A Texas teacher will lose her job after ordering more than 20 primary school students to line up and hit a classmate accused of being a bully.

The teacher at a San Antonio school is accused of orchestrating the slug-fest after a younger teaching colleague went to her last month seeking suggestions on how to discipline the six-year-old, according to a police report from the Judson Independent School District.

Both teachers at Salinas Elementary were placed on paid administrative leave, though the one who allegedly arranged the punishment will not work for the district next school year, said district spokesman Steve Linscomb.
Prosecutors are reviewing the allegations and will determine whether formal charges will be filed in 30 to 60 days.

The police report alleges the teacher chose to show the child “why bullying is bad” by instructing his peers to “hit him!” and “hit him harder!”
It also states that the second teacher intervened only after one of the children hit the boy hard on his upper back.

“Twenty-four of those kids hit him and he said that most of them hit him twice,” Amy Neely, the mother of six-year-old Aiden, told KENS-TV. She did not specify what injuries her son may have received.

Ms Neely said her son is not a problem child and that this was the first she’d heard of teachers having issues with him.

She said she wants to make sure the teacher who ordered the hitting does not work in a classroom again.

“She doesn’t need to be around any children,” Ms Neely said.

The mother said - and the police report confirmed - that some of Aiden’s classroom friends told him they didn’t want to hit the boy but did so because they were afraid not to.

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This is just a sad, messed up situation.

I was a victim of bullying and abuse in school and a story like this just makes my heart break. I can sort of understand what the Teacher was trying to accomplish but this was NOT the way to go about doing it, especially with SIX YEAR OLDS.

I can’t tell you how wrong it is that some of these kids chose to hit the boy because they were afraid of what would happen if they didn’t. Now, the fact they were only 6 years old probably has a lot to do with that.

Still though, most 6 year olds have at least a general sense of “right” and “wrong” as indicated by the fact that a lot of them did not want to hit the boy. They feared punishment from the teacher if they didn’t because that’s what an adult does to kids when they get out of line.

I am glad this woman lost her teaching job and I agree that she does not need to be around kids.

I have for a long time struggled with the question of whether or not it’s right to fight back against a bully.

I believe that it is NEVER wrong to fight back against someone if you are in imminent danger.

I also believe that it is important to take a stand against a bully to let them know they will not tease, taunt or torment you into silence.

There’s always a risk though. You can’t take it too far or else you become just like the bully.

There was an important lesson for the kids here, but this was the absolute wrong way to have them learn it.