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Supporters of Teacher Seen Yanking Student’s Locs, Smacking and Stepping On Him Say She Was ‘Just Joking’ 

A South Carolina teacher chose the most unconventional of ways to wake a student who fell asleep in her class. Now she’s looking for a new job.

Palmetto High School teacher Lisa Houston resigned Thursday after cell phone video surfaced of her physically assaulting a student who dozed off in her math class, local station WSPA reported. In the clip, Houston is seen smacking the student, pulling his dreadlocks and at one point, stepping on him in an effort to rouse him from his sleep.

Past and current students have rallied behind the veteran teacher, however, saying Houston did stuff like this often as a “game” and to get a laugh out of her students. Some said they were surprised to hear the video is what prompted her resignation.

“I don’t know why she is being accused of doing anything she shouldn’t have been doing when she was just joking around,” Palmetto High School graduate Jordan Smith told WYFF News 4. “She has never done anything to harm a student. She’s always done the best she can to help.”

According to The State, a school board member resigned this week in protest of Houston’s resignation and the way she is being treated. Students and parents who hope to see their beloved teacher back in the classroom have since launched an online petition and even held a march outside the school to rally support. Houston has been a math teacher at Palmetto High for the last 27 years, the newspaper reported.

The father of the student seen in the video told Fox Carolina that neither her nor his son ever asked for disciplinary action against Houston, adding, “I wish it would go away and that it never happened.”

The Anderson District 1 Superintendent’s Office addressed the incident in a statement this week, writing, “…Although the district is unable to comment in detail about the matter, the administration took seriously what occurred, and the teacher, who had an exemplary record of teaching performance, decided of her own accord that she’d retire in the best in interest of her school.”

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