Students say teacher slapped student who talked back

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — A Henry County teacher is no longer working at Ola Middle School after an incident with a student.

A student who saw what happened, but did not want to be identified, told Channel 2's Lori Wilson she saw a student talk back to a teacher and that teacher then hit the student.

“Why would someone want to put their hands on a child that’s not theirs?” parent Erin Moore said.

The incident was caught on grainy video taken in the lunch room. The student we spoke with said it shows the exchange between the student and teacher.  Parents we spoke with said this is an upsetting situation.

“I get that middle schoolers especially can get a little mouthy,” parent Justin Thomason said. “They’re going to say stuff that makes you mad, but at the same time you know you don’t put your hands on a child.”

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Channel 2 Action News contacted Henry County schools, and in a statement they told us that there is an investigation taking place into what happened and that the teacher involved is no longer an employee of Henry County Schools.

“I do hope that they took both sides of the story,” Moore said. “I don’t think that you should ever just listen one-sided because kids are dramatic, and they do overemphasize things, but definitely taking the adult out of the situation was probably the best action.”

“Sometimes you want to slap a child, but you can’t, that’s wrong, and it teaches kids the wrong way to live,” Thomason said. “They (teachers) have a chain of command they’re supposed to go by, and I don’t think it’s their hand.”

Henry County Schools would not confirm the identity of the teacher involved.

Cox Media Group