A California school teacher is facing six criminal charges after footage emerged of her forcibly cutting a student’s hair while singing the US national anthem.
Margaret Gieszinger, 52, was arrested after a video posted to Reddit showed her telling a student to “take a seat” before “cutting chunks of the boy’s hair and tossing them behind her” while belting out incorrect lyrics to The Star Spangled Banner, the Associated Press reports.
The science teacher is also seen walking up to a female student as someone shouts “No, Miss G”. She then grabs the teenage girl’s hair and lifts the scissors into the air as youngsters “run for the exit”, Sky News says.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
One boy who witnessed the incident at University Preparatory High School, in Visalia, told local news broadcaster KFSN-TV that students initially thought Gieszinger was joking but “ran to the main office for help” when they realised she wasn’t.
“I hope I never have to see her at school again,” he added.
Gieszinger is facing one count of false imprisonment, two counts of cruelty to a child, two counts of battery, and one count of assault. If convicted of all the charges, she could serve up to three-and-a-half years in prison, CNN says.
She was released from jail on Friday evening after posting $100,000 (£79,000) bail and has been ordered to stay at least 100 yards (300ft) away from the school, where she had been working part-time since August. The school has confirmed that she will not be returning.
The Tulare County Office of Education said students affected by the incident were being offered counselling. “We take very seriously the safety of the students in classrooms. We are reviewing all available information and will take the most severe employment action appropriate,” the authority said in a statement.
Gieszinger’s husband told CNN that her behaviour had been “completely out of character”, adding: “She doesn’t do stuff like that. It’s not her. It’s not who she is. So I don’t know what was going on with her. I don’t have any clue as to why she did that.”
-
Shohei Ohtani is caught in a financial controversy — againIn the Spotlight The controversy concerns Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo
-
A descent into academic Hell, a ferocious feminist fable and the adult debut of a beloved children's authorThe Week Recommends August books include R.F. Kuang's 'Katabasis,' Xenobe Purvis' 'The Hounding' and Louis Sachar's 'The Magician of Tiger Castle'
-
What is an upside-down car loan and how do you get out of it?the explainer This happens when the outstanding balance on a car loan exceeds the vehicle's worth
-
Book club takes 28 years to read novelTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
State Farm stops insuring California homes, citing rising risk of wildfiresSpeed Read
-
The art of poetry is alive and well in South Los AngelesSpeed Read
-
Possible tornado touches down east of Los AngelesSpeed Read
-
San Francisco to introduce $5M-per-person reparations plan for Black peopleSpeed Read
-
8 dead after suspected smuggling boats capsize off San Diego coastSpeed Read
-
Winter storms lift parts of California out of drought conditionsSpeed Read
-
Parole denied for RFK assassin Sirhan SirhanSpeed Read
