This incident happened all out of the blue. I was walking down the hall after my last class, looking forward to a peaceful lunch break, and time away from the hustle and bustle of the middle school educational system. Walking down the hall, I remember joking around with a couple of young ladies I have in my classes. I was smiling real big, and thinking about the sandwich I was about to order from one of my new favorite sandwich shops just across the street from my school.
When I turned the corner, I saw nothing but chaos playing out in front of me. The PASS teacher was being dragged behind one of her students, calling for him to stop. He was trying to run away, and she was struggling to hold on to him. Being a fellow teacher, of course I stepped in to help her. The student was twice her size in height and weight, and being that she and I are both 5'2", adding my extra body support was only going to be a questionable means of stopping him; yet it was worth a try.
He was leaning almost completely forward, and I didn't want to take the chance at being tackled by standing in front of him, so I came to his right side and hooked my arm into his. My effort was to try and slow down the velocity of his movements. It worked for a quick second, and I held on while asking him what was wrong. The PASS teacher had lost her grip by this time, and it was just me and him. He was working even harder now, trying to get away, and I dragged behind until he pushed back with the arm I was holding him by, and clipped me on the right side of my face near the chin with his elbow.. This is when I chose to let him go. Though there was no pain from the impact, it rattled my teeth, and I decided at that moment, it was better for me to let go than lose my temper just to keep this kid from running. I only prayed that he would not attempt an escape, and run away from the campus.
The PASS teacher and I stood back and watched as he ran through the building, dodging other students as they made their way down the hall to the cafeteria. We then made our way to the Counselor's office to report what had just happened. After we left, we went back into the hallway in search of the student. By this time other teachers, and an assistant principal were running through the hallway as well trying to find him. I made sure the PASS teacher was okay before going to find the security guard and alerting him to what was going on. Then I pulled my purse up on the hook of my arm, slid on my sunglasses, and headed out of the nearest door. It was past time for lunch, and I needed to get away from that place for a moment.
A day later I was approached by another student asking if I was okay. I, of course said yes, and proceeded to ask her why. She tells me that the student who was running through the hallways the previous day had posted on Snap Chat that he had punched me and the PASS teacher in the face. She retold the story about the post as if he were bragging about what he had done. I was left to wonder, after hearing her story, how it was that he was still allowed phone privileges after the stunt he pulled at the school, and also how truly valid her version of the story was.
I spoke with the PASS teacher, and went to pay a visit to the Assistant Principal about what I heard. I was deeply concerned that my name was possibly being used on a social network site in a slanderous manner. The Assistant Principal told me the previous day that I could press charges against this student for what he had done, but I declined to do so because I felt it was an accident, and again I didn't get hurt. On the day I went in to report what I had been told about the Snap Chat post, she told me that she understood my concern, but didn't want to go and talk to him on his first day back in an effort not to upset him.
You see, though this student knows right from wrong, and is fully cognizant of what he did, he would not be receiving any real consequences from the school because he is in the PASS program and has a BIP. For those in education, you know what this means. Apparently the Behavioral Intervention Plan allows for the enabling of the fantasy world in childhood in exchange for reality preparation.
This student is being protected from the harsh consequences of reality in order that he may grow into the societal menace we are so readily preparing him to be; at least from my perspective. Yet we wonder how prisons are almost bursting at the seems, while the drop out rate for continuing education never seems to disappear.
Where is the accountability? When I was growing up, I remember learning it early on. I was taught respect for my elders and self control. Sometimes these lessons had to be learned in unpleasant ways, but I am better for it. If discipline produces go character, then I see no reason to hold it back. There are many policies and procedures in place to protect the student, but what procedures are set up to protect the teacher? If one bad teacher ruined it for the many, and now all of us have to be subject to abusive behavior by students AND their parents, how many bad students will it take before they offer us safety?
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