SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS Astonishing moment teacher wakes sleeping student by standing on desk and slapping him Lisa Houston, who had been teaching at the South Carolina school for 27 years, retired after the video went viral SHOCKING footage shows a US teacher slapping and pulling a sleeping student's hair while standing on his desk. Lisa Houston, who had taught at the South Carolina school for 27 years, retired after the video of her trying to wake the pupil was put online. The boy in the video, apparently filmed last month, repeatedly tries to put his head down to go back to sleep. Houston has since claimed that while the video "looks bad", her actions were taken out of context. Teacher Lisa Houston said her actions were taken out of context 'If you ask any kid I've taught, they'll tell you I kid around with them, make them stay awake and laugh with them," she said in a statement to WYFF. She added: "If you don't know the situation, you

don't know what's going on, but it was not a malicious act. It was all in fun. "I want the public to know that I love the student, and that our rapport with each other was great. I would have never done anything to hurt him." Her resignation sparked mass protests from the students who want her to be reinstated. The father of the teen in the video says neither of them asked for Houston to be punished Her resignation at Palmetto high school sparked protests from students who want her reinstated The father of the teen in the video, Julian Johnson, said neither of them asked for the teacher to be disciplined. He told Fox Carolina: "My son has nothing to do with this. He was tired and went to sleep... I didn't call for her to be fired. I wish it would go away and that it never happened." A petition defending Houston's actions claims she was wrongly accused of hurting and mistreating a student. Watch Video Below