Substitute Teacher Joins In On Class Bullying Of Student

substitute-bullies-studentStephen Davis, a15-year-old student in Illinois, is used to being picked on. He’s 330 pounds, and kids are cruel. But last week, a substitute teacher joined in on the taunting, mocking the student in front of a classroom full of his peers.

A day before the incident, a student drew a picture of a cartoon face on a whiteboard in the classroom. The substitute is shown on a video Davis took, adding the words “Stephen’s ugly ass” to the whiteboard drawing, in the middle of a class lesson:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dizMqFw9Pi4]

Davis’ sister posted the video to the school district’s Facebook page, to mixed reactions. Some people think Davis should “get over it.” Some think the students started it by drawing the image to begin with. I’m not sure how you could look at this video and not think the substitute teacher is at fault — and totally out of line.

A substitute teacher does not know anything about the children he teaches. This guy does not know Stephen’s history of being bullied or how he’s handled it. There is no way to interpret this video as “harmless.” It’s not. The school has a “zero tolerance” policy for bullying amongst students. That should certainly apply to teachers.

Davis told the Daily Herald, “I was literally livid and embarrassed. Everyone told me, ‘That looks like you.’ Everyone was standing there pointing at me, laughing, (while) I’m on the verge of tears.” He admitted to the Herald that he’s been picked on since the first grade because of his weight.

In this situation, taping the video empowered Davis to speak up against a really cruel situation and terrible teacher. The school responded quickly.  A representative of the school told the Daily Herald, “We’ve reviewed the posting on Facebook and are examining any evidence or statements regarding the incident and anybody who might be involved.”

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