A school brawl that resulted in a 14-year-old boy being beaten about the head last Thursday, has his mother distraught and frustrated at the CedarBridge Academy administration who, she claims, has failed to take action.

The mother, who asked not to be named, also claimed the environment of the school has become unsavoury alleging that some students are involved in illicit drug activity, intimidation tactics and frequent fighting.

And the mother said she kept her son home from school the following day after the fight because she feared for his safety.

"His friend called the house and told him that the boys said that if he came to school today they were going to beat him up again," she said.

Yet what disturbed her the most, she said, was when trying to call the principal at CedarBridge, she only got an answering machine.

The mother and son told The Royal Gazette that at about noon on Thursday, the student was going into the gym when he was approached by about ten boys and accosted.

He said the boys were engaging in drug activity and wanted to know if he had any "herb".

The youngster, who said the boys were all older than him, told them he did not engage in drug activity and that he did not want any trouble.

"They kept saying that I was lying," the student said. "They started pulling out stuff from my backpack, they ripped my shirt and they were punching me upside my head. No-one came to help me. There was no teacher there. I went to the associate principal and told him what happened and asked if I could go home."

His mother pointed out that someone from the school should have made an effort to contact her in light of the events.

"If they couldn't reach me during the day, at least they could have called me last night to let me know what had happened," she said. "I hope that they find out who these boys are and I hope they are suspended. I just want my son to be able to go back to school so he can get on with his work. I am very upset. I can't understand why there wasn't anyone supervising the children. If they don't do something about this, I'll transfer him to another school."

CedarBridge principal Kalmar Richards said she was working to gather the facts.

"The mother left a voice message at the school saying that her son will not be in," she said. "I called the mother within minutes, because we take those matters very seriously.

"It's unfortunate that she chose to go to the Press before speaking to me so that I can give a proper response."

Mrs. Richards said: "The mother's allegation of him being asked for drugs will also be investigated, because we don't take those things lightly."

She said the matter was dealt with by one of the deputy principals and it is understood that several youths have been questioned.

But inquiries to find out what disciplinary action would be taken on the youths went unanswered before Press time yesterday.