Rash of violence continues at Pittsburgh Public Schools

PITTSBURGH — Friday marked the third straight day of violence within the Pittsburgh Public Schools district.

A brutal fight at Brashear High School left one student motionless in the hallway. That student was later transported to the hospital.

District leaders are now saying when it comes to students, there is a mental health crisis.

Channel 11 spoke to a child psychologist about the recent rash of violence.

“I think violence rates are up everywhere,” said Dr. Anthony Mannarino chair for the AHN Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Institute and Director of the Center for Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents at Allegheny General Hospital.

Also Friday, sources told Target 11′s Rick Earle police responded to Sterrett Classical Academy after a student set another student’s clothing on fire and medics responded to Allegheny 6-8 on the Northside for a student with a laceration to the face.

In a statement, the district told Channel 11, “We are also aware of two separate incidents that occurred today at Pittsburgh Allegheny 6-8 and Pittsburgh Sterrett. Both incidents are under investigation. Students will receive appropriate disciplinary actions per the District’s Code of Student Conduct.”

Those acts of violence come on the heels of a fight on Thursday that involved five students at Carrick High School that left two staff members injured.

On Wednesday, 15-year-old Marquis Campbell was shot to death while sitting in a school van outside Pittsburgh Oliver Citywide Academy.

“Being at home, not in the classroom that sort of thing, has been really hard on kids,” said Dr. Mannarino.

Shortly after the back-to-school season, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Children’s Hospital Association declared a national emergency for children’s mental health.

Mannarino said he believes there are several factors for the violent behavior happening on school grounds.

“Many more kids with suicidal thoughts, thinking about hurting themselves and others. The isolation, frustration and demand on families is unique in a way I have never seen in my lifetime,” he said.

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