Extracurricular Activities

A teacher in Thailand was captured on film beating a 14-year-old student and bashing his head against a blackboard, sparking national outrage and pledges Tuesday from education officials to crack down on corporal punishment in classrooms.

The 50-second clip, filmed by a classmate using a mobile phone, was broadcast Monday on a nationally televised morning news program.

"Are you really going to stop!" the male teacher shouted at the student, gripping the boy's neck in a choke hold and whacking his head repeatedly, according to the footage obtained by The Associated Press.

"I won't do it anymore," the boy screamed after the teacher slammed his head at least four times against the blackboard as his classmates watched, occasionally giggling.

The student had forgotten a textbook and the teacher reprimanded him, prompting the boy to sound off with profanities at the teacher who then flew into a rage, said the school's director Srithai Damrongrat.

The classmate who filmed it showed the clip to a neighbor who was so outraged he brought it to the headquarters of Thailand's Channel 3 television station.

Education Minister Jurin Laksanawisit announced Tuesday that the teacher had resigned and an investigation was under way to determine whether he should face criminal charges.

I couldn't find that "beating", but I did find these: