A 5-year-old Georgia boy was paddled by school administrators who told his mother he would be suspended if she didn’t approve the spanking, his mom said.
Shana Marie Perez posted a videoto Facebook Wednesday morning showing the principal and assistant principal trying to hit the struggling, crying boy on his bottom with a fraternity-style paddle in Jasper County, about 60 miles southeast of Atlanta.
“Mommy, help me!” the boy, Thomas, cried out at one point in the disturbing two-minute video, retreating to his mother.
“Nope, Momma can’t help. Momma might help if she stood outside the door,” Jasper County Primary School Principal Pam Edge said. “He’s getting a spanking. He’s getting a paddling.”
School district officials are investigating the incident, though they noted corporal punishment is allowed in the district. Corporal punishment, definedby the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry as when "a supervising adult deliberately inflicts pain upon a child in response to a child's unacceptable behavior and/or inappropriate language," is legal in 19 states.
via Facebook
District officials said they're investigating but noted that corporal punishment is allowed with parental consent in Jasper County. Enlarge 
A Georgia mom posted a secretly recorded video Wednesday of an elementary school principal trying to paddle her child. Enlarge
A Georgia mom posted a secretly recorded video Wednesday of an elementary school principal trying to paddle her child.
Perez told The Atlanta-Journal Constitutionher son had tried to punch another kid and wound up spitting on a classmate before the secretly recorded encounter. She was arrested two weeks ago for truancy because Thomas missed 18 days of school this year for doctor’s appointments that should have gotten him excused, she said.
“They told me if he could not get a paddling he would have to be suspended and if he got suspended for even one day I WILL go to jail for truancy,” Perez wrote on Facebook. “I could not go to jail or my kids would have nothing.”
Representatives for the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office didn’t immediately respond Thursday night to a request for her arrest records. Edge didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Efforts to reach Perez, whose Facebook video had been viewed over 829,000 times, were not successful.
“This is pathetic, they have no right to do this what so ever, I hope this gets the news coverage it deserves,” a Facebook user wrote beneath the video.
"This is upsetting no one should lay a hand on your child. He made me wanna cry," another user said. " He was so scared."
Officials with the Jasper County School District released a statement on the district’s websitesaying they are aware of Perez’s video but cannot comment “about the specifics of this incident” due to state and federal privacy laws.