Cross-posted from PoHo blog:
Screw timeouts. This Lake County teacher straight-up body slams his students.Apparently teacher Stephen Berry was messing around (and by that I do not mean like a predateacher) with a 14-year old student when things went a little too far and the student wouldn’t calm down. So Berry did what any kickin’-ass-and-takin’-names teacher would do: He body slammed the punk.
Word. I’ll bet the kid learned his lesson that day.
The whole thing was recorded by a someone with a cell phone.
While it is unknown what exactly brought this incident on, the kid must have deserved it because the parents (at least so far) have decided not to press charges. That’s right, they have decided (at least so far) not to press charges.
There must be more to this story than has come out yet. A teacher freakin’ body slams a student and the parents decide it’s no big deal?
Maybe they are waiting to speak to a lawyer so they can sue. There’s more long-term justice in a large cash settlement than a criminal prosecution, after all.
Berry has resigned and the Lake County Sheriff’s office is reportedly investigating the incident. Lawyers everywhere are salivating at the possibilities.
Stay tuned.
This article appears in May 21-27, 2008.