A gym teacher from a Vancouver high school has been suspended after putting a Grade 10 student in a headlock until she lost consciousness.
According to documents from the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation, Weldon Cheung never bothered to tell the school's administration or the girl's parents what happened. He also didn't seek help from the first aid attendant.
The incident began after Cheung told his physical education class he was thinking about teaching an elective course in self-defence back in May 2017.
"[A student] asked if he would be teaching people how to get out of a headlock," the documents read. "Cheung's response was that if a man like him put her in a headlock, she would not be able to get out."
He then asked the girl, identified in the documents as Student A, to stand up and executed the restraining method on her.
"Student A described the hold as being so tight that she could not breathe, causing her to struggle and panic and grab at Chueng's forearms," the commissioner found. "Cheung then pulled Student A backwards, causing both of them to fall to the ground. After she fell, Student A lost consciousness."
The student later reported feeling soreness in her neck and shoulders.
Cheung was involved in a separate incident with the same girl two weeks earlier where he hit her in the stomach as she was trying to demonstrate the proper technique for a curl-up position.
The teacher explained that "if the exercise is done properly, the muscles are flexed and the punching does not hurt," according to the documents. The girl was left with bruises on her abdomen.
Cheung, who was previously disciplined for having an inappropriate conversation with a student about his sex life in 2011, was initially suspended for 10 days without pay. He was later given another two-week suspension, which began on Jan. 8.
