Chicago Public Schools responded Monday after a years-old video of students appearing to harass a substitute teacher at a city school went viral on social media.
"The safety of students and staff is our top priority at Chicago Public Schools, and the behavior in this video is completely unacceptable," CPS said in a statement. "Over the past four years, CPS has worked hard to provide all schools with restorative justice and social and emotional learning supports, both of which are shown to reduce misconducts and keep at-risk students connected to their school communities."
The video that started popping up on Facebook over the weekend was filmed at Chicago Vocational Career Academy in 2011, and shows a group of teens swearing and acting violently toward a substitute teacher.
Students are seen throwing things at the teacher, and one is held back by a fellow student while trying to attack the teacher for asking his name. At one point, a student is seen picking up a desk and threatening to hit the teacher with it.
The video was viewed more than 2 million times and received more than 54,000 shares on Facebook. It was also posted to the website Live Leak, where it received more than 115,000 views and hundreds of shares in less than 18 hours.
Officials said the video was filmed prior to the arrival of the school’s current principal and the teacher shown in the video has not worked at the school for a number of years. The students involved have also not attended the school in years.
CPS implemented restorative justice and social and emotional learning resources in 2014.
