I guess I shouldn't have trouble believing there are some posters here, it hasn't occurred to them this "teacher" was extremely violent long before she entered that classroom. She was hovering over the student, the student was trapped in her desk. You don't put fear or flight into a kid. You keep your distance. Of course the kid took a swing. Many of you would have taken that swing, at least in your brave heads.
Yes, the sub clearly violated that student’s personal space and should have expected some sort of reaction from the student. Probably thought the student would go the ‘flight’ route when intimidated, but clearly that didn’t happen. Regardless, the sub’s violation still doesn’t negate the student’s culpability in throwing the first punch. The student should face consequences, too.
That said, the discussion moved towards an overall agreement that today’s teachers have no recourse in their classrooms, where teacher-student interactions potentially involve discipline. Doesn’t matter if it’s a school in an impoverished district or one in a wealthy district, the consensus is that administrations do not support teachers when discipline issues arise in the classroom.
IMO, the problems many of today’s teachers face regarding classroom management will persist unless
parents reinstate earlier positions of teacher support. Also, as it is right now, many parents seem to not trust administrators in regard to how their
own kids are treated at school. The recent wave of parent lawsuits against school districts has led many administrators to buckle under heavy parent pressure to
not allow teachers to discipline
their children (which, in the end, means
all children).
So, the question remains: With no parent or administrative support regarding classroom management and discipline, what’s a teacher to do when dealing with an unruly (whether spoiled or neglected) student in the classroom? Even punishments such as old-school detentions are now frowned upon by many of today’s parents (and, therefore, administrations). Doesn’t seem like anyone’s figured out an answer yet. ?