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13-Year-Old Rockport Girl 'On The Mend' After Middle School Stabbing

ROCKPORT (CBS) – More than 100 parents gathered in the Rockport High School auditorium Tuesday night to ease their fears and get their questions answered, one day after a 13-year-old girl was stabbed in the middle school hallway.

The girl's family released a statement to the school community, saying, in part, "We feel blessed to be part of such a great community and this opinion has only grown stronger with the outpouring of support...[Our daughter] is on the mend and is looking forward to seeing her classmates soon." Parents applauded after Superintendent Rob Liebow read it aloud.

The violence played out Monday morning before classes started in front of several students and teachers, as a 13-year-old boy allegedly stabbed his classmate. She was brought to Beverly Hospital and then immediately brought to Boston Children's, where she is recovering from her injuries.

The meeting at the high school was run by the Superintendent, police chief, a grief counselor from Riverside Mental Health Services, and school administrators. Parents were given the opportunity to ask questions, at times growing frustrated with a lack of concrete answers as to what happened.

"What is age appropriate about a 13-year-old wielding a knife in school?" one father asked the grief counselor from the back of the auditorium. Officials have not said what the assault weapon was, but the interaction illustrated the tension in the room.

"What are they going to do going forward? How are they going to keep us safe?" asked Heather Stewart, a mother to a second grader and aunt to a seventh grader.

When asked what disciplinary actions the student charged with a crime will face, Superintendent Rob Liebow said he didn't know yet and would have to let the legal and disciplinary processes play out.

Parents like Nichole Schrafft struggled with how to ease their kids' worries. Her son witnessed the aftermath of the attack.

"He saw the girl still in the position where she was and some teachers told them to get into classrooms," she said. "[He said] of the hardest parts was seeing the mom of the injured girl arrive at school. And he could hear how sad she was." Her fear for her son and his classmate's prompted Schrafft to write a blog post about the incident.

Another point of discussion was increased communication should another violent event occur. "They sent an email saying there was an incident… but I didn't know it was a stabbing until an hour later on the news, you know?" explained Heather Stewart. She and others called for faster communication.

Principals and counselors stood and spoke to parents to assure them they are keeping their children safe, as the victim recovers and the suspect goes through the legal process.

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