Some parents of Rains Junior High School students are upset about a punishment that resulted in minor to injuries to several students.
Dallas-based WFAA-TV reported that about a dozen students were made by a teacher to “bear crawl” on an outdoor athletics track as punishment for “horsing around” in the bathroom. The name of the teacher, a Physical Education instructor, has not been released.
Bear-crawling is an activity designed to strengthen midsection muscles and involves crawling with only hands and feet touching the ground or floor.
Performing the exercise on the track – which had been heated by day-long sunshine and temperatures approaching 90 degrees – caused some of the students to suffer second-degree burns, WFAA reported.
Jennifer Warren, the parent of a 14-year-old boy, told WFAA that she thought the punishment was excessive.
"I just want to cry right now, because I peroxided it last night, and my son is very tough, and he had tears in his and his hands were swollen," Warren said. "Halfway through, he looked down and he could feel the blisters and him being a very respectful young man, he finished what he was asked to do."
The Rains Independent School District told WFAA that an investigation has begun and that the coach has been placed on administrative leave, the report said. He apparently doctored the boys' wounds at the school and apologized, WFAA reported.
"Certainly it's unfortunate," Rains school superintendent John Rouse told WFAA. "We are going to place our kids first, and we certainly have the safety of our students first and foremost in everything that we do."
