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Outrage After Video of Attack on Teen With Cerebral Palsy Shared Online

Margaret Wooding said she "cried a lot" after video of the assault on her son was posted online. The school district has vowed consequences.
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The mother of a 16-year-old with cerebral palsy is taking a stand against bullying, after a video showing students violently kicking her son to the ground and laughing was shared on social media.

"I cried when I saw that," Margaret Wooding told NBC affiliate station WPXI. "How can kids be so cruel? I don’t want this to happen, not just to my child but to anyone."

Isaiah Wooding has cerebral palsy, a static neurological disorder the affects muscle coordination and body movement.

"I was kind of hurt and embarrassed," Isaiah told WPXI. "I had no idea that this was going on."

The video, which was posted to Facebook by a classmate, shows a student at Penn Hills High School kicking 16-year old Wooding to the ground. The student filming the confrontation laughs while the bullying occurs.

"I was so mad ... this is my child. Bullying is not funny," Margaret Wooding told the station.

Isaiah, whose favorite subject in school is chemistry, says this is not the first time students at Penn Hills High school have picked on him.

Now, Margaret Wooding is using this incident to encourage other students to stand up to bullying.

"We need to speak up. You don’t have to fit in," she said. "You don’t have to be like everyone else. If something is going wrong, everyone is responsible."

"People just need to stop, because it hurts other people," Isaiah said.

Penn Hills School District has responded to the video with a statement posted online Saturday: "Our full staff and Board are absolutely disgusted and embarrassed by the lack of compassion displayed by students closest to the incident and those who created further upset by recording and posting those terrible images online."

"Anyone having played a role will be dealt with accordingly, including referrals to local law enforcement," Superintendent Nancy Hines said. "That is NOT the Penn Hills Way."

Margaret Wooding hopes the school district will use this incident to take a stand against bullying.

"When I send my son out to school I want to know that he’s safe when he’s there. And I don’t feel like he’s safe," she said.