Parents of a five-year-old boy in DeSoto, Texas want a school teacher fired on the grounds of assault. They claim their son was allegedly beaten with a wooden object for misbehaving in class.
Ayanna Smith told CBS DFW that her son Jalijah was painfully paddled after he reportedly stuck his tongue out at the teacher last week. The aggrieved mother stressed that her son was wrongly accused. She claimed that the teacher did not even see her son doing the rude gesture since it was another student who accused Jalijah.
"Any time you take a child into a room, hold their hands down, and beat them with a wooden object, it is assault!" Smith complained. "He's cries, saying 'Mommy, I don't want to go back... because I'm scared the teacher's going to paddle me again.'"
NBC DFW reported that the DeSoto Independent School District is one of the last remaining schools in the US that still allows corporal punishment. However, a Texas education policy forbids schools from resorting to such disciplinary actions without the written consent of the child's parents.
In the case of Jalijah Smith, his mother Ayanna maintained that she did not allow the school to harm her child in any way, shape or form. She even has a copy of the consent form she presented to school officials at the start of the academic year. She is now considering legal action against DeSoto ISD.
"A teacher is there to teach, not beat a child," Smith declared. "I'm aware they say it takes a village to raise a child. But it takes a teacher to teach, not beat."
DeSoto ISD assistant superintendent Gabrielle Lemonier said there was no excuse for what happened. She believed that the teacher did not verify Smith's consent form before punishing Jalijah. Despite the evident lapses, the district is currently more concerned on training teachers on proper protocol than firing Jalijah's teacher.
