A Vancouver high school teacher has been suspended for putting a student in a headlock, causing the 15-year-old girl to pass out.
Weldon Cheung was teaching a physical education class when the incident happened in May 2017, according to a decision by the B.C. Teacher Regulation Branch (TRB).
One student, a female, asked Cheung if he would be teaching students how to escape from a headlock.
That’s when Cheung put her in a headlock so tight she couldn’t breathe. She later passed out.
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On May 30, 2017, Cheung told his Grade 10 physical education class that he wanted to teach self-defense in an elective course.
The female student then asked about headlocks.
Cheung responded that if a man like him were to place her in a headlock, then she wouldn’t be able to escape.
He then asked her to stand, and put her in a headlock, the decision said.
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The student said the hold was tight enough that she wasn’t able to breathe; she struggled and grabbed at the teacher’s forearms.
Cheung didn’t release her, he tightened his grip. He then pulled the student backwards and both of them fell.
The student lost consciousness after they fell, the decision noted. She later said she felt sore in her shoulders and neck.
Cheung didn’t seek out any help from the school’s First Aid attendant. He also didn’t tell the administration or the student’s parents about the incident.
Not the only incident
And this wasn’t the only incident involving Cheung.
Earlier that month, Cheung asked the very same student to demonstrate a proper curl-up.
As she did this, Cheung hit her in the stomach numerous times with a closed fist. He also made comments along the lines of, “if clients don’t do this right, this is what I do.”
He then said that if the exercise was done correctly, with the muscles flexed, then the punching wouldn’t hurt.
Cheung received a letter of discipline from the Vancouver school district and was suspended without pay for 10 days in September.
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But there was yet another incident involving Cheung that happened years prior.
He received a letter of discipline in February 2011 after he encouraged a student to carry on with a weight training class by making reference to “unrelated and inappropriate hypothetical situations, using inappropriate language about the student’s relationship with her boyfriend and referring to his own personal life and sexual relationships,” the decision said.
Months later, Cheung and the B.C. College of Teachers signed an agreement in which he agreed to a reprimand.
Cheung has signed another agreement in connection with the incidents that happened last year.
In it, he agreed to a two-week suspension of his teaching certificate that would take place this month.
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