Case
Your teacher is not a punching bag

While working one day, I had a student that was fine one second and then told me that he did not want to be there. The student is a 3rd grader and I did not feel comfortable letting the student just leave the classroom. I stood in front of the classroom door and did not allow the student to leave the classroom. Once I did this, he started punching me, pushing me, elbowing me, and trying to get me away from the doorway. This obciously didnt work. While the student was doing this I called for administration and they came and took the student out of the classroom. I later found out that there was nothing done to the student for hitting me and such. Is there anything that can be done? I want to make sure this student understands that he can't do this and that it is not appropriate behavior. If administration didn't write him up, can I still?

Posted on: 02/15/13 | Views: 1506
Solution #1
Firstly--does the student have any pre-existing conditions, disabilities, or known behaviors that would explain the way that he acted out. This is not typical behavior for a third grade student, and knowing a student's background information really changed the way this situation looks. As far as hitting you, actions should have been taken. I believe any physical violence against another person should result in automatic referral and OSS. The fact that this did not happen leads one to believe that there may be a missing piece of information that can help explain the situation. I understand your feelings though, and suggest you take your issue to administration and explain again what happened and your feelings. They will likely be able to explain why action was/or was not taken on this situation. If no satisfactory answer can be given, you may wish to go further with your complaint. As for the situation itself, it may be good to reflect on the situation to think of some steps that could have been taken between the "I don't want to be here" statement, and you blocking the door. Something may have happened with another student to trigger this behavior, and asking what happened may have acted as a better diffuser than blocking the door.

As far as I know there is no previous disorder. Also, there was no action between the student saying he didn't want to be there and me blocking the door. He had no contact with another student. The student stated that he didnt want to be there and then headed for the door in which I then blocked it so he couldn't leave.

I agree, always find out history.

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Solution #2
I think I would speak to the administration about their decision regarding the situation. If you feel they do not address your concerns, then I would speak anonymously contact the teacher's union and ask for an opinion. I do not think writing the student up yourself would do much good since the administration did not seem to care about the problem in the first place. I can only think of one reason to write it up and that is documenting the incident.

I agree with this solution.

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Solution #3
You may need to talk to administration to come up with a plan with the parents for any future problems. Together you may come up with something as simple as allowing the student to go to a neighboring classroom to cool down if it is an anger problem. I would want to have a plan in place so that next time there is no questioning yourself if the situation was handled properly. There would be a plan in place.

This is not the place for that behavior. I would absolutely reach out to both parents and administration. There could be something in between the lines with this behavior and as teachers we may not know those. I would suggest a conference and question if the parents have seen this behavior, or something new.

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Solution #4
I think that a student who wants to leave the classroom should be allowed to leave and then the administration can be notified immediately. By trying to stop the student, it escalated the situation. I believe a discussion with administration should occur to find out why the child was not reprimanded for hitting the teacher. For the safety of teachers, a student should not be forced to remain in the classroom if he or she demands to leave.
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Solution #5
No matter what administration does-you are the teacher and you were in the classroom. If you feel that this behavior is not welcome in the classroom; write the student up! I have heard of teachers pressing charges on children-even in elementary school-for hitting them. Violence is never acceptable, and if the student is getting away with the behavior at school, there is nothing stopping them from doing the same actions on the street.
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