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Texas Teacher Has 24 Kindergarteners Hit Bully

By Deanne Katz, Esq. | Last updated on

It's not often that teachers are bullying students but that's exactly what happened at Salinas Elementary School near San Antonio, Texas.

A kindergarten teacher sought help from a more experienced coworker on disciplining a perceived bully. Rather than suggesting the teacher contact his parents or speak to Aiden, age 6, about his behavior, she gave an unorthodox suggestion.

Have the other students hit him to "teach him why bullying is bad."

Needless to say, this didn't go over very well with Aiden's mother, Amy Neely.

The teacher, whose name has not been released, told the members of Aiden's kindergarten to line up and hit him as a means of discipline. Some students didn't want to hit Aiden but did so because they were afraid not to, according to a police report of the incident.

Aiden's teacher, who initially acquiesced to this suggestion, intervened when a student hit Aiden hard in his upper back. Both she and the teacher who led the line up were put on paid administrative leave while the school district investigated.

The teacher who initiated the "punishment" is not returning to the school next year, according to USA Today.

Corporal punishment in public schools is legal in some, but not all states. When it's allowed, it's done by teachers, not students. States generally have requirements of how physical punishment should be handled and what offenses it can apply to.

This isn't the only story this week where a teacher in Texas has crossed the line without first contacting parents to try resolve the issue. In Fort Worth, a student was allegedly forced to shower in school despite the fact that school officials never mentioned any hygiene issue to his parents.

In both instances, parents were surprised by the school's actions since they had not known a problem existed until they learned of the school's discipline measures.

Amy Neely filed a police report after she discovered that teachers were bullying her son. Shortly thereafter, the school district stated that it does not condone this action against students as reported by ABC News. No word yet on whether the county will file criminal charges.

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