Students at an Australian high school have defended an art teacher after he was caught on camera punching an unruly student during a wild brawl.
The incident took place at Maitland Grossman Secondary School around 2 p.m.
Cell phone video showed Michael Kable (62 years old) throwing paper balls at students who then threw them back. At one point, a student threw an object at him.
When the bell rang, students started to leave the classroom. Kable allegedly grabbed one student and punched his face.
Kable was charged with simple assault and released on conditional bail. Kable was also expelled from teaching. The student was not injured, according to police.
One petition claimed that the video did not provide enough context.
The petition stated that Mr. Kable suffered from countless and numerous amounts of verbal abuse from students throughout his career. “But because of the inconsistency and weak school punishment system, they only get a slap on their wrist’ as punishment.
The petition’s author claimed that students deliberately misbehaved in order to be expelled from school. Kable was supported by other students who protested outside the school. At the time of publication, the petition had received more than 6,250 signatures.
The student’s family released a statement regarding the incident.
The mother of the student said that she did not condone the behavior of the boys. “This does not change that a teacher has never had the right to put a hand on a student,” she said.
Kable is due to appear in court on April 6.
Here’s a local report on the incident:
