Let's give a big TLO kudos to our man Steve "The Pirate" Shaw. Our DVD collecting News 9 brotha hit a home run last night with this report about a 7th grade Grady County boy who pegged his teacher in the nuts with a dodgeball at school, causing the teacher to lose his mind, chase down the student and then beat him with a belt.
Via The Ocho:
An impromptu dodgeball game gone awry Tuesday afternoon landed a Ninnekah Middle School physical education teacher in hot water.
Nick Johnson, 13-year-old Ninnekah student, says he accidentally threw a ball that hit his P.E. teacher in the groin. Johnson and his mother Laura say that teacher chased Nick down then whipped Nick repeatedly with his belt.
Laura said, “If you can’t control your temper, you know, then you shouldn’t be around kids."
She wants the teacher fired.
Let me be 100% clear. I think the teacher should be fired. You can't beat a student with a belt and still be a teacher. But let's cut him some slack – if a teenager launched a dodgeball directly into your sweet spot, you'd probably kick his ass, too.
Here's more:
Ninnekah Superintendent Todd Bunch says the situation was handled immediately. The teacher has been suspended with pay and the investigation has been “forwarded to the proper authorities.” The Grady County Sheriff’s Office confirms it’s begun an investigation.
Nick Johnson says he’s just sorry it happened in the first place.
“He just ran at me,” Johnson said.
“Did you mean to hit him there?" I asked.
“No, I mean I was aiming for the chest."
Yeah. He "aimed for the chest." You may not know this, but I was a former dodgeball prodigy in my youth – they called me the Silver Bullet – and Coach Cornett always instructed us to aim for the other players' nuts. Either they're not teaching dodgeball correctly in Grady County, or this kid's lying. Based on the look on his face when answering Steve Shaw's hard-hitting question, I think we know the answer:
Anyway, I guess we'll continue to follow this story and see what happens. Once again, great job by Steve the Pirate. It was a glorious day for Average Joes everywhere.
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