Metro Atlanta teacher under fire for fight with student who threw a desk

The student's family says the teacher was out of line and provoked him with an unnecessary comment before the conflict ensued

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(Photo: Fotolia/smolaw11)

A Clayton County, Ga., teacher is under fire for allegedly landing body blows on a 14-year-old student after the boy reportedly threw a desk at him, The Atlanta Journal Constitution says.

The incident took place Friday at Charles Drew High School and a parent posted the viral video of the teacher, who is also a football coach, throwing the teen to the ground and punching him.

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Yaquanda Lucas, the student’s godmother and legal guardian, told the station that the teacher had teased the teen about wearing a stocking hat that belonged to his deceased grandmother.

“He had his hat on and his stocking and he said the teacher said, ‘quit cutting up your momma’s stockings and wearing them on your head,’” Lucas said. “He said (the teacher) was picking on him, trying to make the class laugh, and that made him upset.”

While one video appears to show the teacher assaulting the student another shows the student throwing a desk in the English class before the fight occurred.

“That didn’t look like restraining him to me,” Lucas said. “It looked like you beat my child.”

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“I don’t excuse him throwing the chair. I don’t,” Lucas said. “There’s a way to handle these kind of kids, and that’s not the way that you do it.”

Lucas said the teen suffered a minor concussion and the student suffered from a mental health condition that district officials knew about.

“They need to start doing further background checks on teachers and getting in tune with what’s going on on the outside, too, because you don’t know who’s working in the schools,” parent Kapreshia Greenwood told WSB-TV. “They have to do better with being more teacher than friends.”

The Clayton County School District said they cannot comment on personnel matters nor can they report if the student would be disciplined for his actions.

“Since this matter remains under investigation, the district can not comment further,” a spokesperson said.

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