Discipline Issues in Schools

[big dog cowboy]

One word: tazer

 

[SaltwaterServr]

So, I just hung up the phone with my girlfriend, Shelley, who is extremely upset. She is a new teacher down here in Pinellas County. Obviously, being a new teacher and the lack of teaching jobs to begin with, she had little to no choice as far as where she could go.

Unfortunately, she ended up at one of the worst middle schools in the state of Florida. The school year just started last week. Every new day has been worse than the previous. The kids have no respect for the teachers there. To put it in perspective, today one of the punks she had trouble with was singing a rap song at the top of his lungs during a test. He "christmas treed" the test while staring right at Shelley with the biggest grin he could muster. Blaring obscenities left and right, he was needing the attention. Shelley threatened him with sending him home, calling his parents, calling the principal, etc. Of course, as an experienced punk, he knew these were all words and there was no real threat. You can't touch kids anymore, you can't hurt the kids feelings anymore, heck even grading papers in red ink is frowned upon.

Shelley thought it would be an advantage since the guidance counselor and mentors were sitting in during the class while this all was going on. Little did Shelley know that there was nothing anyone could do about this little waste of space. She met with the guidance counselor at the end of the school day. The GC then offered to call this kid in to have a conference. Shelley was very much obliged in order to have him suspended at the very least or expelled if nothing else. As soon as Ryan (the punk) walked in, he said to write him a referral since he didn't want to be anywhere near Shelley and then went on to say that he would punch her in the mouth if he saw her tomorrow. He said this as he was walking away. The police couldn't do anything since he didn't say it to her face or have a weapon on him when the threat was made. Give...me...a...break.

The reason for this thread is to a) shed some light on what's happening in schools today (at least in Florida) and b) ask those members who are teachers what her options could be. Shelley isn't a quitter by any means but she has no idea what to do.

Any thoughts?

I'd have her file a restraining order against the kid. That'll get some attention by the media and maybe make the administration nut up with what they should be doing instead of turning a blind eye knowing the kid will be out of their piece of the system and into high school.

I can't believe what he said isn't construed as a physical threat of violence where he could be removed from the school. If she's in a contract, I'd review the living crap out of it to see what she may be able to hold the school district accountable to as far as safety standards for their employees.

 

[Concord]

Ha! Did you go to my Junior High?

Yeah I should have said Junior High.

There was no such thing as Middle school then.

 

[Concord]

So true, I was hell on wheels in Junior High & High School and if a teacher was weak, I and the other hellions pounced all over her. I fell right in line with the teachers that didn't take any crap.

It's amazing how different things are now. In gym class we had to do an exercise called 6 inches (you are lying down and have to hold your feet 6 inches off the ground for long periods of time). If you were caught letting your feet touch the ground, you had to go to the center court of the gym and everyone looked on while the coach gave you "licks" (a powerful swat on the arse with a paddles custom made from shop class. The demented soles who made these figured out if you drilled holes in them, the pain was worse). We never even thought about complaining to the principles or our families about it, it was just normal. I'm not scarred in the least from it, in fact its funny to look back on it.

My coach was so crazy, they made a movie about him:

Mr. Woodcock (http://tinyurl.com/2afh57)

:laugh2:

So true...you never even thought about complaining...cause your parents where like good...you deserved it.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

The things she tells me that she cannot do are just mind-blowing. When did America become like this? I'm only 33 so I remember being in school only a few short years ago. When I was in high school, the teachers didn't take any crap from the students.

As said before, if I received a paddle in school, I knew I'd receive the belt at home. Something happened in the late 90's or 2000's to weaken the strong arm of discipline.

It's not good. Children should be taught to respect authority. It isn't happening and now I have a girlfriend and potential wife who is nervous about having the career she always wanted and making a difference in young people's lives.

We want our child to stand up for himself. You can't just say respect authority when that authority is not respectable.

As for you wanting discipline, I guarantee if your tot came home after being belted at school, you will be first on the phone to the school district demanding that butthead teacher be fired.

 

[YosemiteSam]

If the kid threatened her it doesn't have to be to her face. *** is that police officer thinking? The police can always act on a threat of bodily harm even if it was said to someone else and not the intended victim.

I would quit and find a new job even if it has to be a different profession. There is no way I would tolerate that. I would beat the kid to a bloody pulp before I would sit through that day after day.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Ha! I remember the paddles with holes drilled in them. Ours weren't wood, they were long and made of a green fibreglass with a black rubber handle. The principal was female so the vice principal gave out the licks. He would make you go get the paddle out of the top drawer of his file cabinet.

I was in a private school before getting to kindergarten. There they used a ruler and they would swat you three times on the bare calf rather than the butt. That stung like hell! Way worse than the paddle with holes through your pants! It literally felt like the back of your leg was on fire!

 

[Doomsday101]

When I was in school you either respected the teacher or you got your butt whipped at the school and then by your folks.

Kids have no fear because they know no one is going to do a damn thing be it at school or home.

 

[YosemiteSam]

When I was in school you either respected the teacher or you got your butt whipped at the school and then by your folks.

Kids have no fear because they know no one is going to do a damn thing be it at school or home.

Personally, I think the parents should be whipped for allowing their kids to act like that.

I don't see anything wrong with *properly* applied corporal punishment.

 

[Doomsday101]

We want our child to stand up for himself. You can't just say respect authority when that authority is not respectable.

As for you wanting discipline, I guarantee if your tot came home after being belted at school, you will be first on the phone to the school district demanding that butthead teacher be fired.

You’re wrong not everyone feels that way and to add to it the kids will pull as much as they want to when they know you’re afraid to do anything about it.

 

[Khartun]

When I was in middle school if you did stuff like that you were getting a big old swat with a special hole drilled paddle so it could swing through the air faster to smack your ***.

You would think twice about doing whatever you were doing again.

And believe it or not...we all lived...graduated...went to college...got jobs...got married and lived normal lives.

Society didn't crumble.

I remember it well. It had the added bonus of leaving huge round welps. LOL.

 

[Aikmaniac]

We want our child to stand up for himself. You can't just say respect authority when that authority is not respectable.

As for you wanting discipline, I guarantee if your tot came home after being belted at school, you will be first on the phone to the school district demanding that butthead teacher be fired.

There's a clear contrast between standing up for yourself and respecting authority.

So if your kid was acting in this manner, what would you expect a teacher to do?

If my tot came home and I was told me he was dropping F bombs at the teacher, threatened to punch her in the face, disrupted class, etc. I'd be the first on the phone asking why he wasn't smacked harder.

 

[Doomsday101]

Personally, I think the parents should be whipped for allowing their kids to act like that.

I don't see anything wrong with *properly* applied corporal punishment.

Nor do I, it worked on many of us. I'm not talking child abuse but yeah a good spanking will catch their attention. As I said when I messed up the principal got his licks in, my coach then got his in and Parents when I got home.

 

[burmafrd]

First she should talk to the local DA. She was threatened with witnesses present with physical violence. The Restraining order is a good idea. I am willing to bet most judges will not have a problem with that.

But she should certainly take action.


No surprise at all that CCF occupies La la land here as elsewhere.

 

[Aikmaniac]

Thanks for the input everyone.

Apparently, this punk is high on weed half the time as well.

*sigh*

 

[Fizziksman]

past: student has to respect teacher.

now: teacher has to respect student.

 

[arglebargle]

As a self identified 'one of the worst middle schools in Florida', you all were expecting it to be something different?

Sounds to me like some folks up the chain aren't handling business. No way that should have gone on with experianced staff auditing. Add in probable dysfunctional families for some of the kids. Though, of course, some of the kids are just jerks.

Also, the symptoms of adolescense and steroid abuse are remarkably similiar.

 

[CowboyMcCoy]

We had a few kids like this when I was in HS. Of course, I joked too. But my teachers liked me and I kept it cool for the most part. However, some of the guys were like the guy you describe here. One ended up killing a cab driver. The other was on a sex offender list I was looking at on the iphone. It's a crazy world. I only hope they separate this student from her class. My hunch is a male teacher would have a different impact. Yet I do know some kids are literally impossible.

 

[CowboyMcCoy]

Thanks for the input everyone.

Apparently, this punk is high on weed half the time as well.

*sigh*

That's probably not the problem in and of itself. My guess is he is poor and has a terrible home life. Plus he has bad taste in music.

 

[Hostile]

Tell her to make friends with the biggest, meanest football players in the school. Offer them extra credit points every time they police their own peers who try to disrupt her class.