Horrifying video shows Houston student, 15, assaulting teacher for confiscating phone during class
HOUSTON, TEXAS: In a disturbing video that has gone viral, a 15-year-old high school student from Houston is shown violently hitting a teacher in the face to demand his cell phone back. The student seemed infuriated beyond control as the teacher reportedly confiscated his phone in the class.
Rita Graves, the principal of Lamar High School, wrote a letter to parents as per a report informing them that this kind of behavior won't be permitted and informing them that school officials were looking into measures to stop it from happening again. Meanwhile American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has called for proper action.
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'We will not tolerate this type of behavior'
"We do not condone and will not tolerate this type of behavior. It is always our top priority to maintain an environment where our students and staff are safe," the message said as per a report. "Administrators will be looking into the cause of the altercation and continue to evaluate ways to prevent these occurrences in the future", the statement read.
'Give me my phone'
In a video that has been circulating on Twitter, the student is seen intimidatingly close to the teacher before repeatedly begging for his "f*****g phone" and then punching the teacher in the face.
In the video, a student can be heard demanding his or her phone repeatedly. The teacher gently asked the student to "sit down."
The youngster is overheard demanding, "Give me my phone," seeming frustrated. A passerby who is out of the picture cries in shock as the student is then shown bending back and striking the teacher in the face.
“Give me my f—king phone, n—a!”
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) April 7, 2023
A student confronted & punched a teacher at Lamar High School in Houston, Texas. pic.twitter.com/pZr8UzVCwA
'He should not be allowed back on a regular campus'
"Unfortunately, this kid’s made a huge mistake,” Texas, American Federation of Teachers president Zeph Capo told KHOU. "By all means, he should not be allowed back on a regular campus," Capo said. "This is not something that needs to be tolerated.”
Capo and other educators don't think anything could have happened to merit that kind of response, much less the teacher seizing a phone, which is permitted in HISD schools under specific conditions. "Unfortunately, we see too much of this," Capo said. "We see too much of this happening toward our teachers and toward our school employees,” he added.
The media outlet further noted that in the 2021–2022 school year, 520 occurrences were reported, which is twice as many as in the five years prior. The media outlet has access to TEA discipline records which stated that there were approximately 1,200 assaults between 2017 and 202.
