Video shows NJ teacher throw boy to ground, restrain him: ‘You could tell he was in pain’

WEST ORANGE, N.J. (PIX11) — A New Jersey family claims staff members at their son’s school abused him.

Surveillance video obtained by PIX11 News shows 11-year-old Zaire Smith being restrained and taken down to the floor. The child was held in the same position, according to the video that goes on for more than 13 minutes.

Zaire has autism and ADHD. His mother, Niasia Smith, said the school also tried to cover up what happened.

“It was very hard to watch my son on the floor, his legs kicking out. And if you could zoom in on his face, he squinching his eyes and his fingers pointed out, and you could tell he was in pain. And I felt that,” Smith said.

The family said Zaire was taken to a special room inside Mount Carmel Guild Academy in West Orange after he became emotional. Instead of calming down the child, a staff member’s behavior amplified the situation, according to the family.

Zaire said he could not breathe, his face was down, and his hands were being held behind his back.

The incident happened in April. PIX11 made several attempts to reach the school for comment, but they did not respond to the emails.

Mount Carmel Guild Academy has been teaching students with disabilities for more than 51 years, according to its website.

Psychologist Dr. Jeffrey Gardere watched the video and said the situation could have been handled differently.

“From what I can see, this was a child who felt perhaps completely overwhelmed by the individuals around him. The way that he was treated in that way, taken down in that way, I think was certainly a shock to his system. When you have a child, any child, whether they’re on the spectrum or not, who’s feeling deregulated, who’s feeling anger, we have to remember that is a child. And so we need to address whatever aggressiveness we see, not with aggressiveness,” Gardere said.

At one point in the video, you can see Zaire throw a chair. It hits a wall, then falls back on a teacher. That’s apparently how things escalated.

The child was left with a rug burn on his face and had other bruises, his mother said.

The family has an attorney and plans on filing a lawsuit. Last week, they also met with members of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

“I feel like they could have spoken to him,” Smith said. “They could have used a de-escalation verbally. It didn’t have to escalate to where someone had to physically assault my son. They didn’t have to do that.”

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