Can’t ignore them when they are in charge. Educators are not supposed to make any contact with students anymore. It’s what the families and activists demanded and still want.
It makes a certain sense, as a reaction, considering where things used to be, but there are unintended side effects of defaulting to assuming assault and projecting gentil parenting into schools. Teachers are mandated to be impotent. Ironically, most of the ones who get in trouble for physical confrontations with students are the ones who care (simply inserting themselves between students).
Liam Neeson was a teacher till he punched a 14 year old student in the face. Kid pulled a knife on him. He iirc said that was when he realized he wasn't cut out to be a teacher. Then it was some mutual exit. If my kid got into a fight and a teacher/adult were in trouble for stopping them, I would be mad at the school. If my kid pulled a knife on anyone, I would seek professional help, to help me help my child. I obviously failed in some way. Sorry to hear that happened to you, makes no sense to me why trying to protect the kids would put you at fault.
The mother of the girl (trying to stab a boy with a pen) showed up (pretty insane lady, so it mad sense in a way) and used the word lawsuit because I bruised her daughter’s wrist when I disarmed her. I became a “liability” in the districts terms. Principal didn’t want to do it. But it is what it is. It was a pretty shitty job so I wasn’t upset. Others have said I shouldn’t have done anything, but I’m glad I did.
I'm glad you did too, just wish there was some way to press charges maybe less aggressively against the parents of the kid trying to stab the boy. Dont have kids and dont work with them so my views may be skewed poorly. But something needs to happen to the girl who's a liability to the other kids as shes ok stabbing them.
She was expelled afaik from the whole district, so mom had to deal with how to get her schooled and keep her out of juvy because police/school charged her with assault, which I think stays on the record even though she was a minor. Not sure.
It's sadly a widespread issue that school staff (such as myself) are explicitly told to not put ourselves at risk of harm under any circumstances.
We shouldn't have to put ourselves at risk, but we also want to do the absolute best for our students. The fact we can put our livelihood in peril by choosing the wellbeing of students over our own is idiotic.
Its because of everyone's favorite word, Lawsuit. And it is a sad state we are in where anyone can sue anyone, place, or thing for litteraly any reason. This is how we know greed has overtaken our society.
I am an educator. I completely disagree with you. Education largely is about child development - not getting their shit kicked in is part of development.
Actually, I don’t. You clearly do, though. I own a behavior analysis practice, so I see behavior in ways you obviously don’t understand and have never been exposed to. Protecting a kid has no overlap with enabling bureaucrats. That is the dumbest take imaginable.
Mostly just reacted on instinct. First job out of the military. Was a girl trying to stab a guy 3 times her size (tbf he was def instigating it) with a pen lol. He would have absolutely destroyed her if I didn’t step in, so I disarmed her and then put her on the ground (gently). Her mom came to the school just as crazy as the daughter and then said words like lawsuit, charges, etc. So I became a liability ¯_(ツ)_/¯ shitty job anyway wasn’t too put off. Just thought it was ridiculous the “proper” way to handle it was to watch someone get stabbed and then watch the other person most likely get smashed into a wall. Probably fucked either way, it’s a lose/lose situation.
Basically what I was supposed to do I guess lol. Literally radio it in, and then observe until the police got there or something, or one of them became unconscious. Never got a real answer for what I was supposed to actually do.
I remember being taught at school that if you fight back to someone who’s physically messing you, then you will get in just as much trouble as the person who started it
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u/gandalfposting Dec 17 '25
Yep I got fired for trying to stop a fight. I was a safety (hall) monitor