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VIDEO: Teacher appears to body slam student while breaking up fight

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — New cellphone video appears to show a Jacksonville substitute teacher body slam a student while breaking up a fight between at least two students.

Witnesses tell Action News Jax this happened Monday at Terry Parker High School.

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Action News Jax spoke exclusively with Towyhia McAffee, who says her 15-year-old son was the one tackled.

“You slammed my son,” she said.  “You picked him up and slammed him.”

She said her son is Tavion Myrick, the young man shown wearing a cast in the video.

"Do you intend to make any kind of complaint?" Action News Jax Reporter Russell Colburn asked.
"Absolutely," she said.

Last week, after at least five recent allegations of teachers hitting students came into the Action News Jax newsroom, Colburn sat down with superintendent Dr. Diana Greene to discuss training.

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“Is there ever a situation where a teacher would want to put their hands on a student?” Colburn asked.

“There should never be a situation where a teacher wants to put their hands on a student, unless they are preventing they are preventing that student from hurting themselves or hurting someone else,” Greene said.

Duval County Public Schools policy does state the teacher, ‘must act reasonably given the circumstances when they intervene.’

McAffee said that didn’t happen here.

“Something needs to be done about that,” she said.  “That’s not right.”

Action News Jax followed up with DCPS on this specific case for more information on the sub and what may have led up to the fight, but they said since fighting is a student disciplinary situation, they won’t provide details or comment further.