Teacher assaulted my son - what to do?

Princess_Jane

Sarahjovi wrote: »

and send a letter to the local press (or threaten to!)



Sarah:D

I'm a journalist and TBH if I was offered a story like this I would decline.
Unless someone has been charged then assault is a dangerous accusation, especially if you are placing someone's career on the line.

pinkshoes

Bingo Babe, could you clarify something?

In post 1 you say:

bingo_babe wrote: »

the teacher picked up and hurled a fairly large object towards my son. The object bounced off a desk and struck my son in the face.

Then in post 81 you say:

bingo_babe wrote: »

I wonder how many of the people here who suggest that I just accept what has happened as a part of life would accept a broom head being thrown at their own child by a teacher.

So are you saying the teacher deliberately threw the broom head at your child, or did they throw it in the direction of your child? One is malicious, the other is not intentional to hit the child, but unluckily bounced of the desk, so an accident.

You're potentially about to destroy someone's career here, and potentially make your child's life even more difficult at school, so think very carefully before taking any action.

WHAT DOES YOUR SON THINK/WANT?

jinty271

Just wanted to relate a situation that happened with my son. ( and he had several witnesses)

My little angel , and a teacher, "exchanged " snowballs, in the playground. Next thing we knew,son was excluded, pending an investigation, and we were warned the police may be involved, with a view to charging my son with assault. I spoke to all of his friends, and some other kids, who he didnt know, who all told us that the teacher had thrown the first snowball.

I interrogated my son, who told us categorically that it was just a bit of fun.

I went down to school all guns blazing, ready to go to town at their OTT attitude....

Only to discover that my son had failed to mention, that when he sent his snowball to the teacher, he decided not to let go of it, and basically slapped the poor guy on the top of the head, whilst holding some snow.

My son is almost 20 now, and we never let him forget. I wouldve defended him to the earth, and was outraged at the school.

Although my son wasnt a thug , he was a typical teenage lad. Luckily , the school took no further action, after appropriate apologies were made, and a short exclusion served. ( wont tell ya what further action was taken when i got him home though !!)

Just wanted to impress that, other kids testimony, as well as your child's , shouldnt be relied on. I ended up looking like a fool !

jinky67

bingo_babe wrote: »

I thank those that have been objective whether I agree with them or not. Those that jump to conclusions I ignore. because we are saying stuff you dont want to hear?:rotfl:

I also agree that there should be more discipline in our school's - particularly as it is my son who is invariably distracted by others. well support the TEACHER not your son:rolleyes: Yeah your son is not the one distracting others of course, its all their fault:cool:
My son had me believing this too, until i went for parents evening and discovered the truth

My real gripe is the underhand way the school has dealt with the situation. From day one the school has been reluctant to provide the documents that I am as a parent am entitled to see. No you are not, the school dealt with internally as they must, you are entitled to see nothing, or be told nothing



Also to suggest that it's my son's fault for not seeing the object coming is a ridiculous argument - so on that basis it serves that poor child Rees Jones right for walking in front of a bullet? Oh get real for Gods sake

If my son had his teeth knocked out would it still be ok for a teacher to throw a broom head at him?

This is not about compensation - simply fairness and transparency and proportionality.

.................................

stumpycat

On opening this thread I expected some story of a teacher throttling a child - that's what I'd class as assault. I'm afraid that use of the word 'assault' in the title, followed by what actually happened screams to me of compensation claims and witch-hunts. Throwing something towards a pupil wasn't a great idea, and I'm sure the teacher & Head are perfectly aware of that, but it would be interesting to hear the other side of the story... There have been many occasions when I would have loved to have shown parents a video of their little dears in full flow - they would cringe so much!

I'd just like to add that while I've never chucked anything at a pupil, I have slammed things down, pinged bits of chalk in their general direction and scraped my nails down a blackboard, not textbook stuff, but it does capture the attention.
The more that pupils threaten to 'report you' the more some teachers will feel the need to become robotic and stilted, carefully analysing every nuance - and that is boring, so you can't really win!

Personally I found flicking a jelly eyeball on to someone's book an excellent way to focus their concentration, and I managed to get away without a single charge of emotionally scarring any of 'em. :beer:

KellyWelly

bingo_babe wrote: »

I eventually got to see the head who was unprepared for the meeting and so terminated it, so she could get 'advice'.

She said this because she realised you were after more than a chat. She did not want to do anything wrong or illegal if things went further (like showing you confidential documents, for example).

bingo_babe wrote: »

As a parent I am entitled to see the documents that relate to my child. Their reluctance to do so only strengthens my suspicion that this is a whitewash.

You're not entitled to see them. End of.

kiddy_guy

Can't be bothered to read the whole thread, but one thing comes to mind.

The student is a child. The teacher is an adult. One is supposed to be setting the example.

Irrespective of who's right and who's wrong, the child had an item thrown at them by an adult. That's what it boils down to.

bestpud

Glad you feel calmer about it now OP.

I really think your best course of action now is to accept the documents will not be shown to you and arrange a meeting with the Head.

Hopefully she will reassure you the matter has been dealt with internally and everyone can settle down and get on with things.

It is not acceptable to throw items across a classroom and I am sure the teacher realises this. I also hope your son realises it is not acceptable to ignore the teacher.

Hopefully, the mediation helped and I think that puts a new slant on it tbh, as it shows the school have taken this allegation on board and are dealing with it.

Swallow your pride - see what they have to say and then let it go, for all of your sakes.

blue_monkey_2

The boy did not have something thrown AT him, it was thrown near a group of children that he was sitting in and then hit a desk and bounced off in a different direction and hit him. That is an accident. Accidents happen. The teacher did not intentionally throw something to injure someone he threw something to get their attention that then bouched off in a different direction.

I think that those of you saying 'he had a broom head thrown at him' need to get a grip and realise that it was not thrown AT him - and the OP realises that but also needs to get a grip and move on. The boy would probably have forgotten all about it now had the mother not been harping on about it day and night about geting him some 'justice'. Not sure what sort of justice she wants though? To have the teacher flogged in the playground at lunchtime maybe?

If my kids are continually ignoring me I have, in the past, thrown something to get their attention, I've also shouted and slammed something down loud - should I be extecting Social Services and the Police any time soon?

Of course, I see the OP mentioned that he was asked several times to stop talking but refused to..... Says it all I guess. Just what swear words did he use out of interest, have you not taught him to use innapropriate language? There are other words he could use to express himself whatever the situation.

bestpud

Curv wrote: »

You see, this is where it all falls down: we aren't talking about adults, in an adult situation, we are talking about a child, one of millions of children, who is being taught that his rights are more important than those of every other person in his class... that his right to sit and chat with his mates, however quietly, is more important than the right of every other student to receive an education.

If only children were also being taught that with rights come responsibilities.

We all have a responsibility to avoid harming other people - no matter where they are, or what the situation.

There are better ways of dealing with difficult people than lobbing a broom head [STRIKE]at them[/STRIKE] across the room.

It wouldn't be ok anywhere else so it is not ok in a classroom. Since when did schools/teachers rise above the law?

I can see how it happened and I'd hate to think this guy lost his career over this, but the fact remains he acted inappropriately and, in many other scenarios, that course of action may have seen him arrested.

He is responsible for his own actions, just as the pupil is for his own actions. Nobody else can ever make us lose our temper - we choose whether or not to do that - subconsciously often, but it is our choice!

It is double standards to suggest the pupil was 100% in the wrong and rendered the teacher unable to control himself, and yet somehow the pupil is also in the wrong, and should have controlled himself, for impulsively swearing when he had been hit on the head by a object thrown by the teacher!

Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander...