All parents dread the day that their child gets called into the principal’s office for behavioural issues but for a Georgia family, a minor incident which would usually be handled civilly, ended up becoming a nightmare after a cruel principal insisted on paddling a frightened little five-year-old boy as punishment for a minor behavioural issue.
The boy had apparently spit on a fellow student and the school reckoned the act was offensive enough to merit hitting a child with a paddle!
To make matters worse, the mother was present, but felt powerless to stop the abuse. Pretending to be texting whilst this was taking place, she was in fact recording the entire ordeal.
Shana Marie Perez, the mother of the little boy, posted the distressing video on Facebook that shows her son desperately crying and pleading with the school Principal not to hit him.
Two weeks prior to the incident Perez was apparently arrested for truancy after her son missed eighteen days of school for doctor’s appointments. Perez was released, but says the principal threatened her with more time in jail if she didn’t allow her son to be “disciplined”. On her Facebook page she stated “They told me if he could not get a paddling he would have to be suspended and if he got suspended for even one day I WILL go to jail for truancy”.
The video posted on Perez’s Facebook timeline has since been shared over sixty thousand times whilst the Jasper County Primary school has received a number of posts on its Facebook wall by parents. Some in utter disgrace but some surprisingly supportive messages!
Following the video being posted, the Jasper County School District put out a statement which said it “is aware of the video released by Ms. Perez. Unfortunately, the district is barred by state and federal law from commenting about the specifics of this incident. The district respects every student’s right to privacy.”
Corporal punishment is allowed in Georgia, but only with parental consent.