A school officer punched a 17-year-old student in the leg and held her down by her ponytail at a high school in Pennsylvania.

The video posted on social media last Monday (February 4), shows school officers restricting two students by pinning their arms behind their back at Hazleton Area High School.

One of the students can be heard yelling: "Let me go", when being lead away from the cafeteria.

The school district police chief told a local TV station that the officers were attempting to de-escalate the situation, and are being criticized on social media for handling the students too roughly.