Mom Furious After Teacher Hits Kindergartner In The Face With Ruler

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Mom Furious After Teacher Hits Kindergartner In The Face With Ruler

Ciara Morgan

There's no parenting issue that sparks more debate than corporal punishment.

Despite the fact that psychologists and organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics have condemned acts like spanking and paddling, they're still legal in the United States and some households continue to practice them.

However, it is not just parents that are using physical forms of punishment to discipline children.

Corporal punishment, including paddling and spanking, is still legal in 19 statesWesley Fryer/Flickr

In certain school districts, teachers are allowed to use corporal punishment, but some have taken it too far.

In Tennessee, one mom is furious after her five-year-old daughter was allegedly hit by a teacher.

Ciara Morgan noticed a large bruise around her daughter Hailey Turner's eye when she picked her up from school recently.

When Morgan asked the kindergartner how she got the injury, the girl said it was the teacher who did it, but told her "not to tell anybody."

"I actually cried because she had a big bruise around her eye," Morgan told Fox 13.

According to Hailey, the teacher, only identified as Ms. Lewis, hit her after she told on a classmate who wasn't following directions.

"She said the teacher reached into her desk, pulled out a ruler, walked over to her and told her "˜no tattle tailing' and popped her," Morgan explained.

Once the Shelby County School District learned about the shocking incident, they took action immediately.

In a statement to Fox 13, they confirmed that the teacher "was removed from the school and received disciplinary consequences in accordance with board policy."

But in a twist Hailey's family did not see coming, Ms. Lewis was back in the classroom just two weeks later.

To make matters worse, Morgan later discovered that the report filed by the school district was never reviewed by the Tennessee Department of Education.

Haily was also removed from the class without notifying her family, and the principal has since refused to speak with Morgan about the situation. In fact, the mom was given a letter asking her to stay off school property.

Desperate, the family is now speaking with the media in hopes that something will be done about the issue. Morgan has taken Hailey out of the school in the time being.

"The whole incident has left me upset. I expect Hailey to receive the same amount of love she receives at home at school if not more," Morgan told the Evening Standard. "To know that they're trying to sweep it under the rug or act like it's not a big deal is disturbing."

A spokeswoman for the Shelby County Schools has said that any further investigation will be up to the Tennessee Department of Education because "based on the findings of the investigation, which included interviews with students and adults, we [SCS] were not able to corroborate the allegation that the student was hit in the face with a ruler."

The Tennessee Department of Education has not responded to comments about the controversy at this time.

Do you think the teacher's license should be revoked? Let us know in the comments!

Blair isn't a bestselling author, but she has a knack for beautiful prose. When she isn't writing for Shared, she enjoys listening to podcasts.