Teacher caught kicking, grabbing 5-year-old student in library gets fired

Bluejacket Flint Elementary School in Kansas, United States where the incident occurred. Image: bluejacketflint.smsd.org

A teacher from an elementary school in Kansas, United States has been fired after she was caught on camera grabbing and kicking a 5-year-old student.

The young girl’s mother, who opted not to be identified, said Bluejacket Flint Elementary School in Shawnee did nothing when her daughter reported the incident to another teacher, as per KCTV on April 25.

A footage of the incident showed the young girl lying in a bookshelf while the rest of her classmates lined up to leave the school library. Upon seeing her, her teacher Crystal Smith grabbed her and dragged her to the ground before kicking her in the back. The incident happened last February.

The girl’s mother said she sensed something was wrong when she picked her daughter up. She apparently asked her how her day went when the girl responded, “I don’t like my teacher. She’s really mean. She hit me on my arm.”

The mother attempted to call the school principal; she went back to the school instead when her call would not go through, as per report. It was there where she discovered her daughter reported the incident to another teacher, but no action was done.

“[The 5-year-old] did mention to me, ‘my teacher, like, hit me,’” said one of the girl’s teachers in the report. “I asked her what happened and she said she touched her on her arm but I wasn’t there so I’m not sure what happened.”

Meanwhile, Smith tried to blame the girl when the mother confronted her, saying the girl was violent and the marks on the girl came from crawling in the bookshelf. It took more than a week after the incident before the footage was allowed to be released and showed the contrary.

“When I saw the video it was heartbreaking, because everything she [Smith] said, she sat at the same table as me and just lied about everything,” the mother said in the report. “She lied to me. She lied to everyone else. She was almost really convincing.”

Smith was put on leave and was officially fired from her teaching post on March 25, as per report. Meanwhile, the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case to determine whether to press charges on Smith. Cody Cepeda/JB

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