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Mar
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Teacher safety can’t be taken for granted
Filed Under SOS for Teachers, The Way I See It, The way I see it
Although, I’ve never really thought too much about my personal safety at work, maybe I should. Just recently, I had two fights in my classroom that I had to deal with. I was so worried about the kids getting hurt, I didn’t really think about my safety. Maybe I should. A female teacher I know was recently assaulted and threatened with death by a student at her school. I try not to think about that, but maybe I should. Reading the following in the Philadelphia Inquirer forced me think about teacher safety:
In the midst of criticism of its handling of teacher assaults, the Philadelphia School District yesterday announced a crackdown, including the immediate establishment of a teacher safety hotline and more stringent penalties for offenders…
There were 489 reports of teacher assaults this year through Feb. 28 and 141 arrests, the district said…
Any student 10 or older who assaults a staff member or threatens an assault will be suspended for 10 days and recommended for expulsion
There will be no debate or discussion. The student will be suspended immediately.
The announcement followed a serious teacher assault at Germantown High School last month and subsequent allegations by teachers that not all violent acts in the 173,000-student district were being reported and dealt with appropriately by principal.
To be honest, I don’t really now what our Board does about students who assault or threaten teachers. I’m sure there is a policy, I just don’t know what it is. Maybe I should. I know there are students who get expelled from school and have to attend a special school to complete their education. One of the students in my class was expelled last year because he attacked another student, and the student had to be hospitalized.
Teachers are not told about any students in their classes who are violent. Sometimes a student has to have an educational assistant with him at all times, in all classes and at lunch and bathroom breaks. We can only wonder why. The student’s privacy is protected by the Young Offender Act. A teacher has no idea who his sitting in her class. I’ve had students in my class who have been administratively transferred to our school by the superintendent. I have no idea what the problem is only that the student is at-risk. Just writing about all this gives me the creeps. I guess up until now, I’ve taken teacher safety for granted. Maybe I shouldn’t.
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4 Responses to “Teacher safety can’t be taken for granted”
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Gosh Elona, I’ve been going through your last few posts and it seems like you’re having a tough time – I can’t imagine facing violent kids on a regular basis.
You do good, tough, but good work, I wish you my best.
Alvin, thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately schools today can be violent places. Just a few days ago there was an ugly incident in another school in our district where a group of boys most under 18 allegedly sexually assaulted a sixteen year old girl and then taped it on their cell phone and posted it on You Tube.
Elona,
While doing some research online, I came across your contact information. Does sound like you have had some rough times. Through my research, I was alarmed to learn about so many teachers facing similar situations. I work for a manufacturing company in Daytona Beach, Florida. We design emergency call systems for the Senior Living Industry. We have made some modifications to our system to be used in the academic arena by teachers, administrators, staff, and professors. Just last week I was in Atlanta meeting with a number of colleges, universities and high schools. The response and interest level was overwhelming.
In short, our system allows teachers to discretely call for help WITHOUT alarming the students that are causing a ’situation’
I am writing in the hopes that you can help. Are you aware of anyone that might benefit from speaking with me about this?
I have some intro documents for you to review if you’d like.
Thanks so much.
Douglas Graham
Eastern Region Account Manager
Tel-Tron Technologies Corporation
dgraham@tel-tron.com
Douglas,
I’ll ask around. Maybe someone reading this will be interested in your product.