Monday, March 23, 2015

10 year old student facing criminal charges

Anonymous wrote:

"New Post Please. 

The thread on Administrators is too long and has gone off topic to discipline. Some of the later comments were on desks and punches thrown. Here is from channel 11 news today. A fifth grader with assault and other charges. I told ya it happens. Not every day, but it does happen. 

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/mother-says-school-security-guard-slapped-her-10-y/nkc3F/ 
"

10 comments:

Questioner said...

The news report mentions felony and criminal charges! For a 10 year old! Could this be a way to justify the guard allegedly slapping the student?

Anonymous said...

From the article: "As the security guard tried to restrain her, the girl allegedly spit in her face and pulled her hair at which point the guard pushed the girl away from her, school officials said."

It's bad enough to be spit in the face, but if someone is violently pulling my hair, I do believe I'd slap her to get her to stop. A punch would be an obvious over-reaction, and a push alone probably wouldn't cause the girl to release.

By all accounts, this was a violent child, not just an excited child. No one should have to just stand there and let their hair be yanked at.

But here's the key question. Did the guard slap the girl as the girl was pulling the guard's hair? If so, the guard is not at fault.

But if the slap came before or after the pulling, the guard is in trouble.

This is a sad situation all
around.



Anonymous said...

Security guards has to go to special training for how to to approach and restrain a student,the question is did this guard in this situation have training for this type of incident my point I disregard the slap before or after the student spit in security guard face did the security guard have any kind of training !!!!!!!!! That's what the focus should be what kind of TRAINING recieve meaning the training teaches how to grab and restrain a student when excited as you call there is a process also the mental aspect as part of job in how you react to emotional students another thing the guard may over react not I don't know!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

i am confused. is this an intermediate building or an elementary building? how does pps decide which buildings get to have security on site? the sequence of events is important for understanding. in this case how would restorative practices work?

i would have preferred that the child had not been identified, but that train left the station. the story will grow with her and the desks get bigger in higher grades.

Anonymous said...

SPECIAL TRAINING?!?!?! What special training is necessary to deal with expected NORMAL societal behavior. This child is 10 years old and should KNOW better than to spit at ANYONE!! Isn't that our job to prepare our students to be successful in our society and to function. If this were to happen out on the street, I can only imagine what would happen. I applaud PPS for filing charges. This child not only endangered herself, but other adults and students. Kudos PPS...perhaps if more charges were filed against the students AND their parents for this outrageous behavior, PPS could rise again to the top. On a side note, I wonder what would have happened had this child spit on Dr. Lane or pulled her hair....hmmmm...

Anonymous said...


what happened to the human beings in that shuffle?

wrap your arms around this 10 year old,tightly, until everyone cools themselves out and the child literally relaxes in your arms.

sit down and talk about what just happened with the whole class.

this is restorative practice but
you won't find it in the manual.

if we get so efficient ... if we have to turn off all the vibrations of the scene... because we're so busy... it costs too much.

Questioner said...

These days teachers would probably be very leery about wrapping their arms around a student.

The school would probably need a designated, pre-approved hugger.

Anonymous said...

9:59, get your head out of your back-side. 'Wrapping your arms" around any student will only considered to be either an assault or some form of corporal punishment.
Either way, the board and the PFT will not only hang you out to dry, but they will assist in in your prosecution. Under no circumstances should a teacher put his/her hands on a student. Let me tell you, the self defense theory is very thin ice. An administrator has a better chance of getting away with it, but only to a point. Restraining a student should only be done by security. If a teacher or classroom aid get involved, you better be prepared to show that serious harm or injury to another person was imminent. You are always better to let that student go and get the others to safety.

Anonymous said...

"Restraining a student should only be done by security."

Very well said, 10:54.

I'd make only one possible exception to that otherwise firm rule. If a student was doing extreme physical damage to another person, I'd have to move in.

I'm a PPS teacher, and I've had to do that maybe five times in my career. Nothing so unusual there. And it got me hurt once. Again, nothing so unusual there.

And based on my experience, I certainly wouldn't blame any teacher who chose not to intervene in an extreme fight situation.

And no teacher should ever intervene in a lesser situation. Students throwing books, desks, screaming down the hallway, whatever...protect the innocent and let security handle the rest.

Anonymous said...

Where were school police? They never get spit on or hit and make a lot more than security.