When Richland County Senior Deputy Ben Fields came into a classroom at Spring Valley High School in response to a student who quietly and calmly refused to leave the room, the officer was caught on camera violently ripping the student from her desk, slamming her to the ground and tossing her across the room.

Officer Fields has been fired but the student in the video faces a charge of disturbing schools and another female student faces the same charge after allegedly standing up for her.

I worked in this school district for 22 years and after watching the video and the behavior of this officer, it's clear that these charges must be dropped.

This incident must be something that students, teachers, and police can learn from. That won't happen if two students are facing criminal charges. Schools are places of learning for young people who will sometimes act up -- that's always been the case.

It used to be that teachers, administrators, and parents could work these problems out but today we see these situations escalated by involving police officers and arresting young people.

Please join me in calling on these charges to be dropped.