Ohio Teen's Hair Set on Fire on School Bus
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio - Three students have been arrested following an incident Friday in which a fellow student's hair was set on fire while riding a school bus.
Devin Lewis, 15, told the The Middletown Journal that he was listening to music while on the bus when someone pulled off his hood, and another student held a flame in front of his face.
According to the police report, that's when another male student holding a lighter lit Lewis' hair on fire.
"I felt the heat on the back and somebody blowing my hair," Lewis told CBS Affiliate WKRC.
He reached to the back of his head, and when he looked at his hand, "I just saw ashes."
His hair was singed almost to the scalp.
Other students extinguished the flames.
Police said a 17-year-old junior has been charged with aggravated menacing and assault, and a 15-year-old freshman with aggravated menacing. Another 17-year-old junior has been charged with obstructing official business.
The three students have been suspended, and face expulsion.
On Monday another incident occurred on a Middletown school bus between a 16-year-old female student and another 17-year-old female student who is nine months pregnant, while riding home from an alternative school in West Chester Township.
The pregnant student and the bus driver were allegedly struck before the 16-year-old girl fled. An aide on the board who tried to intervene was also bruised.
Police were still searching for the missing girl.
"It is an epidemic," Lewis told the paper. "There are a lot of kids out there in the same situation. Nobody should feel like they're not safe at school."
Middletown City Schools spokeswoman Debbie Alberico said there is no connection between the two incidents, but that they are under investigation.
"We don't tolerate any of this stuff," Alberico told the Middletown Journal. "We don't tolerate lighting hair on fire, fighting, hitting, bullying and serious misbehavior."
© 2011 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Devin Lewis, 15, told the The Middletown Journal that he was listening to music while on the bus when someone pulled off his hood, and another student held a flame in front of his face.
According to the police report, that's when another male student holding a lighter lit Lewis' hair on fire.
"I felt the heat on the back and somebody blowing my hair," Lewis told CBS Affiliate WKRC.
He reached to the back of his head, and when he looked at his hand, "I just saw ashes."
His hair was singed almost to the scalp.
Other students extinguished the flames.
Police said a 17-year-old junior has been charged with aggravated menacing and assault, and a 15-year-old freshman with aggravated menacing. Another 17-year-old junior has been charged with obstructing official business.
The three students have been suspended, and face expulsion.
On Monday another incident occurred on a Middletown school bus between a 16-year-old female student and another 17-year-old female student who is nine months pregnant, while riding home from an alternative school in West Chester Township.
The pregnant student and the bus driver were allegedly struck before the 16-year-old girl fled. An aide on the board who tried to intervene was also bruised.
Police were still searching for the missing girl.
"It is an epidemic," Lewis told the paper. "There are a lot of kids out there in the same situation. Nobody should feel like they're not safe at school."
Middletown City Schools spokeswoman Debbie Alberico said there is no connection between the two incidents, but that they are under investigation.
"We don't tolerate any of this stuff," Alberico told the Middletown Journal. "We don't tolerate lighting hair on fire, fighting, hitting, bullying and serious misbehavior."
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But what can we do about it? As bus drivers, our priority is the safe transportation of your children. It's so devastating to us when bully incidents occur, often when we're in the midst of driving. Bravo to the kids on the bus who helped put out Devin's singing hair. More of them are needed to further prevent this. The message should always be "treat other like you would want to be treated".