A public school teacher in San Antonio TX is accused of forcing a 6-year-old boy undergo a gauntlet of abuse at the hands of his classmates as a supposed form of discipline. The teacher is alleged by the boy’s mother to have had 24 fellow students in the kindergarten class line up and strike Aiden Neely one by one. Mother Amy Neely said of the abuse that allegedly occurred at the Salinas Elementary School near the Texas city, "He was hit on the head, in the face, on the back. And all the kids hit him twice." Expressing shock, the boy’s mother added, "He had friends in that class, and friends didn't want to hit him, but the teacher instructed them to hit him."
Neely that her son’s teacher instructed not to tell his parents of the incident that took place in early May. Said Neely, "The teacher told him not to tell us. My stomach was in knots. It was horrible."
According to local reports, the Judson Independent School District has now dismissed the teacher accused of arranging the child battery. The accused teacher, and another teacher who reportedly failed to report the incident, with a misdemeanor, according to the local chief of police. Neither teacher has been identified by the school district. Nonetheless, "We are doing everything we can to make sure that these kinds of incidents don't happen again," said spokesman Steve Linscomb. Of the incident, the boy’s mother said "I just want to make sure that she isn't able to teach again. I just want to make sure that justice is served for Aiden." She is concerned that the teacher who ordered the abuse may be able to find work as a teacher elsewhere. “I don't want this teacher to be teaching anymore,” Neely said. “She doesn't need to be around any children.”
A police investigation has been submitted to the Bexar County District Attorney's office to examine possible charges. According to the investigation, the accused teacher had been approached by a colleague in May who asked for advice about how to handle 6-year-old Aiden’s behavior. The teacher, according to a Judson ISD Police Department report, said that Aiden “was a bully in her classroom.” Aiden was then taken to his kindergarten classroom where the teacher instructed the tykes to strike him and “teach him why bullying is bad,” as she called them to “Hit him!” and “Hit him harder,” the report states.
Amy Neely said it was the first time she had heard of any issues involving her son’s behavior, saying that his teacher never called her nor sent her son to the school principal's office. The police report said that “it was not until the sixth or seventh child hit (Aiden) high up on the back and harder than the others had hit,” that the first teacher involved then intervened and stopped it. She reported the incident two weeks later and on May 18 the district put both teachers on paid administrative leave and began an investigation. At this time, neither teacher involved in the incident has received official charges.
