This kid is going to be getting a lesson in the criminal justice system.
Video making the rounds out of central North Carolina last week -- showing a high school student slapping a teacher in a classroom, twice -- should be shocking to even the most jaded critics of the American public school system.
But whatever happens, it's already been decided that it won't be harsh enough.
The incident took place April 15, according to the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office. A student at Parkland High School in Winston-Salem, amid a classroom full of students, slapped the teacher -- hard.
When the instructor didn't appear fazed, he walked back and said, "Want me to hit you again?" And then did.
If you haven't seen it before, check it out here:
WARNING: The following video contains vulgar language that may offend some readers.
Winston-Salem, North Carolina high school teacher at Parkland High School was slapped twice by a student. Story: https://t.co/03PCOZTfuS pic.twitter.com/5O3kw5zDJg
— The North Carolina Beat (@TheNCBeat) April 15, 2024
Naturally, everyone's saying all the right things at this point.
According to WGHP in Greensboro, the school's principal issued a statement to "Parkland Families" announcing the student will "face disciplinary action in accordance with district policies and procedures. The student may also face criminal charges."
Sheriff Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr. called the incident "deplorable and outrageous" and declared that "we as a community, must bring order not only to our community but our children."
And District Attorney Jim O'Neil called a news conference with Kimbrough and Winston-Salem Police Chief William Penn, WGHP reported, to reassure teachers, "We are here to protect you, and we’re here to see that … you’re never assaulted when you go to work …"
"We do want to remind people if you put your hands on a teacher, it’s the same as if you put your hands on one of these officers," O'Neil said, according to WGHP. "The district attorney’s office will … [bring] the weight of this office down on top of you, so you should have fear of consequences.”
Nonetheless, here we are.
A high school student clearly felt no compunction about attacking a teacher -- striking the educator twice in full view of his fellow students, not one of whom appeared to moved a muscle in defense of their teacher for at least the 30-odd seconds that the video lasts.
For this, according to WGHP, he's being charged with one count of communicating threats and two counts of misdemeanor assault. The two assault counts seem obvious. "Want me to hit you again?" certainly seems like communicating a threat.
The misdemeanor counts mean he can't be charged as an adult, O'Neil told WGHP.
Oh, and he's likely to be expelled from school.
Does anyone think any of that is going to deter another classroom attack like this?
Neither the teacher nor the student has been publicly identified, nor was there information about what led up to the confrontation.
But it's a pretty good bet that the interaction wasn't the student's first run-in with authority, or his first obviously criminal act. (Very few kids go from finishing-school good manners to slapping a teacher in 0.6 seconds.)
The painful reality, though, is that the video -- as shocking as it is -- isn't all that much different from what the country has seen playing out on its television and computer screens for much of the past eight years.
The inauguration of Donald Trump as president was marked by rioting in the streets of Washington D.C., that Democrats would call an "insurrection" if it hadn't been their political base.
And across the country, years before the name "George Floyd" became a symbol of martyrdom to drug-addled counterfeiters everywhere, progressive gangs under the umbrella name of "antifa" were wreaking their own brand of lawless havoc.
Then came the George Floyd madness, when Democratic-run local governments abdicated their responsibility to protect the lives and property of citizens, and the die was set.
In that context, the video last week out of North Carolina was shocking, maybe, but not entirely surprising. It's less a canary in the coal mine than confirmation that the bird died long ago -- suffocated by the poisoned air of progressive politics.
No matter what happens to this kid in Winston-Salem, it's not going to make honest, contributing citizens out of those little zombies in the classroom who did nothing constructive while their teacher was assaulted.
It's not going to make public schools across the country any safer than they are today.
In fact, there's not much that's going to come out of this prosecution that's going to do anything more than maybe keep what appears to be a very dangerous young man off the streets for a year or so -- and probably out of Parkland High School for good.
But if that's the best justice that can come out of this case, the DA in Forsyth County and the court system can live up to it -- for their community's good, and maybe for this young criminal's good, too.
Throw the book at him.
