By Yelena Mandenberg
A video of a high school student slapping his teacher twice has gone viral, as authorities decided to slap the teen right back - with legal charges.
An unnamed high school student was charged with one count of communicating threats and two counts of misdemeanor assault after someone filmed him assaulting a teacher in the middle of a school day in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The video shows the tall teen dressed in a gray hoodie and dark pants with a white belt, as he menacingly approaches his teacher, a middle-aged woman sitting in a chair in glasses and a red shirt. The clip starts with the teen slapping her across the face.
Click here to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sports, and entertainment stories
But the teacher handled it well, crossing her legs, and asking the student, “Do you think that affected me anyway?"
But the student wasn't impressed. He circled her. “Want me to hit you again?" the teen said to the teacher, with hands on his hips as he walked back and forth in front of her. She said, "No, I don't want it," several times.
Suddenly, he comes closer to her again, lifting a hand and slapping her a second time. Her glasses were flung off her face. As he hit her he yelled, "stop f****** playing with me." As the teacher shook out her hair after the shocking slap, the teen continued to berate her.
The student filming screamed "Oooooh!" at the second hit, as other students laughed. "I told you not to play with me," he says after the second slap. "I told you I'd knock those dumbass glasses off your f***ing face."
The school district condemned the student’s behavior. “This behavior will not be tolerated. At no time is it acceptable for students to put their hands on a teacher in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools,” Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Superintendent Tricia McManus said, according to WXII.
“My focus now is on making sure that our teacher is taken care of and has the support needed to navigate through the lasting effects of this incident.”
On Tuesday, the Forsyth Sheriff’s Office announced the formal legal charges. “While we all agree that this incident was deplorable and outrageous to the community, and community organizations. All of us should be outraged when those who educate us can be assaulted,” Sheriff Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr. said.
“We should hold those who teach and educate our children to the highest regard. Our hope and our prayer at the FCSO is that we recognize that we as a community must bring order not only to our community but our children. We are praying for wholeness for those students who witnessed this and the educator involved.”
The school's principal added that the student will be facing disciplinary action. Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neil said within the hour it was posted, he was investigating the now-viral video for any criminal behavior.
“Both Sheriff Kimbrell and myself spent the morning at Parkland High School speaking with the teacher, because we want one message to be delivered today: ‘This isn’t about the color of your skin, this isn’t about your political affiliation, today is about one thing. Sending a message to the teachers out there, that law enforcement and the District Attorney’s Office support you, we care about the job you do.'”
“Nobody goes to work and expects to get assaulted," continued the official statement.
This is the latest in a rash of violent teenage incidents. On March 8, a fight between teenage girls landed one in a coma for over a week with brain damage, with the assaulter facing adult charges. In another horrifying case, a group of high school football players in a gang called the 'Gilbert Goons' beat another teen to death, dancing on his body and sending out Snapchats showing the kid's body in the background.
According to the CDC, emergency departments treat over 800 young people for physical assault-related injuries each day - and homicide is the third leading cause of death for young people aged 10 to 24.
