Unruly students

Georgia -- So, you're a teacher for special needs children and you're having a couple of unruly students in your class.

Two disruptive, teenage students refuse to return to their seats - what do you do? That's simple, you just pepper spray them.

At least that ways the solution one female Bibb County teacher used recently in her classroom, according to 41nbc.com.

This really makes me wonder if she was only having a permanent brain meltdown or simply had lost it temporarily.

At least it goes to show that a lot of teachers unfortunately don't have the skills or training needed to control potential violent conflicts and other similar problems at school.

Teacher self-defense?

There's probably more to this story than what you can read from a media rapport - it usually is. Even so, it seems like this teacher A. has a serious anger management problem, and B. needs to learn some basic conflict management and control techniques.
Yes a 10-year-old child can absolutely do some harm to an adult, but come on... Do you seriously need a neck restraint technique or a choke hold to control a situation like this? Absolutely not if you know what you're doing.
Another discussion is the possible use of force by teachers. In my book there may be situations where such a need may arise. But again, you really must know what you're doing. And of course, any type of force should always be kept as the very last resort. There are no winners in a situation like this!

Story:

New York -- A 58-year-old substitute gym teacher allegedly put a 10-year-old student in a chokehold when the two got in an argument over a game of dodgeball in New Rochelle, according to wten.com.

Police said the teacher apparently called the student 'a big baby' and a 'crybaby' after they began arguing about a call.

The boy reportedly threw a punch but missed. The teacher then grabbed the boy by the back of the neck and dragged him across the gym floor. Police said the boy was held in a chokehold when he tried to break free.

The student was taken to a hospital with neck and back pain. The substitute teacher claimed he acted in self-defense.

More school violence

Here are three individual cases, each pointing to the huge - and vastly un- or under reported - problem of violence towards teachers.
One of the reports says: "Teachers and campus officials probably shun police reports and prosecution because they don't want to hurt the child or taint the school."

January 25, thedailyitemoflynn.com reported from Lynn, Massachusetts about a high school disciplinary meeting which turned violent.
The 20-year-old sister of a suspended student physically assaulted two teachers and threatened several others, according to the report.

January 28, dailytribune.com had a story from Oak Park, Michigan about a 17-year-old high school student being charged as an adult.
The teenager was reportedly accused of assaulting a female teacher, and the teacher says violence and threats at the school are increasing.

Then on January 29, ajc.com had an article about a female teacher from Lilburn, Georgia.
The experienced teacher was blindsided by a 12-year-old middle school student. "It was a beatdown", the newspaper says.

Hazards at work, 44

Being hit by the student is bad. Hitting back is plain stupid. Could this retaliation have been avoided with a little knowledge and training? Quite probably.
Another thing is that the teacher really should have seen the punch coming. The pushing is a tell tale sign of escalation - in other words: a major red flag. Even more so when this student has what they call a "record of behavior issues"

Story:
Louisiana -- An 18-year-old student finished a test Tuesday and then shoved it in the teacher's chest. The 10th-grade teacher told her to take it back and hand it to him nicely, officials said. She shoved it in his chest again, school officials said, so the teacher repeated his request.

District officials said that on the final time, though, she threw the test in his face and followed up with a punch. He hit her back, officials said.

The 20-year teaching veteran was suspended with pay, and the student has been suspended indefinitely. The student has a record of behavior issues, according to the school district.

Source

Hazards at work, 42

Jamaica -- Three male students allegedly attempted to rape a female teacher at a Kingston high School yesterday.

A source said the teacher was taking a Grade 10 class in a building to the back of the school, called 'the temple', when the boys - the only ones who had turned up for the class - reportedly started saying things which made the teacher feel uncomfortable.

The teacher reportedly set the afternoon's work on the board and started to leave, but was allegedly blocked by the boys.

"One of them held her hands behind her and another held her around her waist, she literally had to fight her way from them," the source said, adding that the teacher was so distraught, she had been crying all afternoon.

Source

Hazards at work, 41

And of course any teacher who lay hands on these "poor kids" would find themselves in trouble, right?

Story:
Yet another teacher was assaulted at violence-plagued West Philadelphia High School - the seventh in two weeks and at least the 18th this school year.

Around 11 a.m., a trash fire was set in an unoccupied classroom, one in a series of small blazes set by students in protest of the removal of the principal this week.

Students were evacuated and when one teacher tried to tell students to get off a car, a ninth-grade girl punched him in the jaw, police said. Another girl and a boy also tried to hit the 53-year-old teacher, a long-term substitute.

Source

"Poor kid"

Sweden -- How dare these pesky teachers harass a "poor kid" like this. Since the kids are allowed to do exactly as they please at home, they sure can't expect to do less at school, right?

So, we must consider if this 45-year-old teacher had it coming when he told a 19-year-old student to remove his caps in class.

The student probably had a bad hair day, so he assaulted the nagging teacher, trying to choke him (probably just trying to get him to "shut the f*** up").

The poor, helpless, freezing kid - being shown so little respect - was arrested by police.

Seriously, how are these youngsters brought up at home?

Hazards at work, 32

Story 1:
A 15-year-old girl punched her teacher 10 times in the face and chest Tuesday morning after the teacher tried to take her cell phone away, police and MPS officials said.

A stricter ban on cell phones went into effect last month in Milwaukee Public Schools after several students used their phones to call outsiders to participate in fights.

Police said the student at Fritsche Middle School's LEAP program was talking on the phone during class when the teacher, a 54-year-old female, tried to confiscate it.

She wound up with a "chipped tooth and pain and redness in the face," an MPS spokeswoman said.

---

Story 2:
Another Philadelphia schoolteacher has been the victim of a vicious attack by students.
Joseph Smith, a teacher at the Deburgos School in North Philadelphia, said on Thursday he was attacked by a 14-year-old girl.

"Our kids have no belief and respect, no respect. There's no respect for authority," Smith said.

He was attacked after he said a 14-year-old female student grabbed a classroom phone to make prank calls and refused to stop. Smith said the girl hit him with the telephone and then hit him again with a dictionary, before more students joined in on the attack.

The attack comes a week after a Germantown High School teacher had his neck broken allegedly by two students.

Another teacher told NBC 10 News that his jaw was broken by a student at West Philadelphia High School in November.

The beatings come as a new report on violence in Philadelphia schools is released.

Source 1
Source 2

Entering your car

Entering you house or your car is the moment you should be aware - unfortunately many are not. We are often preoccupied by things we are going to do, rather than what we are doing right there and then.
Criminals are aware of the fact, and may strike at that point.

Story:
Indiana -- Police on Wednesday night released a composite sketch of a male they believe raped, robbed and carjacked an Indianapolis woman this week and had received numerous tips after that release.

The woman told police that she had just returned to her car in a downtown parking garage after work Monday when a male approached her, told her he had a weapon and forced her to drive him to a bank. The attacker made her withdraw money and raped her before she escaped, police said.

Also Wednesday, police said they're checking similarities between Monday's rape and an unsolved rape of a teacher in 2006.

Police said the teacher had just entered her car to leave the Sycamore School in April when a male entered the vehicle, pulled out a gun and told her to drive.

The gunman forced the teacher to drive to a nearby neighborhood before sexually assaulting her in the car, police said. Then they drove to a bank, where he made her withdraw money from an automated teller machine, police said.

They then drove to a different school and raped her in the car, according to police. The gunman then left the teacher, taking the money, her driver's license and her cell phone.

Source

The second ordeal

In short: Read this story! It is about the need to come forward, and the - sometimes enormous - pressure that a victim/witness may face in a court of law.

Story:
A traumatised victim of a child-molesting teacher told last night of her second ordeal - helping bring him to justice.

The woman, now in her 40s, said giving evidence in court brought back the full horror of the abuse.

Fighting back tears, the woman told how her cross-examination by the defence barrister had left her feeling "isolated, violated and bullied".

She said: "The experience of being a witness, cross-examined in a very challenging and adversarial manner by the defending barrister, has had a significant impact on me. His attempts to discredit me and my occupation, has reopened old wounds and hurts."

During the trial, the defending barrister accused her of inventing the allegations because of an infatuation with him, and she broke down several times.

Source

Not (really) assaulted

It's quite typical how many (if not most) teachers, social workers, nurses, doctors and others in similar professions tend to view some forms of verbal and physical harassment/violence as "nothing serious".

Each episode may not be that damaging, but we tend to forget two major things:
1. The sum of all the episodes may add up to be simply too much to handle.
2. If we accept the "lesser incidents", then we are opening the flood-gates for more serious situations.

This article is from 2002, but it shows what many teachers have to deal with on a daily basis. And this will continue as long as teachers are not allowed to use any form of force what-so-ever, plus being skilled in keeping control - visually, mentally, verbally, non-verbally, strategically and physically.

Story:
She has been kicked, bitten, scratched, pushed and hit - but the Doncaster primary school teacher does not consider she has been assaulted.

It is all part of the job nowadays, she says - "water off a duck's back".

Proposing the motion - which was passed unanimously - The teacher told delegates at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers conference that teachers' human rights were breached on a daily basis as they grew to accept verbal and physical attacks.

Source

Another suicide

You must read this article by Esther Rantzen about bullying! It is disturbing and sad, to say the least.
It really is one of the great mysteries of life, how utterly cruel people, young as well as old, can be towards one another.

Story:
"The National Union of Teachers has just conducted a survey which found that women teachers are often confronted by classroom louts who abuse them with sexual jibes. The NUT says it heard 'some horrible stories'."

"In Weston-super-Mare I met Barry, a young man with Asperger's, a form of autism. He had been bullied at school for five years and became shy, withdrawn and friendless. Exhausted physically and mentally by being used as a punch-bag, he learned martial arts. Once the bullies realised he could defend himself, the physical bullying stopped. But he is still the target of taunts and name-calling in the street."

Source

Hazards at work, 3

The political correctness has got to stop. This is utter stupidity!

Story:
Scotland -- A school teacher has been suspended after an alleged classroom attack - in which he was the victim.

School bosses did not punish the teenager who allegedly kicked maths master Mike Barile and tried to head-butt him in front of a crowd of other youngsters.

But when the furious 49-year-old teacher complained about the lack of action, they ordered him to go home.

Police are now investigating the alleged attack and Mr Barile's colleagues and pupils' parents are furious about his suspension.

School rules meant Mr Barile, a teacher for 25 years, was not allowed to touch the pupil.

Source

A low kick

Here's a tell-tale about the effect of using kicks - low kicks.
Though we all tend to agree that it's not the best course of action to fight back against a mugger, anyone can understand how tempting it is to do just that. People have been killed or seriously hurt after trying to defend their possessions.
Luckily this woman was not injured.

Story:
Ohio -- Police in Manchester says a local school teacher was attempting to go to her car, to go to work, when she was approached by a masked male subject that attempted to grab her purse.

The woman fought off the attacker who, along with a possible second participant ran away after the woman allegedly kicked the original attacker in the knee.

Source

Violent students

A teacher friend of mine says it is no wonder that a lot of his colleagues get into trouble.
In his opinion many of them - most of them female teachers unforunately - has no natural authority at all, and as such little or no control over the teaching environment.

Story:
Australia -- Teachers have been karate-kicked, punched, headbutted, sprayed with acid (!) and attacked with weapons in a disturbing range of assaults by violent students in NSW public schools.

There are more than 60 attacks on teachers in the past six months alone - including several in their own homes.

The growing threat to teacher safety has led to State Government plans for the most dangerous students to be sent home for tuition in addition to the option of placement in behaviour schools.

The crackdown on anti-teacher violence follows a 16-year-old student from Randwick Boys High School appearing in Bidura Children's Court for allegedly choking a female teacher on June 19.

Source

'That'll teacher'

There are lots of conflicts and violence directed at teachers, and still very few, unfortunately learn how to protect themselves.
Do they need to learn self-defense? Absolutely not - there are conflict management skills involving positioning, zoning, evasion, distancing, defusing, distracting, pacing etc. that can be learned - and used - by anyone!
This is not by any means an attempt to blame this teacher for being attacked - the perpetrator is always to blame for his/her actions!

Story:
A 16-year-old high school student has been suspended and charged with assault after allegedly choking his female teacher in a classroom attack. Police have also taken out an interim apprehended violence order against the student on the 24-year-old teacher's behalf.

The alleged incident occurred shortly after the school bell rang at 3 p.m. on Monday at a high school in Sydney, known for its excellence in mathematics.

It is understood it will be alleged the male student tried to throttle the teacher, but police yesterday would not reveal what led to the alleged assault.

Source

Teachers, role models

Wow - great role models for the kids; I'm impressed!
I guess zero tollerance is for students only?

Story:
A Dallas teacher who attacked a colleague inside her classroom while students watched was sentenced to six months in jail.

On the witness stand hoping to avoid punishment of up to 10 years in prison, the woman sought to minimize her responsibility for the April 2005 attack. She said that student witnesses had exaggerated their testimony and that school district employees who testified against her were "sticking together."

Seventh-grade science teacher Mary Oliver suffered a concussion, two broken ribs and a neck injury in the incident at the Oak Lawn school, but the assailant said she only recalled hitting Ms. Oliver once and "maybe making contact" when she kicked her a single time as she was being escorted from the classroom.

Source

Six young fighters

And obviously great friends.
Brave, young ladies, I take my hat of to you all!

Story:
The attempted abduction happened at Schafer Park, which is near the elementary in northeast Denver, during the girls' gym class. As Palmira's classmates ran around the park, she lagged behind them.

When the 10-year-old girl passed a portable toilet, a man stepped out, grabbed her arm and tried to snatch her. Palmira screamed, prompting her friends to kick into action.

"We didn't want our best friend to leave us," Sandra said. "We had to help our friend."

As the girls pummeled the suspect, he pushed one to the ground and let go of Palmira. One of the other girls shoved back and the man fell down. The six girls then ran back to school to find a teacher.

Source

"Didn't see it coming"

Being:
a) a karate teacher
b) an experienced police officer
c) strong
d) sober
is no guarantee when you dive head first into a brawl.

Be careful Grasshopper - these people seldom fight without backup (friends and weapons)!

Story:
Canada: An off-duty policeman was disfigured by an assailant who repeatedly kicked him in the face while he was attempting to act as a peacemaker in a brawl that broke out in a Chateauguay restaurant last Feb. 26.

Two men were fighting. The policeman restrained a third individual who was trying to hit one of the two combatants with a pool cue. A fourth man then hit the policeman in the face.

The police officer fell to the ground and the individual repeatedly kicked him in the face.

The policeman said he never saw it coming.

Source

Risky business

Working with conflict and violent behavior management, I can assure you that physical violence, threats, intimidation and harassment at work is a huge problem in some occupations.
Many times these are problems that goes on without proper reports being filed.
It also should be noted that there are few that has proper training to deal with these sorts of negative behaviors and potential harmful occurrences.

These occupations include nurses, doctors, prison personnel, clergymen (!), teachers, police, doormen/bouncers, sales reps, agents, parking attendants, security personnel, social security workers, as well as many others.

This story about real estate agents should give you an idea about the potential dangers some people are facing.