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A Georgia teacher has resigned after video showed him throwing an 11-year-old child across a classroom, WBRC reports.
The incident reportedly unfolded on Friday (December 6) at DeRenne Middle School in Savannah.
In the video, BeTreylin Elder, a teacher and football coach, appeared to grab the student, who was identified as TJ, by his shirt before throwing him across the classroom. The throw catapulted TJ into several desks and knocked him to the ground.
The altercation allegedly occurred after Elder made inappropriate comments about TJ's mom. One student recalled the teacher referring to the student's mother in a sexual manner, saying "he left his shoes at TJ’s mom’s house.”
Che'Nelle Russell, the student's mom, said her son approached the teacher and told him to stop speaking about her before the throw.
“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,” Russell said.
Russell noted that she's never met the teacher. According to the mother, the incident left her son with a concussion, multiple bruises, and emotional trauma.
“He needs to be placed in jail. He hurt my boy. I’m heartbroken because I wouldn’t do that to my child. His father wouldn’t do that to him. So, for [the teacher] to take the initiative to do that is sickening,” Russell said.
“I hate that [my son] had to be made an example out of to get a sick individual out of a schoolhouse, but something needs to change,” she added.
The Savannah Chatham County Public School System said Elder was initially relocated but has since resigned. Read the district's statement below.
"On December 6, 2024, an incident involving a teacher and student at DeRenne Middle School was reported to district personnel. Following the report, thorough statements were collected, and the teacher was immediately reassigned to an alternate location to ensure they had no interaction with students. Over the weekend, the teacher submitted their resignation, which was received and accepted by SCCPSS Human Resources.
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."
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