A teacher in the U.K. was suspended from her job after she was accused of punching a 10-year-old Black student.
The educator at Christ the King RC Primary School, located in London, England, faced disciplinary action amid an ongoing investigation, the Independent reported. The allegations were brought to light from a viral video posted on X.
A woman who claimed to be the student’s aunt shared a one-minute, 40-second clip of the parents expressing their concerns about the Nov. 10 incident to the school’s headteacher.
“What happened to my son?” the father asked the school official in the video. “Someone punched my son.”
The aunt said the student had to go to the hospital after “reporting severe pains across his chest and back areas.” The Islington Council responded to the thread, stating they are working with the school on the matter.
“To be clear, we are aware of these reports and are taking them seriously,” the council said.
During an interview with The Standard, the father shared his son’s account of what occurred. He said his son was in the hallway when an incident broke out on the playground, and he was looking to see what was going on.
“He just noticed a strong push which took him off balance, and that push came from [a member of staff] – an adult,” the man told the outlet. “He turned around and said ‘don’t touch me’, and then she pushed him again and then this time confined him to a space – against a wall or frame or something, and started hitting [him] back and forth – neck, chest area, and stuff. “[He] was trying to fend her off to stop.”
The boy was suspended for three days after being accused of assaulting an employee, alleging that he pulled her hair and knocked off her glasses. The decision was reversed about 30 minutes later. Another staffer present during the incident verified his son’s story, according to the report.
“We are stressed out now. I was unable to sleep because I was imagining what my son was going through at that time the incident was happening to him. I’ve not been a happy person,” the father said, per The Standard.
