Teacher assaulted my son - what to do?

Volcano

If the OP leaves it as it is: her son will have learnt not to talk in class and forgotten all about the incident by next week. The teacher will have had a talking to and be reassessing how they deal with disruptive kids.

Now, if the OP can just quit while they're ahead, then that's the best outcome for all. Pushing this any further only serves to satisfy the OP's own interests, rather than those of her son's.

bingo_babe

Thank you for your comments and in a minority of cases your support.

Despite my rather detailed opening post, it would seem that a lot of posters have taken the view that my son is some sort of thug who deserves what he got. Also that I am overly protective and not in the real world. For those quick to judge, you do not know the personalities and so 'he deserves it etc' doesn't actually answer my question and I'm not interested in your unhelpful answers.

Perhaps I need to provide a few more facts to give a more accurate picture.

The lesson itself mostly takes place outdoors - hence the broom head. From what I've heard from others the teacher is a bit 'matey' with the pupils - and that seems to suggest that there are no clear boundaries - or perhaps lack of preparation or laziness - I don't know.

The day itself was like an ordinary lesson - the teacher did have to repeat himself a couple of times to get the attention of the class - not just my son. Towards the end of the lesson a group of boys were not paying attention and he simply snapped. My son was among a small group. He was not being unruly or aggressive.

I think my son's reaction was fairly instinctive - and to be fair I know a lot of kids or adults that would have responded by hitting the teacher back. To my son's credit he didn't. He was angry and rightly so.

My son is nowhere near perfect, he is prone to being distracted and lacks a bit of focus. But he is not a trouble maker or an unruly child. He is intelligent and sensitive.

I also believe strongly in discipline at home and at school - and if he does some wrong - ie not hand in his homework, I am the first to support the school in giving a detention.

He is not exploiting this situation or seeking to undermine the teacher - he, like me wants fairness. If he threw the object at the teacher, I am fairly sure he would have been suspended or expelled - and rightly so.

What do I want? - the same as my son - some transparency and fairness - those that do wrong need to be held to account - and I haven't seen that - hence my desperation in contacting solicitors.

I had two appointments booked to see a solicitor, but due to illness I had to cancel them. Since then the solicitor has been too busy etc. The other solicitors I have briefly spoken to have said that legally, what happened constitutes an assault - hence my title.

I also accept that some kids will exaggerate and that there are always two sides to every story and so I would never take only one person's side of things.

That is why I asked several people who were there (independently from each other and my son) what really happened. The quietest, most sensible ones all gave a consistent account of what happened.

What makes me suspicious is the school's reluctance to show me the evidence that they have collected and made their decision on. This suggests that they have something to hide. The fact that they haven't complied with the law (Freedom of Information Act) is what prompted me to contact solicitors.

Let's not forget also that the school needed a letter from me before they began to do anything, and even up to now no information has been forthcoming from them.

It was this that annoyed me, and so when I eventually met with the head I was perhaps a little bit peeved. I was expecting to hear the facts from the head - what had happened. The head clearly didn't know. The fact the meeting was terminated was frankly bizarre. I am sure many parents in that catchment area would have been very aggressive. I was very polite - but I wanted answers. Not to be fobbed off with some bland 'I've had a word with the teacher and it won't happen again.' Sorry, this isn't good enough.

The head I think felt well out of her comfort zone and needed to buy some time. Incidentally, the second meeting was to include the teacher that 'investigated' the incident after I sent my letter.

What do I want? I think the teacher may need some training/retraining - and I think this must be a disciplinary issue. A written warning maybe. Otherwise what's to stop him repeating this. It was stupid and dangerous - a kid could get really hurt otherwise.

I would also expect (in my presence) to see the teacher apologise to my son and for my son in turn to promise to behave himself in class in future.

As things stand the situation is festering.

Any practical advice about how to resolve this would be appreciated.

bingo_babe

"If the OP leaves it as it is: her son will have learnt not to talk in class and forgotten all about the incident by next week. The teacher will have had a talking to and be reassessing how they deal with disruptive kids."

Actually, my son hasn't forgotten about it. Instead he has a burning sense of injustice. I'm not sure that is a good thing - I don't want him to turn into an angry embittered young man because of this.

Idiophreak

bingo_babe wrote: »

I wanted answers. Not to be fobbed off with some bland 'I've had a word with the teacher and it won't happen again.' Sorry, this isn't good enough.
....
What do I want? I think the teacher may need some training/retraining - and I think this must be a disciplinary issue. A written warning maybe. Otherwise what's to stop him repeating this. It was stupid and dangerous - a kid could get really hurt otherwise.

If the head has spoken to the teacher, odds on it's been recorded and it will certainly come up should the same kinda thing happen again. Assuming it's a "first offence", an otherwise good teacher and it was genuinely an accident that the broom hit your son, I don't really see that much more than "a little chat" is in order.

In any case, I don't see it's really your place to be mandating what disciplinary action the school deem suitable to hand out in this instance. You've reported it, the head's dealt with it as they see fit. If you're not happy with the way the whole affair's been handled, or with the outcome - I guess the governors or LEA are your next port of call...

jinky67

Susan_Frost wrote: »

Jinky yes this thread does show why children have no respect - because some adults act in a way they would not allow children to act.

How do you respect someone who throws something at you as a way of dealing with things.

Jinky, if your child had been a innocent observer in all this, just one of the class, but it had hit him instead, would that have been alright because the teacher was not aiming it at him? Reply required please !!!

You want a reply, you will get one......

Quite frankly, as I am sure most sensible people would see it, was an accident. I would certainly not be rushing down to the school to complain or talk to the head or a solicitor.
What a complete over reaction

mspig wrote: »

If i was hit in the face with an object i would of swore aswell at the person - so i see no need for the comment on the lack of respect, so what your saying is its ok for someone to hit another in the face(accidental or not) and the person on the receiving end should say 'oh dam you hit me never mind' - get real, swearing is a natural reaction when something like this occures.

As the mother has stated he was'talking in class' theirs a difference between talking and being disrupted - take it you never talked in any of your lessons when you were at school?

.

It is a total lack of respect though. Pupils are in school to LEARN, not to talk to their friends.

I was hit once when the teacher flung a duster at the pupil next to me, did i swear? Did i go running home to tell my Mum?
NO, I accepted it was not meant for me and it was an accident, did i lose respect for the Teacher? NO, I did not

And unless directed by the teacher, pupils should NOT be talking in class, they should be working or listening

jinky67

bingo_babe wrote: »

Thank you for your comments and in a minority of cases your support.

Despite my rather detailed opening post, it would seem that a lot of posters have taken the view that my son is some sort of thug who deserves what he got. Also that I am overly protective and not in the real world. For those quick to judge, you do not know the personalities and so 'he deserves it etc' doesn't actually answer my question and I'm not interested in your unhelpful answers. so you only want to hear what you want to hear?

Perhaps I need to provide a few more facts to give a more accurate picture.

The lesson itself mostly takes place outdoors - hence the broom head. From what I've heard from others the teacher is a bit 'matey' with the pupils - and that seems to suggest that there are no clear boundaries - or perhaps lack of preparation or laziness - I don't know. big big assumption here, you dont know the teacher, how can you possibly say he is unprepared, bit slanderous there I think

The day itself was like an ordinary lesson - the teacher did have to repeat himself a couple of times to get the attention of the class - not just my son. Towards the end of the lesson a group of boys were not paying attention and he simply snapped. My son was among a small group. He was not being unruly or aggressive. Well even more reason then that the teacher was annoyed, who said you son was being unruly or aggressive?

I think my son's reaction was fairly instinctive - and to be fair I know a lot of kids or adults that would have responded by hitting the teacher back. To my son's credit he didn't. He was angry and rightly so.

My son is nowhere near perfect, he is prone to being distracted and lacks a bit of focus. But he is not a trouble maker or an unruly child. He is intelligent and sensitive. easily distracted you say, do you know what it is like to teach a bunch of kids who arent paying attention?

I also believe strongly in discipline at home and at school - and if he does some wrong - ie not hand in his homework, I am the first to support the school in giving a detention.

He is not exploiting this situation or seeking to undermine the teacher - he, like me wants fairness. If he threw the object at the teacher, I am fairly sure he would have been suspended or expelled - and rightly so.

What do I want? - the same as my son - some transparency and fairness - those that do wrong need to be held to account - and I haven't seen that - hence my desperation in contacting solicitors.

I had two appointments booked to see a solicitor, but due to illness I had to cancel them. Since then the solicitor has been too busy etc. The other solicitors I have briefly spoken to have said that legally, what happened constitutes an assault - hence my title. Well you are being up the garden path then, assault is thus.........
Generally, the essential elements of assault consist of an act intended to cause an apprehension of harmful or offensive contact that causes apprehension of such contact in the victim.
The act required for an assault must be overt. Although words alone are insufficient, they might create an assault when coupled with some action that indicates the ability to carry out the threat. A mere threat to harm is not an assault; however, a threat combined with a raised fist might be sufficient if it causes a reasonable apprehension of harm in the victim.


What happened to your son was an accident


I also accept that some kids will exaggerate and that there are always two sides to every story and so I would never take only one person's side of things.

That is why I asked several people who were there (independently from each other and my son) what really happened. The quietest, most sensible ones all gave a consistent account of what happened.

What makes me suspicious is the school's reluctance to show me the evidence that they have collected and made their decision on. This suggests that they have something to hide. The fact that they haven't complied with the law (Freedom of Information Act) is what prompted me to contact solicitors. Bit presumptious?

Let's not forget also that the school needed a letter from me before they began to do anything, and even up to now no information has been forthcoming from them.

It was this that annoyed me, and so when I eventually met with the head I was perhaps a little bit peeved. I was expecting to hear the facts from the head - what had happened. The head clearly didn't know. The fact the meeting was terminated was frankly bizarre. I am sure many parents in that catchment area would have been very aggressive. Now you sound like you think you are better than these people I was very polite - but I wanted answers. Not to be fobbed off with some bland 'I've had a word with the teacher and it won't happen again.' Sorry, this isn't good enough.

The head I think felt well out of her comfort zone and needed to buy some time. Incidentally, the second meeting was to include the teacher that 'investigated' the incident after I sent my letter.

What do I want? I think the teacher may need some training/retraining - and I think this must be a disciplinary issue. A written warning maybe. Otherwise what's to stop him repeating this. It was stupid and dangerous - a kid could get really hurt otherwise.

I would also expect (in my presence) to see the teacher apologise to my son and for my son in turn to promise to behave himself in class in future. I am sorry your SON should be apologising first IMO

As things stand the situation is festering.

Any practical advice about how to resolve this would be appreciated.

That is all

Volcano

bingo_babe wrote: »

he, like me wants fairness......
What do I want? - the same as my son - some transparency and fairness - those that do wrong need to be held to account - and I haven't seen that - hence my desperation in contacting solicitors.......It was this that annoyed me, and so when I eventually met with the head I was perhaps a little bit peeved...... but I wanted answers. Not to be fobbed off with some bland 'I've had a word with the teacher and it won't happen again.' Sorry, this isn't good enough....What do I want?,,,,,,,I would also expect (in my presence) to see the teacher apologise to my son......

Sorry but all this really comes across as what YOU WANT, not what is necessarily best in this situation.

Actually, my son hasn't forgotten about it. Instead he has a burning sense of injustice. I'm not sure that is a good thing - I don't want him to turn into an angry embittered young man because of this.

He really isn't going to go off the rails over this minor incidence, as I'm sure others who may have experienced similar (including me) can testify. He'll get over it soon enough if he's allowed, he's a 15 year old boy, hasn't he got more interesting things to be concerned with?

As things stand the situation is festering.

No, it's only festering in your mind, which is perpetuating your son's grievance.

You can go all out for revenge if that's what you're after, but it won't help anyone, least of all your son.

LandyAndy

I know I'm a bad person for not reading the thread or even the OP in full but given the title of the thread the only answer is:-

Report this to the police or shut up.

An allegation of assault is very serious.

SugarSpun

I've dealt with parents who've come in furious at the way their darling, intelligent, sensitive, innocent child has been treated by the nasty staff member more than once.

In no case was the child an innocent victim. It appalls me that the parent of someone about to become an adult would be so utterly determined to ruin a teacher's career by making allegations as serious as "assault" over a clear accident.

Oh, and I don't care that my opinion isn't welcome. If you want helpful responses, the range you're getting here should be good for you. If you want sycophantic crap telling you how right you are and how brave your little boy is, perhaps you should try somewhere else. I'm guessing it would shock you to know how your son behaves when you're not there - it does most parents when we show them CCTV images of what happens when their kids are saying, I was just quietly talking to some friends.

bestpud

bingo_babe wrote: »

Let's not forget also that the school needed a letter from me before they began to do anything, and even up to now no information has been forthcoming from them.

What do I want? I think the teacher may need some training/retraining - and I think this must be a disciplinary issue. A written warning maybe. Otherwise what's to stop him repeating this. It was stupid and dangerous - a kid could get really hurt otherwise.

I would also expect (in my presence) to see the teacher apologise to my son and for my son in turn to promise to behave himself in class in future.

As things stand the situation is festering.

Any practical advice about how to resolve this would be appreciated.

Ok, if it were me, I'd write a letter stating I am unhappy with the incident and the way it has been handled. Then I'd leave it, personally.

You could complain and then take it to the governors as well, but this is more the way to complain about the way it was handled and not the incident itself iyswim?

Have you actually met with the teacher then, or not? As I would have thought a meeting with him, the Head, and you, would be ideal. I really don't think it is helpful to have this teacher apologise to your son.

Most of your anger is about the way it has been handled and it seems it is turning into a battle of wills now. There are no winners in a situation like that!

If the school refuse to take it further but you will not settle for less than a disciplinary (and you cannot tell them how to discipline their staff) then your only other option is to call the police, as I see it.

But do you really want to do that and deal with all the potential ramifications?

I think that is what you need to be asking yourself.