CHS student injured after prank video stunt gone wrong

A Christopher High School student sustained a serious head injury and hasn’t returned to school after two other CHS students allegedly rolled him off a roof in a garbage can as part of a goofy video that was meant to simulate footage they found online, according to several reports from concerned parents.
CHS Principal Patricia Jolly believes the incident, which reportedly happened at a home off-campus, occurred between Jan 28 and Jan. 30. GUSD Superintendent Debbie Flores also confirmed three CHS students were involved in an incident and that one sustained a “head injury” and still hasn’t returned to school.
A video of the incident was circulated via various forms of social media, according to CHS parent Carol La Fon.
“It’s just really shocking,” said La Fon, who heard about the incident through her son, who saw a portion of the video. “The kid immediately went into a seizure and the kids just ran off and left him.”
The Gilroy Police Department responded to a call that a 14-year-old fell off a roof about a mile from CHS on Jan. 29 at 3:53 p.m. on the 9600 block of Cooper Place.
“It was strictly a medical aid call. I don’t know what the circumstances behind him falling were,” said Cpl. Eustaquio “Paco” Rodriguez, who noted the person was transported off-site for “medical assistance.”
“The story as I understand it, is some students wanted to imitate what they had seen in a TV program,” Jolly explained. “Unfortunately, I think students see this on television and don’t realize the real impacts.”
Jolly said CHS is trying to bring home the lesson that character counts, and that watching immoral actions without saying something condones the actions.
Neither Flores or Jolly could comment on the current condition of the student.
“This was an off-campus event that occurred and of course we are all very sad about the student that has been injured,” Flores said.
CHS staff met last week to plan a response to the incident, and by Friday created a lesson from the website, “Teaching Tolerance,” which helps teachers open classroom dialogue about real -world moral dilemmas, including witnessing unhealthy behavior such as bullying.
“Our hope is to build character education so that our students know how to respond in a situation, whether it’s a situation of injury or illegality or bullying,” Jolly said.
In the age of social media, Jolly is finding students are more likely to text a friend about what they should do in a serious incident, rather than calling 911.
At the meeting, CHS staff emphasized the focus on good character should be reinforced with more than one exposure to the idea, Jolly said. To keep students thinking about moral behavior, there will be several lunchtime events, including guest speakers and perhaps some drama class enactments of potential dilemmas, she said.