A school teacher in California was arrested after being caught on video cutting a student’s hair in class while belting out “The Star Spangled Banner.” The student claims the surprise grooming was not consensual.
Viral video of the song-and-scissors attack swiftly took to the ether on Wednesday.
In the must-be-seen-to-be-believed footage, 52-year-old Margaret Gieszinger instructs a male student to sit in a seat at the front of the class. She then says:
Okay, I want everybody to rise. Rise. This is how we do it.
At this point, Gieszinger begins chopping away–flamboyantly tossing chunks of hair behind her for what appears to be an intentional attempt at dramatic effect.
“What the hell?” the boy says out loud as he jumps out of the seat–realizing that he’s actually being given a hair cut in front of his entire chemistry class by a teacher singing song lyrics written in 1814. Gieszinger tells the student that “he’s not done” before demanding that he “take a seat.” The boy reluctantly obliges as his teacher resumes the national anthem and chops a few more times.
Gieszinger then raises her hand and beckons for additional victims.
“Next? I’m not done,” she insists. “Next? Next?! Then I pick you out.”
No one seems interested so the teacher points to a female student with long hair. She then appears to walk forward and grab the girl’s hair before attempting to cut it. The girl reportedly escaped unscathed before the classroom quickly descended into a state of ordered chaos and perilous flight, with students scrambling for the door.
The bizarre incident reportedly occurred during Gieszinger’s first period chemistry class. She started the festivities off by announcing that it was hair cut day with a pair of scissors in hand, according to students cited by Fresno ABC affiliate KFSN-TV 30.
Gieszinger’s class at first thought the whole thing was a joke. Apparently it wasn’t.
One unnamed student told the outlet:
We think she’s going to try to be funny and be like ‘Oh did you really think I was going to cut his hair?’ But she did cut a hair off, and she started singing the Star Spangled Banner and she was singing it really loudly as she ceremoniously tossed a chunk of hair behind her. I hope I never have to see her at the school again, because I know for a fact I can never see her as a respectable authority figure in my life.
According to the Visalia Times Delta, the College of the Sequoias District Police responded to the incident at University Preparatory High School in Visalia, California on Wednesday and arrested Gieszinger on suspicion of felony child endangerment after the videos spread on social media.
Her bail was set at $100,000.
[image via screengrab]
Follow Colin Kalmbacher on Twitter: @colinkalmbacher
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