Controversial video shows school principal paddling kindergarten student

A Georgia mother videoed her five-year-old son as he was being bent over a chair by school officials who were attempting to paddle him.

Five-year-old Thomas Perez can be seen wailing in the video and trying to escape the paddling at Jasper County Primary School as his mother records the whole thing. 

Shana Perez posted the video on Facebook. The video, which has sparked outrage from other parents, shows Thomas being held by two school officials as he yells and cries for his mother's help.

Perez said her son was being punished for misbehaving. 

She told FOX 5 that he 'tried to hit another child' and he also 'tried to run around the school lot and they were all trying to stop him'

Perez added that school administrators said her son 'spit on somebody'.

Thomas' mother said she consented to the paddling because she felt pressured since she had previously been arrested for truancy after Thomas had missed 18 days, according to FOX 5. 

She said he was absent because he was being checked after symptoms which falsely pointed to cancer surfaced. 

The principal gave her two options for his punishment, either suspended him or have him paddled. 

Perez told FOX 5 that she believed she would have gone back to jail for another day for truancy if Thomas was out of school.

Jasper County Sheriff Donnie Pope said Perez had been previously arrested for truancy, but was not under a threat of being rearrested.

'She said she was under the assumption that if she had another unexcused absence she would go back to jail, but she could not corroborate that the school told her that,' said Pope.

Pope said deputies conducted a preliminary criminal investigation into the paddling of Thomas. 

Perez (pictured) said Thomas (right) 'tried to hit another child' and he also 'spit on another child'. She said she consented to the paddling because she felt pressured since she had previously been arrested for truancy after Thomas had missed 18 days

The superintendent issued a brief statement online saying the district is not allowed to comment on the specifics of the incident but is investigating

'We were not able to determine any crime had been committed. It is not a crime in Georgia to have corporal punishment; the school has a policy for corporal punishment,' Pope told FOX 5.

Perez said she is considering legal action and will seek the advice of an attoey.

She told WSB-TV that if she could go back she wouldn't have allowed them to paddle her son. 

'I would've just grabbed him up and said "no you can't paddle him, just go ahead and take me to jail."'  

The superintendent issued a brief statement online saying the district is not allowed to comment on the specifics of the incident but is investigating.

'The Jasper County School District is aware of the video released by Ms. Perez. Unfortunately, the District is barred by State and Federal law from commenting about the specifics of this incident. 

The statement continues to say that the District's code of conduct 'allows corporal punishment as one of the consequences for behavior'. 

The District said that the 'code of conduct is provided to all parents' and when corporal punishment is used, it is with parental consent'.