An 18-year-old student at Matanzas High School faces a felony battery charge after being accused of hitting a faculty member who was trying to break up a fight the student was involved in Friday morning.
Charmia Jackson, of Buttonwood Lane in Palm Coast, was booked at the Flagler County jail on a charge of battery on a public or private education employee, a third degree felony, after surveillance video showed her allegedly hitting Jodi Mulvihill, the dean of students in back of her head with a closed fist, though Jackson was apparently aiming for another student, not for the dean. The incident took place in the dean’s office, where the two fighting students had been referred.
A school resource officer had noticed the fight moments earlier, when it was taking place in another place in the school. Jackson, according to her arrest report, was cursing at a 17-year-old girl. The officer directed one of the girls to wait for him in his office, and took Jackson aside to speak with him. She was “highly upset and would not calm down,” the officer reported, but eventually explained that the other girl had upset her by talking about her. The officer “escorted” Jackson to the dean’s office “for further investigation.”
Once there, the dean told the officer of Jackson’s alleged strike to the back of her head. The report suggests but does not explicitly state that the strike took place before the officer saw the two students in their altercation. When the officer reviewed the video surveillance of the incident, he could see the 17-year-old walk up to Jackson and start arguing with her, with another student trying to pull Jackson away from the 17 year old. That’s when the dean intervened, to pull the two students apart. Jackson “throws a punch toward” the 17 year old, the report states, “and strikes Dean Mulvihill in the back of the head.”
Jackson was placed under arrest and booked, but released without bond. Her felony arraignment before Circuit Judge J. David Walsh is on Dec. 8.
David B says
Do what we use to do back when I was in school. Send us down to the gym, put the gloves on us, and let us go at it.
Check Yourself says
Before we get the same old double standard observations lets not forget what this kid did to this Flagler County Deputy and fellow student. Flaglerlive covered the story Youtube has the video.
https://flaglerlive.com/27520/matanzas-head-butt/
BIG JOHN says
Stop the Zero Tolerance policy that criminalizes students for fights at school. It is not a good solution to have students who have fist fights be charged as felons. Give the kids a break….after all, weren’t we all stupid at that age?
Scott says
Ridiculous. Not to mention disgraceful. They’ve turned a teenage scrap into a permanent criminal record. I hope they’re proud of themselves. Wait…they are. Utter fools, and proud of it.
retired says
Not the fight that was the reason for the charges. Read the damn story. She punched a Dean of students in the back of the head.
Outsider says
Well, we can thank the Southern Povery Law Center’s threatened lawsuit for these incidents. My child is attending Buddy Taylor Middle School for the first time this year. She says there are fights every day, and the vast majority involve black kids beating each other up. One fight a couple of weeks ago involved one student pulling a knife on another, and in another a larger kid body slammed a small kid on a cafeteria table. The SPLC has tied the administrators’ hands when it comes to discipline, the kids know it and they are ruining our schools. The teachers there seemed resigned to this behavior and seem somewhat demoralized. Go ahead and flame away, but you can’t change the facts.
Outsider says
Great idea, David B,, but we both know that will never happen with the lawyers running the country.
Lancer says
Only on Flaglerlive would people actually try and defend the kid!!!
What unbelievable enablers!
Anonymous says
This young woman (at 18, she is no longer a child) obviously has some problems that need further evaluation. Rather than taking one extreme or the other, and saying “lock her up and throw away the key” or “poor little lamb, cut her break and give her the benefit of the doubt”, let’s be sensible and get her the help she needs to get her impulses and her anger under control. She may have a serious psychiatric issue.
Veteran says
She hit the Dean accidentally. Punch was meant for another student. Think suspension is the appropriate punishment.
Fredrick says
Anonymous…. how can you say she is not a child?? Micheal Brown was just a poor misunderstood teenager (insert 8th grade picture here). Doesn’t the same apply here?
YankeeExPat says
Punching people?
Way back in another time and place, I was suspended from Grammar school for having my hair too long. The Pastor of the Parochial school I attended walked me to a Barber Shop and gave me a dime to call my Mother to bring $3.00 for the cut so I could return to class the next day. For the next four years I had a Crew cut a week before the school year started.
Outsider says
Yankee, welcome to the the new world where poor behavior can no longer be punished. Now we live in a society where young people have no respect for authority or each other, and this incident is the perfect example of what results.
Anonymous says
You can choose to simply punish, which will probably only exacerbate her anger issues, or you can model some intelligent behavior to our youngsters and actually try to get to the bottom of what’s wrong and try to solve the problem, hopefully for good. Your choice.
THE VOICE OF REASON says
The overriding factor here is what would they have done if she’d connected with the 17-year-old instead of the authority figure?
It seems evident that was her intent, and that she had no intent to hit the dean.
Would they have filed a felony charge if she’d hit the other girl? Appears not, judging from the comments attesting to the proliferation of fights in the schools.
On the other hand, they have to know that hitting an authority figure — even accidentally — cannot be tolerated. So I think whatever the punishment would have been for hitting the 17-year-old, but doubled.
Jack Howell, PhD says
I taught high school for 13 years as a Senior Marine Instructor. I taught in inner city schools and my First Sergeant and I had the opportunity to break up several fights before any of the kids got hurt. However, once I did get a direct punch in the face. The kid that threw the punch was 18 years old. I immediately went into a defensive position and when he went to strike me again, I knocked him out cold. I was not going to put up with this crap. The teens today are well mannered for the most part. However, every now and then you have to deal with a by product of zero to poor parenting. That’s just the way it is today. They don’t tell you that in Teacher Education classes.
By the way, the outcome of my handling of the situation above was that I requested no charges be filed on the kid. He apologized to me as did his parents, I got to befriend him and enlist him in the United States Marine Corps. Today, he is a Captain of Marines and has a Masters Degree!
Outsider says
Good for you, Jack. Unfortunately, if you did that today you would be in jail, a video of you beating up the “poor kid” would be all over the Internet, and you would be forced to apologize for your outrageous behavior. It sounds like you dished out a healthy dose of respect, and in return you changed someone’s life. Again, the problem is there is no respect anymore, and the liberals running the system are more concerned with saving the kids’ self esteem than worrying about a less physically capable teacher getting pummeled. My hat’s off to you, sir!
Carol says
Love the story Jack, thank you for sharing
Geezer says
A thick skull helps a great deal here. Wow, that’s a first.
jp says
This is unheard of in Japan. USA is a failed state.