LUCEA, Hanover — The father of the Hopewell High School boy who was seen in a video being physically assaulted by a gang of schoolmates is determined that his son will no longer attend the school.

“I won’t allow him to go back. No; that’s a no-no, definitely a no-no,” the parent told the Jamaica Observer outside Lucea Family Court on Tuesday.

The man was among a group of parents waiting for the first court appearance by six boys charged in connection with the November 25 attack. His son is 15 years old. A 17-year-old is among those charged for the attack that took place as the younger boy walked home. None of the parents wanted to be named in this article.

The incident was recorded by at least one of the attackers and went viral on social media. During the attack, which sparked national outrage, the boy was repeatedly slapped in the face then hit and kicked when he fell to the ground. It was reportedly the second time he was being attacked by the group. They had warned him not to report the first incident.

“Them youth here just follow company and drove a fear in my son,” the boy’s father lamented on Tuesday.

“I’ve really been grieving since this happened, really grieving [because of] how they dealt with my little boy,” he added.

However, he has been heartened by how some parents of accused students have dealt with the incident.

“You have some good parents out there who give their all for their children,” he conceded.

According to defence attorney Martin Thomas, the accused boys are to return to court on December 17 “where the judge will consider bail at that time”. They will remain at the Metcalf Street facility in Kingston until then.

The police have been asking for those involved in the attack to come forward. One parent who was at the courthouse on Tuesday said he responded to that appeal even though his son — while present during the attack — did not land a blow.

The man asked the public not to judge the aggressors too harshly.

“You have children and you can’t tell what your child will do in the future. If my child do something, don’t condemn him just so, because it could be your child in a similar situation,” he said earnestly.

“No child is perfect, so don’t condemn them. But if they need to be disciplined about it then that will have to happen,” the parent added.

He conceded that the attack was wrong and should never have occurred, but still clings to the hope that the accused boys will be given a chance to redeem themselves if found guilty.

“Probably them can look at probation or something like mediation so that the students will know they did something wrong. It is a first offence, so them can take it easy with them,” he mused.

He also suggested that the students involved could become peer counsellors in the future as that may help them stay out of trouble going forward.

Another man, who also said his child did not land a blow, is hoping that that will be proven in court and his child will be released. He sees this as a potential learning opportunity for many of those involved, even peripherally.

“Hopefully them learn from this because this totally wrong, everything about the situation totally wrong. I wouldn’t want it to happen to my youth,” he said.

According to the dad, he took his child into custody following calls made by the police. However, he has questions about how the school handled aspects of the matter.

“Sometimes things happen and you are not informed by the school, which is not good,” he said.

“I won’t say anything about gangs but we hear that there are groups there; but the school never mentioned that. Seems like they were just keeping things under wraps,” he lamented.

He is still thinking about whether he will allow his child to remain a student of Hopewell High.