Dallas paramedics were called to assist an injured middle school substitute teacher after he was hit in the head with a chair by a student in the class. Video of the incident, one showing the educator retaliating by throwing two chairs at the child, went viral, prompting the district to cancel classes at the school right before spring break.
The violent altercation happened on Wednesday, March 9, inside of the DeSoto West Middle School classroom, reports WBAP. Footage captured by one of the students showed a student hurling a metal chair at the substitute instructor and it hitting his head.
In response to getting struck, the man wildly throws two chairs in the direction of the student before sitting at his desk and addressing his bloodied head. Students can be heard screaming and laughing in the background.
Video of the incident was posted on various social media sites causing community figures and some celebrities to denounce the incident — and the child.
The local CBS News affiliate spoke with people from the community whose children matriculated through the DeSoto school district to get their one-sided takes on the incident.
One mother whose children are adults said she was outraged. In an interview with the outlet, Loretta Haynes said, “When I saw that video hit the airwaves I was so embarrassed for the parents! Where do you get the audacity to think that’s OK As a child?”
Basketball coach Dr. D. Finch shared the clip with the caption, “And this explains why there’s a teacher shortage. This took place at a middle school in DeSoto ISD, a suburb of Dallas, TX.”
Rapper Cardi B shared Finch’s post, calling the incident “disgusting” and saying that the “generation is really lost.”
“I went to school wit a lot of gangstas,” she wrote. “And no matter what they never put their hands on a teacher …Kids this is not respected.”
The DeSoto School District took swift action after becoming aware of the video.
It announced that it would cancel school on the Friday after the incident, starting the spring break for DeSoto ISD early. While school was canceled, teachers were called in to talk about district safety policy and a move to revamp emergency measures in the future.
Some of the measures that will be set in place for the students when they return on March 21 are as follows: Students will no longer be allowed to use cellphones, earbuds, and headphones during the school day; every school with introduce staff monitoring in the common areas and hallways on their respective campuses; and a district’s student support services department will be located in middle schools, moving them from the district headquarters, for more immediate responses to issues of crisis.
The school district is also looking to implement a dress code for the following year.
An investigation is underway to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident. While no details have been made public, the school district did state, according to FOX 4 News, that it doesn’t condone the behavior displayed in the video and is working to hold “all parties” accountable for their part in the incident.
The school safety consultant Crag Miller said he believes legal actions may be taken. The former Dallas police officer said, “[The student will] face serious assault charges based upon the angle that I saw in the video.”
“It could very well be an aggravated assault, which also then could be enhanced, possibly because it happened to an educator in a school environment,” he remarked.
Miller said that the teacher is likely to have the right to defend himself, however, the video does not tell the full story and context of the altercation.
“There’s a cause and effect, and I think that the school had to look at the response by the teacher. I mean, certainly, that’s a part of it,” Miller stated.
“I know that if you watch that video, we all say, ‘That’s exactly what I would do as well.’ But I think it’s important for us to kind of take a step back,” he urged. “We’re the grownups in the room. Did we need to do that? Did that person have to do that to continue to defend themselves? And that’s a part of this.”
