Female students were forced to do “bear crawls” as a punishment at a North Texas middle school, resulting in several injuries and complaints.
Three coaches at Crandall Middle School, part of the Crandall Independent School District some 20 miles southeast of Dallas, were put on administrative leave after they made more than 80 eighth-grade girls do the exercise on artificial turf for an extended period of time.
Bear crawls are an exercise where a person crawls with their weight borne on their palms and toes.
Students took pictures of the injuries they suffered, including blisters and severe abrasions — injuries which they allegedly showed to the coaches who were supervising the discipline. At least 10 students filed complaints, according to Fox 4.
The punishment was reportedly meted out because at least some of the girls were disruptive, tardy, or had violated the dress code.
Separate investigations are being conducted by both school officials and the school system’s police department.
“We are extremely concerned and are conducting a thorough investigation to determine the very best way to respond. We want our parents and community to be assured that our staff works hard every day to protect our students in the educational environment,” claimed the district’s interim superintendent, AJ Murray, per Fox 4.
Crandall ISD is not the only North Texas school system to make the news over staff behavior resulting in student injury.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, a coach and hall monitor at a Dallas ISD high school was arrested last month after he punched a 17-year-old student in the face. The employee was charged with assault, but students still protested the district and called for increased transparency.
Respondents to a recent poll conducted by The Dallas Express further suggested that Dallas ISD suffers from a lack of transparency, with a majority of parents surveyed agreeing when asked whether they support the idea of their local public school system being more transparent.
As of Friday evening, there have been no media reports indicating that any of the three Crandall ISD coaches have been charged with a crime by local authorities.
