The moms met with school officials and Alvarez shared that they did receive an apology, but that doesn't justify the kind of torture the kids had to endure.
With the soaring temperatures, a couple of kids at Anthony Aguirre Junior High in Channelview, Texas, tried to get out of running laps outside during Physical Education class. The temperature went above 90-degrees, so they tried to hide from their coach, but when the kids were caught, they got in trouble. What the teacher did to discipline them caused serious burns, according to Fox News.
The poor students were forced to do bear crawls on the hot tracks which caused blisters to pop up on their hands. "I’m just heartbroken for my son, you know," Wendy Alvarez said. The little one admitted that he did try to avoid running laps outdoors.
"My son, he has nose bleeds and things, so he didn’t want to run it was too hot. Him and four other kids, they went, and they were hiding behind the bleachers. The coach found them and I guess punished them by making them do bear crawls." Alvarez explained.
Because of the heat, the track surface was warm by a heat index of 102 degrees in the Houston heat, Alvarez says the boys were made to do an exercise that called for them to get down on all fours on the scorching track, and crawl on their hands and feet as punishment.
"Now his hands are burnt. He has second-degree burns. I took him to the ER yesterday. He said my hands feel like they’re on fire. He had fever last night," Alvarez added.
A visit to the doctor confirmed that the 7th grader suffered second-degree burns on both hands.
"To me, that’s torture," Alvarez shared while choking back tears. She also shared that she contacted another mother whose son was injured. "And she sent me pictures of her son too. He also has blisters on both hands."
The moms met with school officials and Alvarez shared that they did receive an apology, but that doesn't justify the kind of torture the kids had to endure.
"And they said we promise this is not going to happen again, but I’m not really happy with that answer. I think he should get fired, honestly. That’s how I feel. I don’t think somebody like that should be working with kids."
In a statement, Channelview Independent School District said, "Channelview ISD administrators are aware of an incident that occurred at Anthony Aguirre Junior High on Monday, May 9 where a teacher allegedly disciplined four students causing non-life-threatening heat-related injuries due to the conditions outside. This incident is currently under investigation to ensure all students have a safe learning environment."
"The teacher has been removed from the classroom and placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Channelview ISD does not condone aversive discipline techniques that may cause physical pain to a student in any way. We take these situations very seriously as the safety of our students is always our top priority."
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