An angry father was caught on camera when he barged into his daughter’s classroom, making demands. As one might imagine, it didn’t end well.
When Aaron Thomas, a 38-year-old New Jersey father, walked into his daughter’s high school and barged into her classroom, at least one onlooker was quick to whip out their camera, capturing the angry dad on video as he began to make demands. Within seconds, it was evident that the dad had arrived at Paulsboro High School in Gloucester County, New Jersey, to engage in a confrontation after his daughter had allegedly been mistreated.
“You got a problem with my daughter?” Thomas is heard asking a teenager in the video that was later posted to Instagram, according to the NY Post. “Apologize to my daughter,” he tells the boy, whom the outlet describes as a “frightened child.” The teen responds, telling Thomas he “didn’t do nothing to her,” but the angry dad doesn’t seem to accept that answer. Instead, his voice grows louder and more adamant.
“You heard what the f– I said. Apologize to my daughter — now,” Thomas demands as he confronts the teenage boy. The fed-up father’s barrage continues for more than a minute before another adult finally intervenes, hoping to de-escalate the situation. The unnamed adult puts his hand on Thomas’s back and attempts to escort him from the classroom as the dad begins to verbally spar with a second student.
“It’s not worth it,” the adult tells Thomas, who “apparently laughs at the fact that he left the first teenager ‘shaking,'” according to the Post. Unfortunately, Thomas doesn’t heed the other adult’s warning. Instead, he is seen making some sort of physical contact with the second student before he walks out of the classroom and leaves the school property. But, things were far from over for the fed-up father.
After Aaron Thomas left, Paulsboro High School’s head of security was notified about the incident. After another three hours, school officials finally called the cops, according to NJ Advance Media. Although it remained unclear who let Thomas into the classroom or how he tracked down the student with whom his daughter was having a dispute, it was determined that Thomas was at the school to sign out his daughter after she had encountered an issue with the boy over photos that were being shared with others.
It was also discovered that, when Thomas entered the classroom, the teacher did not have his school radio within reach. So, instead of radioing for help from security, the teacher tried to defuse the situation by speaking to the aggravated father directly as he tried to lead Thomas out of the classroom. As we know, this didn’t go as planned. Police allege that Thomas grabbed a student’s arm when he was seen on video footage “making some sort of physical contact with the second student.”
After barging into the classroom to yell at a teenage boy and grabbing another student by the arm, Aaron Thomas was arrested and charged with simple assault, making terroristic threats, trespassing, and disorderly conduct. Although the dad was released, the judge ordered that he have no contact with the students involved or their families. Meanwhile, the 15-year-old boy whom Thomas confronted was back in class. However, he was allegedly forced to leave school after receiving anonymous threats on his cellphone, his parents said.
Dismissing the notion that Thomas was simply trying to defend his daughter from their son, the teenage boy’s parents condemned school officials for failing to swiftly respond to the incident while their son was being berated by the angry dad. Claiming that their child is “totally distraught,” they said they were considering pulling him out of the public school district.
“We’re talking about two 15-year-old children doing children nonsense and a father taking matters into his own hands,” the boy’s father said. “And not to mention how the teacher in the classroom stood there idly by watching as this all happened,” he continued. “And then they say, ‘Dad defends daughter,'” he said of those who came to Thomas’ defense. “No, Dad was a coward.”
The school district sent a letter to parents, saying school officials were cooperating with the police investigation and had “communicated with all involved parties.” Although Acting Superintendent Phillip C. Neff said he could not release additional details, he issued a statement, insisting that the safety and security of staff and students was “paramount” and promising to “reflect and analyze” the school’s “current practices” to “strengthen the district’s safety and security procedures” and ensure the schools were “a safe place for all students and staff.”
Meanwhile, as the teenage boy’s dad alleged, many have come to Aaron Thomas’s defense and have even applauded his actions. While the Post referred to the dad as “overprotective,” commenters on YouTube seemed to feel differently, with the vast majority heaping praise on Thomas. Some even suggested he deserved an award or medal, while others laid blame on the teenage boy’s parents, saying, “Parents don’t teach kids about respect.”
While being interviewed for a news report on the ordeal, some locals suggested that Aaron Thomas should have taken his concerns to school officials. However, social media users overwhelmingly seemed to agree that schools and teachers ignore bullying, saying the dad did what he had to do to send his daughter’s tormenter a message.
But, whether you agree with Aaron Thomas or not, this incident does point to a more important issue. While bullying needs to be addressed, we can’t ignore the fact that an angry adult made their way into a classroom with children. Thankfully, this dad didn’t have more disastrous or even deadly intent. However, that might not be the case next time. So, while we may have varying opinions on proper parenting and whether or not confronting a teenager is a good idea, we should all agree that our schools need to better protect our children.
It should be downright disturbing to us all that a grown man, who was obviously angered, not only made his way into the school but also into a classroom where students were defenseless. What’s more, there was a delay in notifying security. Making matters worse, it was another three hours before authorities were notified. Now, imagine if this were a school shooter instead of just a fed-up father. Do you have chills? You should.
