Teacher allegedly slaps boy for being rowdy

The mother of a seven-year-old boy reports his teacher to the police for slapping her son.

GEORGE TOWN: A Year One pupil fears attending school after he was allegedly slapped by his teacher.
The boy’s mother, Norhafizah Abu Bakar, has lodged a police report at the Pulau Tikus station.
She said she noticed finger marks imprinted on her son’s cheeks when she picked him up at 1.25pm from his school in Tanjung Tokong.
She said she confronted the teacher, who denied slapping the boy on his cheek but admitted to having slapped him on his shoulder and apologised for it.
The teacher said the boy was being “rowdy and not paying attention during class,” according to Norhafizah.
She claimed her son was deeply traumatised and was now scared to go to school.
“I don’t mind my son being reprimanded, but not to this extent,” she said.
“The teacher claimed to have slapped him on his shoulder. But how do you explain the marks on his cheek?”
The teacher has lodged a counter report denying the charge.
She alleged that the boy’s parents had defamed her by posting photographs of the boy on Facebook, complete with “slap marks”.
Northeast district police chief Supt Rahman Ahmad said initial police investigations revealed the incident took place in a  classroom.
During the incident, he said, only the teacher and the student were in the classroom as the boy was the only one who had yet to complete the task given to him.
State education director Osman Hussain said his department was investigating the matter.
Education officers have already gone to the school to meet the affected parties to resolve the issue amicably.
“It is now up to them to settle the matter amicably, failing which the only way out is to go to court,” said Osman.