Teacher charged for forcibly cutting child's hair while shouting national anthem

A US school teacher has lost her job and faces numerous criminal charges after she was filmed cutting a boy’s hair in front of a classroom full of shocked students while shouting parts of the American national anthem.

Margaret Gieszinger, 52, who was working at University Preparatory High School in Visalia, California, is heard shouting “take a seat” at a student, in the video clip which was posted to Reddit.

She sits the boy on a stool at the front of the room and begins to indiscriminately chop off large chunks of his hair, throwing them over her shoulder as she belts out parts of the first stanza of the Star Spangled Banner.

When the boy gets up, she shouts “next”, and demands another student volunteers for the same treatment, threatening “or I’ll pick you out”.

She moves into the room, holding the scissors, and after one girl runs out of the room, she seizes another girl by her long hair and raising the scissors high above her head begins screaming more lines from the anthem.

The girl frees herself and at this point all the students run from the classroom.

Ms Gieszinger faces six criminal misdemeanour charges, one count of false imprisonment, two counts of cruelty to a child, two counts of battery, and one count of assault.

She could serve up to three and a half years in prison if she is convicted on all charges, according to the Tulare County district attorney’s office.

She has been released from jail after posting bail of $100,000 and is due to appear in court in the near future.

Witnesses told CNN’s KFSN news outlet Ms Gieszinger had arrived at the chemistry class brandishing a pair of scissors and saying it was “haircut day”.

The incident came to an end when one student reportedly ran to the main office to ask for help.

KFSN also spoke to Ms Gieszinger’s husband who reportedly said such behaviour was out of character.

He said: “She doesn’t do stuff like that. It’s not her. It’s not who she is. So I don’t know what was going on with her. I don’t have any clue as to why she did that.”

One student who spoke to local news outlet the Visalia Times Delta also said Ms Gieszinger’s behaviour was unusual.

She said: “When everything was going on I was terrified, and I so badly wanted to blame her. I was scared she was going to come back.

“What she did to my classmates and I is inexcusable. I am not trying to make excuses for her, I simply ask everyone to reconsider how they view her. She is a loving and kind lady. She is usually all smiles and laughs. This is not the Miss G we know and love.”