Mom of student in school fight claims she was responding to bullying

Alita Polydor says video of school fight doesn't show complete story

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – The mother of a teen caught on video in a school fight said on Wednesday that her daughter was finally responding to the ongoing bullying that she had been subjected to at school.

Alita Polydor said her daughter was the victim of bullying, and she had no choice but to fight back to make it stop. Polydor said a lot happened before the violence erupted outside of Taravella High School in Coral Springs.

In a video that still upsets Polydor, her daughter is seen dragging, punching and kicking another girl, who was down on the pavement. But Polydor claimed the video doesn't tell the whole story. She said it does not show how her 16-year-old daughter was provoked. 

"My daughter is not a monster," Polydor said. "She is not an animal."

Polydor said her daughter was defending herself from a bully and adults failed to stop it. The fight continued for about five minutes.

"She's viciously beating her, but part of the story was not even played or shown where she pulled my daughter's hair," Polydor said. "That's how it started."

School administrators claim a school security staff member "responded immediately to the incident and followed all proper protocols, including calling for additional support from staff and police officers."

Administrators classified the incident as "a mutual altercation and the result of a personal conflict between two of the students." Polydor's daughter and the girl she beat up are serving out-of-school suspensions.

Polydor said she is planning to take her daughter to a meeting with the other girl to find a resolution to the conflict.

"This is a lesson," Polydor said.