Fair Lawn Teacher's Berating of Student Caught on Video

A Fair Lawn High School teacher has been placed on leave after video showing a man berating a student was spread online, according to Superintendent Bruce Watson.

The man in the video is allegedly a special education teacher at Fair Lawn High, according to sources who contacted Patch. More than 10,000 people watched the clip within days of it being posted on Youtube and tens of thousands more watched it on Liveleak, another video sharing website.

The school district declined to reveal the teacher's identity.

The video appears to have been shot from a cell phone. The video shows a man berating a student for something that apparently happened before the start of the recording.  

In the video, the man seems to say: "You are a student. I am the teacher. You want to know why I said that? Because a friend of mine's sister passed away. She died. OK? Shut your mouth. Don't you ever, one second in your life, think that you're going to tell me anything. Do you understand that? Do you understand that? You don't? OK, let me help you understand it," and, raising his voice, continues, "You're my goddamn student. You get that? I'm your teacher. Don't ever tell me what to do. You get it now? Now sit down... Now go cry to your counselor."

The student's responses aren't audible in the video.

Superintendent Watson told Patch he was investigating the incident while the teacher was out on leave.

"We do not now—or ever will—condone behavior that was displayed in the video," Watson said. "Having said that, I need to complete an investigation before any conclusions are made."

Fair Lawn Board of Education policy on "inappropriate staff conduct" states that "school staff shall not make inappropriate comments to pupils or about pupils and shall not engage in inappropriate language or expression in the presence of pupils," but does not define what comments would count as "inappropriate."