A Texas middle school teacher is accused of forcing her middle school cheerleading team to crawl on a hot truck as punishment for being sick, causing first- and second-degree burns to the teens. I was given a vacation.
Thirteen eighth grade girls on the Evans Middle School cheer squad claim they were punished for cheering at a football game when the coach didn't want them to. According to KAMC.
The girls claim the coach found it “disrespectful” and told the team at a 2 p.m. practice on Oct. 9.
An anonymous coach ordered the teens to do a “bear walk” and a “crab walk” for a mile on the school's athletic field, which was over 125 degrees, according to one of the parents who measured the track. The paper reported the story.
The “Bear Claw” and “Crab Walk” exercises force a person into an all-fours position to improve core strength and mobility.
“I asked [my daughter]'OK? How was school? ” She put our stuff in the car, went to sit down and said, “Mom, you want to know how my day was?” I said, “Yeah.” She told me she was punished and showed me her hands,” Angel Thompson, one of the furious mothers, told KAMC.
On Wednesday, temperatures reached 95 degrees in Lubbock, 530 miles west of Dallas.
Some spirit members became ill and others were unable to complete the required crawl through severe pain.
Despite complaints from the cheerleaders, the ruthless coach allegedly threatened her future as a cheerleader if she did not complete her punishment.
“We told her that our hands were burning, but she said she didn't care and let us get back in the truck,” said another cheerleader.
By the time the middle school students got home, they already had first- and second-degree burns on their hands.
Some of the teens were seen by school nurses and one was taken to the burn unit at Texas Tech University Medical Center.
According to the parents, the school did not inform them that their daughter had visited the nurse.
“It was malicious. It was intentional,” one mother said.
The coach, a Lubbock ISD teacher, was placed on administrative leave as police began investigating the painful practice, the newspaper reported.
Lubbock ISD was 'heartbroken' by teacher's 'disciplinary methods' but no discipline was taken as student safety is top priority
“We are treating this matter with the utmost urgency and are fully committed to investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident,” the district said. The teacher involved has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation. ”
“We would like to express our deep concern and regret for the pain and suffering this has caused to students and their families.No child should ever be harmed in a learning environment and we We are working hard to prevent incidents like this from happening again.”
In 2022, another public school in Texas came under fire after several students reportedly suffered burns after a practice given to them by their coach as punishment.
A physical education teacher reportedly forced four students to bear-crawl as they tried to break out of running laps as temperatures soared to 90 degrees.
