Across the Hall From My Classroom -- Yesterday

I wasn't in school yesterday because I had to take care of some personal business. Now the sheepdog in me wishes I'd been there.

Apparently a teacher (male, nice guy very gentle) got into a conflict with a female student in the morning. He tried to break up an argument between two other kids and this female got mildly pushed in the process. Whereupon she SMACKS the teacher on the spot! He does nothing 'cause he's too scared. Later on after normal school hours (but only just) he's in his room grading papers like I often do. He goes to lock and go home when he is suddenly hit in the head from behind so hard he goes face down. The girl had returned with her family. Mom, dad, brother they all jump on this poor little sheep with total commitment to destroy. Result? Perps get away (no security or cops anywhere in sight) and the teacher lands in the hospital .... With his jaw busted in two places.

I heard about this and man was I [expletive deleted!] Now as I understand it, this guy, the teacher, had just zero class room management skills. The kids ran his room and they ran him. So he was almost a disaster waiting to happen. I've never had any sort of an issue in my room. Today a kid got mad at me and stormed from the room after throwing a book to the floor. I got the impression she wanted to smack me, to which I smiled my most evil smile and softly offered her my chin, but she didn't bite. ~SIGH~ She left. She's obviously smarter than she seems on the surface. She sure knows how to work the system. But so do I and for more years than she's been alive. I got going on my paperwork and by noon she was out of my class. Not out of the school, but I got what I wanted.

This ATTACK yesterday, it could have been any of us. It could have involved a weapon and in fact there was a shooting yesterday just a block south of the school but it was apparently not related to the attack on the teacher. We had an armed car jacker last school year take a teacher's car from the faculty lot! That one was in condition white as well. I think that's because of ExSoldier's Rules for Personal Survival.

RULE #1: Go home alive and unharmed at the end of your work day! I'll take whatever action is required to adhere to this rule and my students know it. :twak::twak:They've all seen my military photo album (including pix from recent IDPA matches & recent pix of my Aikido classes). But just because the kids seem to get the message on me, there's no accounting for the stupidity of family. Stupid is as stupid does. So I never let my guard drop, EVER.:scruntiny:

I don't know what can be done about this situation. I think teachers should be allowed TASERS or Chemical sprays at the very least. :rant:A handgun wouldn't have been much help in this situation since he was taken by ambush essentially and although the number of attackers might justify use of deadly force, I doubt such use would have been supported by state law. A Taser would be a wonderful deterrent, though. That loud fryin' bacon :image035:sound will put the skids on any kid's violent impulses PDQ!:buttkick:

Things are going from bad to worse very quickly. I hope the teacher you mentioned will press charges and I hope the school will back him up.

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Originally Posted by Gunnutty

Things are going from bad to worse very quickly. I hope the teacher you mentioned will press charges and I hope the school will back him up.

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The faculty wasn't even officially notified of the attack!:hand1: The teacher is a scared little mouse who wouldn't hurt a fly, but he got swatted himself. I hope he sues, but I don't know how far he'll get given the financial disaster the district is suffering.

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Originally Posted by ExSoldier

The faculty wasn't even officially notified of the attack!:hand1: The teacher is a scared little mouse who wouldn't hurt a fly, but he got swatted himself. I hope he sues, but I don't know how far he'll get given the financial disaster the district is suffering.

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Well if he doesn't have the courage to stand the district can't do much. Since the kids were pretty well running the class before , if he doesn't stand he might as well quit. He will have no respect at all.

Exsolider:

Do you teach in a really ruff school distract or are the kids just a bunch of animals or both ? You just got done writing to my post about carrying in the work place and dealing with HR.

Do cops patrol the school ?, Do you have a gang problem ?

Ex:

Heads up! On a Swivel!

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Originally Posted by mi2az

Exsolider:

Do you teach in a really ruff school distract or are the kids just a bunch of animals or both ? You just got done writing to my post about carrying in the work place and dealing with HR.

Do cops patrol the school ?, Do you have a gang problem ?

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Let me put it this way: A couple of years ago my school (I teach in the 4th largest school district in the nation) led the whole county in outdoor suspensions for violence. Over 7,000; yes, that's SEVEN THOUSAND kids put on outdoor suspension FOR VIOLENCE when our school population was only about 1,800. Probably the same 100 kids, too. Gangs? You bet. MS13 operates just 6 blocks from school and we've got tons of locals.

I've had dozens of former students put in prison for homicide, armed robbery and drug trafficking. Others just got killed. The kids for the most part are really good kids. They're struggling to do well in school to get into a decent college. Our school sends a small number of really gifted kids to Ivy League schools. Last year I had the pleasure of teaching the top 15 students in the senior class in my AP American Government class.

Yes we have punks all over the place. Some are as stupid as a bag of hammers and they know it. So they make trouble. The liberal teachers and administrators just roll over for them giving them 3rd 4th 5th and 150th chances to "straighten up." Yeah right.

We have security and a female fat cop that shows up at free food for faculty lunches and nowhere else. Her nails are so long I don't think she can draw her Glock without an accidental discharge. Useless.

Sounds like its time to get certified for TAZERS.

At least you could have some mechanism to stop an attack without even touching them.

Thats really sad that teachers have to put up with that stuff. It reminds me when I went to a Detroit School System. Staff, administration feared to rock the boat with the really bad kids since they were afraid of a race war, Detroit just got done with the 1967 riots a few years earlier and they did not want a repeat, plus they were looking to save their jobs until they can retire

These kids who don't care spoil it for the ones who do. Its a shame

Good luck to you, maybe you can switch school systems

Jeez. Great way to make an often thankless job even more miserable. First off, kudos to you exsoldier for taking such a difficult job.

But second, I have to take issue with the prevalent 'tone' on this thread regarding the victim. Although ALL of the blame lies on the child and the family, seems like people are jumping on the teacher, too. Not everyone is programmed to be assertive. We can't all be alpha-males (or females as the case may be) or there wouldn't be such a thing as sheeple. He's the one that was injured here unprovoked.

I certainly hope he does press charges, for his sake and for the rest of the faculty. These adolescent punks and their good-for-nothing families need to be sent a message. But, in fear of retribution, I can see why he may balk.
Let us know how this all plays out.

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Originally Posted by bonehead

But second, I have to take issue with the prevalent 'tone' on this thread regarding the victim. Although ALL of the blame lies on the child and the family, seems like people are jumping on the teacher, too. Not everyone is programmed to be assertive. We can't all be alpha-males (or females as the case may be) or there wouldn't be such a thing as sheeple. He's the one that was injured here unprovoked.

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My posts were not meant to put the blame for the assault on the teacher. That blame lies at the feet of the perps. However it was stated that the kids were already running his classes.
This teacher like it or not is going to have to get his students respect. What he does here will determine whether or not he does that.
As for being assertive that is a choice we all have to make.

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Originally Posted by bonehead

Jeez. Great way to make an often thankless job even more miserable. First off, kudos to you exsoldier for taking such a difficult job.

But second, I have to take issue with the prevalent 'tone' on this thread regarding the victim. Although ALL of the blame lies on the child and the family, seems like people are jumping on the teacher, too. Not everyone is programmed to be assertive. We can't all be alpha-males (or females as the case may be) or there wouldn't be such a thing as sheeple. He's the one that was injured here unprovoked.

I certainly hope he does press charges, for his sake and for the rest of the faculty. These adolescent punks and their good-for-nothing families need to be sent a message. But, in fear of retribution, I can see why he may balk. Let us know how this all plays out.

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You're absolutely correct. The sheepdogs (us) cannot and must not blame the sheep when they are preyed upon by wolves. They can't help their condition especially if they're older and more set in their liberal ways. They are what they are and we can't put one iota of "blame" on them.

Good news, I just checked my school e-mail from here at home and we finally got official notification from the administration and it said two students have been arrested with plans to arrest two adults as well. Safety plans will be reviewed with faculty and teachers who will remain in the building after hours must notify administration so security can be detailed to the area. All that is good.:bier:

But I spoke to one of my friend's tonight and she said she just had a student removed from her class because he violated his PAROLE. She had no idea and that is a clear violation of state law. I wonder if a teacher has to die before they take it seriously? This happens continuously. I had a kid last year couldn't make it to class because she had a preliminary hearing on a charge of attempted murder to explain to the system. They'd not only let her out on bail, she was in my classroom! I was never notified. It's only a matter of time before this happens again. :dead:

I know this: It ain't gonna be me! I'm always in condition yellow at work and I often border on condition Orange just on a gut feeling if my spidey sense gets tingly. I refuse to be victimized by anybody. :ticking:

Somebody opens the door to violence with me they'll see just how fast an exsoldier's skills get brought back online fully functional and deadly. It's always there for me. Way I see it, folks can be civil and polite around me and they'll get the same. But open the door to violence with me and I'll give the threat JUNGLE all the way. Once violence has been initiated, nobody can gripe if they get more violence than they bargained for. :nutkick:

The kids know it too. They tend to steer clear of me. Little girl today knew better than to attack me. She stomped out and I wrote her up. My first referral of the year. I don't write them casually so mine have more weight downstairs. :argue:

At my other inner city school, I didn't write a single referral for FOUR years, preferring to handle discipline issues myself. I have excellent classroom control. But when I finally did write one the kid was EXPELLED on the spot. The feeling was that if I thought it was serious enough to write the referral, the kid must be a potential serial killer, so get him outta there! My referrals have the force of nuclear bombs. :banned:

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Originally Posted by ExSoldier

You're absolutely correct. The sheepdogs (us) cannot and must not blame the sheep when they are preyed upon by wolves. They can't help their condition especially if they're older and more set in their liberal ways. They are what they are and we can't put one iota of "blame" on them.

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I guess your right Ex, it is in their genes. Bred to be a sheep, born one and after being sheared their whole life die for mutton stew.:gah:

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Originally Posted by Gunnutty

My posts were not meant to put the blame for the assault on the teacher. That blame lies at the feet of the perps. However it was stated that the kids were already running his classes. This teacher like it or not is going to have to get his students respect. What he does here will determine whether or not he does that. As for being assertive that is a choice we all have to make.

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You're right about that, too. But this is more a failure of the district and school administration. They've got to be taught from the moment they enter the classroom. I wasn't taught, not really. I had a mentor but my real role model was my wife who taught at my first school site. Plus that was a school in a "good area" with not much crime.

My experience in the inner city has been successful in LARGE part because of my experiences in the military as an Infantry Captain and in state law enforcement. In the inner city a former Parole Officer/Probation Officer has a lot of clout. lol. The wolves sense a sheepdog. They're not into personal risk.

Exsoldier: thanks for your (seemingly) tireless work teaching these kids. Education is important for everyone.