside and later contacted police and school administrators, providing documentation and video evidence of the alleged threats.

"They told us that if anybody fought or anything happened, they would do a 10-day suspension and expulsion," she said. "But two days after that, two other girls attacked my daughter."

Another fight in early May was also recorded on cellphone video, which the family says shows the conflict continued despite earlier interventions.

"Sometimes I feel like I have to go to school with my head on a swivel," Jada Gray said. "I wouldn’t say I’m scared to go to school, but in reality, I kind of am."

The family also shared text messages they say show continued harassment after the initial fights. 

They allege school officials failed to discipline those involved and claim there was favoritism in how incidents were handled.

Dezette Gray says the emotional toll has been significant and is calling for accountability.

"If you can punish my child, you can punish the next child," she said.

The other side:

Perspectives Rodney D. Joslin Campus provided the following statement:

"Thank you for your inquiry. For the past 30 years, our first priority at Perspectives has been the safety and well-being of our students. We remain deeply committed to creating safe spaces and nurturing the social-emotional well-being of every student through our unique pedagogical approach, A Disciplined Life (ADL). We take all concerns related to student safety seriously and remain committed to fostering a safe and supportive school community for every student and family.

"Perspectives is legally required to protect student privacy. It is for that reason that we are unable to address your specific questions, beyond the general assurance that we have established safety protocols and procedures, as well as a student code of conduct that each student is accountable for adhering to."