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A seven-year-old was forcibly dragged by his feet, upside down, off a school bus by a male teacher and, of course, the child’s mother, Memphis resident Kimberly Hardin is furious and wants answers after her son was seriously injured.
The parent said officials at Robert R. Church Elementary School in Memphis failed to tell her about the incident, reports Fox 13.
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Another student who was on the bus recorded video of the encounter and showed his mom, who then contacted Hardin.
“Another parent of a child at the school contacted me Friday evening, and she said she had video of the teacher dragging my son off the school bus,” Hardin told FOX13. “Her son recorded it.”
On the video, you can clearly see the teacher grab and try to remove the boy from his school bus seat. The boy is crying hysterically and doesn’t want to go. The adult grabs the boy and then his feet. The boy is dragged through the school bus aisle by his feet until the video cuts off.
The chilling video has the mom upset and says that her son was injured by the ordeal.
“I feel bad. I didn’t believe my child,” Hardin told local CBS affiliate WREG. She said her son was left with bruises and a concussion from hitting his head.
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The incident happened April 12. School officials defended the teacher, saying he was breaking up a fight involving the boy, though the camera didn’t capture an altercation with another student. The school has since released this statement:
“An employee from Robert R. Church Elementary is being investigated based on reports of forcibly removing a student from a bus while breaking up a fight last week. We take any report involving student safety very seriously, and immediately reported this situation to the appropriate authorities. Per standard District procedure, this employee has been removed from the school while the matter is being investigated.”
The student’s mother said the school didn’t alert her until days later that the incident occurred. She said her son is traumatized and now doesn’t want to return to school.
The employee has been removed from the school while the investigation ensues.