Community Chat

[wilma]

I teach school, and thank goodness I have never had to passively restrain a student.  I would not use handcuffs or tie them down - just wouldn't even enter my mind to do that kind of thing. 

I have had things thrown at me and been slightly injured by students who were acting out.  I have been able to talk students down or get a counselor or administrator to my room to remove the students.  When I have a day like that it is emotionally and physically draining for the student involved and for me and the other students.

I am nearing retirement, and the things I have seen and witnessed in the past 30 years would make a good book (or so my DH tells me).  Still, I wouldn't do anything else. I love seeing my students have fun and get excited about learning. 

[Adelina]

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@surfk wrote:

Restraints, handcuffs, chains, ropes...gosh why not just punch the kid in the jaw and knock him out? Or perhaps every special teacher should be provided a blow dart full of some sedative...to down the unruly ones when they get out of hand.

I think we have to re-think exactly what an educational environment is suppose to be about or provide. If a child isn't equipped to be there, that should be evaluated and considered before placing him or her into what becomes obviously an over-whelming environment. IMO.

And as we know, many special needs kids are very bright. They might not be able to control their anger or their bodies or adapt well to stress or confusing situations..but they are bright. And as such, they DO know fear, pain, abuse... and can identify kindness, too.

No one wants to be in such a situation - either as a teacher being threatened or as a special needs kid who can't control him/herself. Its not pleasant for anyone. But if the manner in which a bad situation is handled only brings more fear, distrust and problems...its clearly not the best solution.

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This! There needs to be a better effort made at educating those "in charge" and not a knee-jerk reaction to taking the easy way out. 

What is the saying - "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result"?  Just to be clear, btw, I am not accusing anyone here of being insane - so finger off that report button! :-)

[Kachina624]

@riley1. your story is so sad.  I hate that people have to carry such a burden.  I know his future must be a worry to you also.  Just wanted to tell you how sorry I am.

[Cookiequeen]

Unless you are or know a teacher that deals with this day in and day out please try not to judge. You would have never seen something like this 20+ years ago and it is very hard to understand what public schools have to deal with now. Some of you make it sound so easy..hire someone who is trained for this...well, most teachers in this situation do have training but some kids are just plain violent--but they have rights--sometimes it seems more rights than the other kids in the classroom who continuously have disruptive class time. Perhaps the child needs a one on one...well how do you do that when you have 5 kids in one class with this issue? Kids who go into such a rage they go through the class throwing and wiping things off shelves. What public school system can afford that? I have multiple friends/ family members who work in this situation and trust me when I say they are saints. I could never do it. Punched, kicked, bit.. .yelled at by parents... shown lack of respect.. You really have to love the rest of your job to put up with this. And yes, this is inner city, many of the kids do not have a good home life and the teachers get little support from the parents... I am not saying I support being handcuffed but I am saying things are not always what they seem... and if you are not in such a situation it is easy to judge. And BTW, this is elementary school---little kids...

[YorkieonmyPillow]

Yet another reason to homeschool. With this sort of chaos going on in a classroom, learning is impossible.

[151949]

We used to have a thing in nursing units calledc a geri chair. It was a  easy chair with a table that locked in place in front of the patient and kept them from getting up and falling or wandering off.( sort of like an adult high chair) People , like those here discussing this subject, complained that it was cruel to restrain patients including use of geri chairs. So the states passed laws banning the chairs and restraining patients who are senile or have altzheimers.So now they are allowed to wander ,  wander off the unit and get lost and fall and get fractured hips and heads.For some reason people think this is preferrable to letting them sit in a chair with a table where they can eat easily and do some thing like folding towels - a favorite activity we give senile patients to occupy them. The only alternative is for the family to pay for a private sitter which is not cheap. 

Thus I am way past people who don't know what they are talking about condeming those who are there every day dealing with the issues.

[Mmsfoxxie]

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@Cookiequeen wrote:

Unless you are or know a teacher that deals with this day in and day out please try not to judge. You would have never seen something like this 20+ years ago and it is very hard to understand what public schools have to deal with now. Some of you make it sound so easy..hire someone who is trained for this...well, most teachers in this situation do have training but some kids are just plain violent--but they have rights--sometimes it seems more rights than the other kids in the classroom who continuously have disruptive class time. Perhaps the child needs a one on one...well how do you do that when you have 5 kids in one class with this issue? Kids who go into such a rage they go through the class throwing and wiping things off shelves. What public school system can afford that? I have multiple friends/ family members who work in this situation and trust me when I say they are saints. I could never do it. Punched, kicked, bit.. .yelled at by parents... shown lack of respect.. You really have to love the rest of your job to put up with this. And yes, this is inner city, many of the kids do not have a good home life and the teachers get little support from the parents... I am not saying I support being handcuffed but I am saying things are not always what they seem... and if you are not in such a situation it is easy to judge. And BTW, this is elementary school---little kids...

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CookieQueen, you said a mouth full.  Most people have no idea what a teacher goes through day in and day out.  Actually, the general education students aren't always much better either.

Students have threatened teachers, damaged their cars...I could go on and on.  A parent will come up to the school to pick up a cell phone that's taken away but if you call about their child's behavior the first question from the parent might be "well, what did you do about other kids acting out".

I'm just trying to say that teachers are there to teach, not discipline all day long.  Some of you are looking at this in isolation, not the big picture.

The problem is the public school system itself.  Budget cuts.  Thirty to thirty-five students in a classroom and five or six have extreme aggressive behavior is an accident waiting to happen no matter how much training you have.

[Lila Belle]

Seems to me that a great big cop could easily subdue a 7 y/o w/o cuffing him or roughing him up.

[riley1]

@151949 - my mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and she loved folding towels and napkins. We would also give her old bread and she would sit and make bread crumbs out of it for the birds. I don't know what it was about folding towels, but she could do that endlessly.

[occasionalrain]

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@Mmsfoxxie wrote:

What would you do (this has happened) if your child kept coming home telling you that he/she didn't understand how to do her math because the teacher gave all of her attention to "Johnny" acting out all day?

People who can afford it, and some who can't, are removing their children from public school and sending them to private ones.

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