"This is painful as a father, to watch kids talking about some teachers are choking my baby," said Cornelius Dawson.
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"It's sad to see that teachers go to this extent for physical force," said Carletta Dawson. "Two grown men attack my baby, to see that is just devastating."
They want Chicago Heights Middle School to release school security camera video of the entire incident that happened roughly two weeks ago. Since then, video of the incident captures from inside the bus on a fellow student's cell phone has surfaced.
The family said the trouble began after the bus the student was on returned to the school after two other students created a commotion. One of those kids is the older sister of the girl in the video.
The Dawson family's attorney Cannon Lambert said after the girl was get off the bus and then turned to wave to her friends, the cell phone video shows the principal and assistant principal forcefully grabbing her and pulling her away from the bus.
The girl is then seen being restrained on the ground by the two administrators.
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Both the principal and assistant principal have been suspended pending the outcome of an internal investigation by the district.
Lambert said the family is prepared to file a lawsuit to get justice and the truth, and want criminal charges filed.
"If you are going to say to yourself that you don't want a culture where teachers attack students, then stand up and suggest that that these two individuals be prosecuted. Because they should be. This was a battery," he said.
Lambert said none of the students involved were disciplined in any way. The Dawson family said their daughter gets As and Bs and has never had any disciplinary problems, and has been left traumatized by the incident.
"Like what am I supposed to do with my baby now?" Carletta Dawson wondered. "So she's supposed to go to school in fear?"