Video: Barnstable High School teacher throws student into filing cabinet while breaking up fight

A Barnstable High School teacher was placed on administrative leave on Thursday after he grabbed a student and threw him to the ground, causing him to hit his head on a filing cabinet, as he intervened in an altercation between two students.

The incident was caught on video and made the rounds on social media, according to WHDH.

In a statement, Barnstable Superintendent Meg Mayo-Brown and BHS Administrator-in-Charge Kristen Harmon said the incident happened around 8:15 a.m.

The two administrators said the teacher “inappropriately physically intervened in a matter between two students.”

“The teacher exhibited actions contrary to the values and expectations of Barnstable Public Schools, and has been placed on administrative leave,” the statement says. “The incident is under investigation and BPS will take appropriate steps based on the outcome of the inquiry.”

The teacher’s name has not been made public.

Caleb Jones, a student who witnessed the incident, told WHDH the two students were playing around with rulers in art class.

“They were fooling around until one hit the other too hard and then it got into something else,” he said.

The altercation escalated when the teacher got involved, Jones said.

“The teacher caught up with him and he grabbed him viciously and like, pulled him over and he went flying into the filing cabinet,” he told the news outlet.

The student who was thrown down sat on the floor in pain afterwards, Jones said.

“He just let him sit there,” he said. “He got up and he was really hurt. He was crying at his desk for a good 10 minutes until we decided to walk him out.”

Friends helped the student to the nurse’s office, according to Jones.

“The teacher was just walking around like it was fine,” he told WHDH.

According to the news station, Barnstable police are assisting the district in its investigation.

“I think this was terrible. It was not right at all,” Jones said. “I don’t like to see teachers do that to my friends.”

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