A history teacher at Schrade Middle School in Rowlett, Texas has been suspended because he lassoed a seventh-grader with a lariat.
The unnamed teacher had some roping experience and wanted to teach students some basic lasso techniques that cowboys use on cattle drives, reports KHOU. He sought volunteers from the class, asked them to run, and then roped a 13-year-old student — around the neck.
The student suffered bruises on his neck as a result. The boy’s distraught parents say that the bruises had gotten worse after a day, reports WFAA.
“[The teacher] was visiting with the students, telling the students about how Cowboys would corral maverick steers back into the herd,” Chris Moore, a school district representative, told the ABC affiliate.
Moore said he didn’t think the teacher had intended to act cruelly.
“It was not malicious. It was not intentional,” he said, according to The Dallas Morning News. “But it was very poor judgment.”
The teacher is troubled by the injury he caused, KHOU notes. He has reportedly said he will never lasso students like cattle again.
The Garland Independent School District is investigating the incident. The suspension of the teacher is reportedly precautionary.
The Rowlett Police Department is also considering criminal charges against the teacher.