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Students appear to taunt, record Lynn teacher's outburst in class

LYNN, Mass. — Students in Lynn Classical High School appear to be taunting and filming a 9th grade teacher in class on Wednesday afternoon.

The English teacher's turned up tone and visible frustration was the center of amusement for the students, who can be seen smiling and filming her after class was over.

"It was pretty disturbing," said Donna Kennedy, a parent.

Several students said that what the video doesn’t show is the ongoing, blatant disrespect the kids in the classroom showed toward this teacher.

"Oh my gosh these kids are like tormenting her," said Gavin Kennedy, a sophomore at the school. "They have no respect for this woman. All the kids around the school are saying you should have respect for your teachers."

Students who weren't in the classroom say the behavior had to have been prompted by something else, some saying the teacher has never acted in such a way.

"Somebody must have broken her," said Skylar Atkinson, a graduate from the school who knows the teacher. "It’s really sad to see kids pick on her like this because she’s never acted like that."

In a statement, Lynn Public Schools Superintendent Patrick Tutwiler responded to the incident:

"Student and staff physical and emotional safety is our foremost priority. All current and next steps are toward ensuring those ends. As this is a personnel matter, I cannot comment further."

"Instead of blaming the system, maybe parents should take responsibility for their children’s actions once in a while," said Al Ricko, whose children graduated from Lynn schools. "This could’ve been something going on for months and months and months that caused her to step off the edge."

It’s unclear if any disciplinary action has been taken in this case.

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