“I couldn’t do anything to stop them,” she added.

Perez told NBC affiliate WXIA that the incident amounted to abuse and that she’s considering legal action.

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The video, which has been shared nearly 60,000 times, was filmed Wednesday and shows the principal and the assistant principal of Jasper County Primary School in Monticello, Ga., attempting to bend the boy over a chair and spank him with a long wooden paddle as he resists and pleads for help. Perez, who pretended to be texting, filmed two more videos showing the altercation, which eventually resulted in the boy being paddled, according to NBC News.

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In response to the videos, the Jasper County School District posted a statement on its website last week saying the district is barred by state and federal law from commenting on the details of the incident.

“The District respects every student’s right to privacy,” the statement said. “However, we can speak generally about the District’s code of conduct which allows corporal punishment as one of the consequences for behavior. That code of conduct is provided to all parents. When corporal punishment is used, it is with parental consent.”

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“The District is investigating the incident and looking into its discipline policies at this time,” the statement added.

The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office released a statement in response to the controversy on their Facebook page.

Perez told WXIA that the incident was the culmination of an ongoing dispute she has had with her son’s principal over his spotty attendance record. She claims a medical problem has resulted in the boy missing 18 days of school this year, but administrators had her arrested for truancy, the station reported.

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When her son faced punishment for a disciplinary problem that arose last week, she told the station, administrators informed her that if she attempted to stop them from paddling her son, the boy would be suspended. Perez was out on bond when the incident occurred and feared that a suspension would land her behind bars, which would force her to miss work and be unable to take care of her children.

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Perez told WXIA that she declined at the beginning of the year to give school administrators permission to use corporal punishment. She said that when she met with administrators last week to discuss the recent disciplinary issue, she felt helpless to stop administrators from paddling her son. She called what happened “emotionally devastating.”

If she could go back, she said, she would have stopped the paddling — regardless of the possibility of landing in jail.

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“I feel like she manipulated me,” Perez told the station, referring to the principal. “She knew that I was scared. She kept saying he couldn’t miss any more days of school.”

“She said nothing is going to stop him — not a timeout, not an ISS, nothing but a paddle — because he doesn’t have a consequence at school.”

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The most widely shared video shows Principal Pam Edge and the assistant principal, Lynn McElheney, attempting to hold Thomas down while they calmly tell him that he’s going to be paddled.

McElheney tells Thomas that they will hit him only once on the buttocks.

“Unless you wiggle around,” Edge adds.

While they struggle to keep Thomas still, he screams and squirms before appealing to his mother.

“Mommy, help me,” he cries.