Over 40K Demand Justice for ‘Stranger Things’ Actress’ Son Following Attack

Stranger Things fans are showing their support for actress Allyssa Brooke after her son was brutally attacked during a basketball game at a local recreation center in Georgia last month. As Nick continues to recover from a broken jaw and a severe concussion, more than 40,000 fans have joined Brooke and her husband, actor James Knight, in calling on the Department of Education to enact and enforce an “Ethical Code of Conduct” for all public schools in the nation.

A Change.org petition recounting Nick’s brutal assault, which was filmed by other students at the rec center on July 21, has amassed more than 48,000 signatures from those supporting Brooke’s call for justice. The actress, who stars as Candice in the hit Netflix series, noted that while her son continues to deal with the “depth of physical damage as a result of this assault,” the children who filmed the assault and were heard laughing have faced no consequences. According to Brooke, the students, who attend two different high schools, have still been allowed to continue on with their normal routines and “continue to receive college scholarship offers to play sports at NCAA schools,” as “neither school has rescinded the student’s participation in Varsity sports or extracurricular activities.”

Although Brooke said she respects “the right to a public education,” she said she “fervently” opposes “that our tax payer dollars be spent on extracurricular activities for students who commit violent, hate-filled, bullying or otherwise offensive acts.” Brooke went on to call for an Ethical Code of Conduct to be enacted “immediately and without hesitation…for all high school students attending publicly-funded schools.” Although Brooke did not provide any specifics on what she believes such a code should include, she wrote that at “the very minimum, violations of said Code of Conduct, whether on school property or not, should result in the immediate termination of participation in extracurricular activities for a length of time determined appropriate by an unbiased school board.”

“I ask that you read this petition as if it were your own child being beaten to the point of unconsciousness,” Brooke wrote. “As if it were your loved one you had to feed through a syringe for days because their mouth was too swollen to even sip from a cup. As if it were the most precious of your kin that you had to hold during their night terrors, while they cried and tried to defend themselves against an unseen foe.”

Currently, the petition is nearing the 50,000 signature mark, which is its goal. In an Aug. 24 update, Brooke wrote, “words cannot express my gratitude, nor can I fully articulate how very much your support has meant to my son. You are healing our broken hearts with every signature & share.” A third student involved in Nick’s assault, who reportedly broke his jaw, was charged with assault as a juvenile.