Oklahoma Mother Says Her Son Was Forced by a Greenvale Elementary Teacher to do 15 Minute Wall Sit
KOKH - January 16, 2023 6:47 am
Oklahoma City, Okla. (KOKH) — A mother says she is upset after a teacher forced her third grade son to do a fifteen minute wall sit as punishment.
Jayne Stephans says this happened on Thursday at Greenvale Elementary, which is part of the Western Heights public schools district.
Stephans says she plans to pull her son out of class until the district addresses the situation.
She says she knew something was wrong when she picked up her son, Jacob, from school.
“He came home saying he had a really hard day and some kids were making fun of him,” Stephans said. “He didn’t tell me the whole story. I didn’t pry because I knew he would come tell me eventually.”
Stephans says her son told her he was forced by a teacher to do a fifteen minute wall sit during recess as punishment.
“That is not the way you discipline kids,” Stephans said. “I didn’t sign up for them to treat my son like he is in boot camp.”
Jacob says the wall sit hurt his legs.
“They were shaking a lot and I was crying,” Jacob said.
Stephans says this is not the first time he has been treated this way at Greenvale Elementary.
“Last month, there was a coach that got in his face and made him do thirty push-ups in front of the class because he wouldn’t run,” Stephans said. “He has asthma.”
Stephans says she has a meeting with the principal on Tuesday.
“They want to talk to me about his behavior and also the staff’s behavior,” Stephans said. “The principal told me the staff wasn’t supposed to be acting in such a manner.”
The interim superintendent, Brayden Savage, told Fox 25 on Friday that the safety of students is their number one priority and that the district is investigating the situation.