This is the shocking moment a teacher threw an 11-year-old student across a classroom at a school in Georgia after he allegedly made sexual jokes about the child’s mother.
Che’Nelle Russel received a disturbing video Friday showing her sixth grade son TJ being violently shoved by football coach BeTreylin Elder at DeRenne Middle School, Savannah.
Footage shows the coach, who was in charge of the classroom that day, forcefully pushing the child.
TJ, who was sent flying, can be seen landing on his back before the teacher approached him and stood over him, while the scared child attempted to get back on his feet.
Meanwhile, shocked students can be seen watching on as the situation unfolds.
Speaking to Atlanta News First, TJ’s distressed mother said the altercation was sparked after the coach made several ‘inappropriate’ remarks to the student about him and his mother.
‘My son then went to the front of the classroom to approach the teacher, letting him know, hey, stop talking about my mom. The teacher then came closer to my son. My son again said, “Stop talking about my mom”, and also wanted to call me. From that point, he was then grabbed and thrown to the floor like nothing,’ said Che’Nelle.
According to one of TJ’s classmates, the comments were sexual in nature. Elder allegedly said that ‘he left his shoes at TJ’s mom’s house’, Fox 8 Live reports.
TJ’s mother said she had never met the coach before and is appalled by his comments.
Che’Nelle said that after being slammed to the ground, TJ was shoved out of the classroom – a moment that was witnessed by the assistant principal.
She was then notified by the school about the incident and took her son to the ER, where he was found to be suffering from concussion and multiple bruises.
They schoolboy is also frightened to go back to school.
‘He needs to be placed in jail. He hurt my boy. I’m heartbroken because I wouldn’t do that to my child. His father wouldn’t do that to him. So for him to take the initiative to do that is sickening’, Che’Nelle said.
She added that while she doesn’t want her son to change the way he sees his educators or his school as a whole, she is worried about the emotional toll this will have on him in the long run.
‘I hate that he had to be made an example out of to get a sick individual out of a schoolhouse, but something needs to change,’ TJ’s mother added.
The school district said that the teacher has resigned.
Meanwhile, the Savannah Chatham County Public School System said in a statement: ‘On December 6, 2024, an incident involving a teacher and student at DeRenne Middle School was reported to district personnel.
Following the report, thorough statements were collected, and the teacher was immediately reassigned to an alternate location to ensure they had no interaction with students. Over the weekend, the teacher submitted their resignation, which was received and accepted by SCCPSS Human Resources.
‘Please be assured that this was an isolated incident and we take matters like this extremely seriously.
‘The safety and well-being of our student population are of the utmost importance to us, and we are committed to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for all.’