After a video of a Georgia middle school teacher throwing a student across the classroom was published to social media, we now know what came of him. However, the outcome was not the justice the boy’s mother had hoped for.
Che’Nelle Russell, the mother of 11-year-old TJ, told WTOC News she saw the horrifying clip of DeRenne Middle School teacher and football coach BeTreylin Elder allegedly throwing her son on Dec. 6. The video shows the teacher grabbing TJ by his shirt and throwing him into the middle of the room. The boy topples into two desks, both occupied by students, before falling to the ground.
As the boy lifts himself off the ground, Elder is seen standing directly above him, looking down at him, the video shows.
Before the incident, TJ’s mother told reporters the two exchanged a few words about an alleged inappropriate comment the teacher made to the child. Another student, per the report, said it was a sexual jab about TJ’s mother saying he “left his shoes at TJ’s mom’s house.”
“I was told that he had a share of words that were inappropriate to TJ and that he had made some remarks about me, and my son was unhappy with it. So, 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 Russell via WTOC.
As a result of the incident, Russell said her son suffered a concussion, various bruises and an overall fear of going back to school. The report says Russell has since called on the teacher to face criminal charges for his alleged actions and also for the school district to take accountability as well.
“I hate that [TJ] had to be made an example out of to get a sick individual out of a schoolhouse, but something needs to change,” Russell said via WTOC.
According to Savannah Chatham County Public School System, Elder was relocated to another school within the district after the report of the incident. There are no details as to whether he faced any form of punishment or reprimand. However, over the weekend, Elder decided to abandon mission altogether and sent in his resignation letter, the district said. They then vowed to take situations like this seriously moving forward.
“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,” the district said in a statement.