THIS was the shocking moment a teacher kicked a five-year-old kindergarten pupil after she found the child hiding in a bookshelf during library class.
In the footage, Crystal Smith is seen grabbing the little girl from the alcove before booting her in the back as she lay on the floor.
The teacher has since been fired following the disturbing incident at Bluejacket Flint elementary school in Kansas, US.
According to local media, the girl told her homeroom teacher that she’d been hit – but the staff member failed to report it to administrators.
When the girl’s mum picked her up from school and asked how her day was, the child allegedly said: “I don’t like my teacher. She’s really mean. She hit me on my arm.”
Her mother then noticed a large red mark on her daughter’s arm – and consequently called the school’s principal to find out what had happened.
Smith, when eventually confronted, is alleged to have said: “I’m not surprised she has some marks on her. She was crawling in the bookshelf.
“She has a red spot on her arm. And I’m not surprised because she shoved herself into that bookshelf…I mean, she kicked me a couple of times.”
Unsatisfied, the mother demanded for video of the incident – but then had to wait over a week before the footage was released.
I can’t really even put it into words. I hurt for my child, and I was just angry that someone could do that
Girl's mum
The girl’s mum told news channel KCTV5: “When I saw the video it was heartbreaking, because everything she said, she sat at the same table as me and just lied about everything … she lied to me. She lied to everyone else. She was almost really convincing.
“I can’t really even put it into words. I hurt for my child, and I was just angry that someone could do that.”
Smith was put on leave pending the end of an investigation and was officially sacked on March 25.
In a statement, the school said: “The Shawnee Mission School District was deeply distressed by the actions shown in the video.
“We take our responsibility to keep our children safe extremely seriously, and as parents and educators, we are heartbroken whenever a child is not treated with love and respect. As soon as we discovered what happened, we acted to remove the teacher from contact with students, and proceeded immediately to terminate that teacher.”
Johnson County District Attorney’s Office is also reviewing the case to determine whether to press charges.
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