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Teacher-student assault investigation
According to Stan Pinnick, district superintendent of the North Beach School District, “We do have a staff member on paid administrative leave during an investigation of allegedly physical assualt to a student. We’re working in cooperation with the Sheriff’s Department in doing the investigation.”
The incident took place March 3, at the high school. According to Rick Scott of the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Department, the incident happened when “a teacher was telling a student to remove a garment from his head. The student didn’t comply. The teacher physically grabbed the student and removed the headware and took it to the office.”
The school district has a “no hats in the building” policy, according to Pinnick.
Scott said the teacher “characterized what occurred as horseplay. He didn’t feel it was anything aggressive or confrontational or done in anger. He said everyone was laughing and joking, the student was trying to hide behind other students, it was horseplay. (The teacher) grabbed the student and they went to the ground.”
Scott said that, shortly after the incident, the student boarded a bus to Spokane, for the State basketball tournament. His father later heard about the incident, and called to report it as an assault.
The Sheriff’s Department will soon complete its investigation, Scott said.
“We’re going to submit this to the prosecutor for review. At this point in time we have no intention making an arrest.”
Pinnick said the district is also doing an internal investigation. He said names of the parties involved are not being made public, at this time.
That is a very good point, Mr. Fetter. Teachers are role models for their students, and in this case he was the adult and he wasn’t being a good role model. That is why I made the statement about not sticking up for the teacher. I do understand your position as I currently work in an academic/vocational setting with ‘at-risk” youth. What I also know is maturity does not come with age in some cases and what you are talking about, I think, is maturity, or the lack of it on the teachers part. He will have a lesson hard lived. I am not sure how old this teacher is, if that has any bearing on the case. Where I work, the younger the staff, the more they feel like they are ‘one of the students’, and if they are new staff they have to learn about ethics. I think my point is all three parties have some growing to do. The point about the parent is, if teachers do not have the support of the parent, then what does that tell the student. That he can do what he wants. I wasn’t there, so not sure what took place exactly. All I know is there have been some major shifts in our society about, ‘this is my child and you have no right…’ (and mind you, I an not saying the teacher has the right to assault or harass anyone)meaning the parent really is not supportive of the teacher/school policies. What happened to being supportive of the teacher in front of the child, then speaking with the teacher on the aside and letting them know what you want to occur; without involving the child. This lets the child know you, as the parent, respect authority and expect them to respect authority, but also gets your goals accomplish about how you want your child treated. I don’t have all the answers…I just know there are a lot of issues that created this scenerio…none of them simple. It will be interesting to watch. I grew up in Aloha, WA and in my day…yes, I am over 50…I really don’t remember having as much disrespect for authority as I see today, and beleive me, I had some…and that doesn’t mean we didn’t push the envelope, because we did, as all generations have. Like I said, this case will be interesting to watch…to see what comes.
Unless the teacher was defending himself(by “defending” I mean that he had absolutely no other choice then to grab the student and throw him down), then the teacher should never have touched the student in the first place. One of the many responsibilities of an educator is to model proper behavior. The term “horseplay” is not an appropriate term to be using in describing unacceptable and potentially dangerous behavior that takes place in a public school. Teachers are not there to get into physical situations with students . . .they are there to be teachers. There are enough challenges with students using that term (horseplay) to try to deminish the severity of their behavior. When it all gets boiled down, it is finally revealed that the horseplay was, in fact, either harassment or assault. Having been in the education business for many years, I am appauld that this kind of behavior is allowed to go on. While the student might have started it by not taking off his hat, the teacher is the adult in this situation and should have acted in a way that modeled adult behavior.
What a great answer. It seems to me this could be a 3 way dialogue and settled in a small room somewhere. Respect seems to be lacking in this situation.
WoW! It will be interesting to see how this turns out. To me this is chicken/egg question. And don’t get me wrong, I think all three parties; the student, the teacher and the parent are playing different roles in this scenerio. First of all if the shcool has a policy about no hoodies/hats on in the school, what was the student doing to hurt himself? Not following the policies and procedures of an establishment, beit schools or employers indicates an aversion to authority or the inability to make good decision for self so one does not get into trouble. And granted, we do not know the history of this student. Was this a first time offense, or an ongoing offence. Being a teacher is not easy these days. And, that is not to say I am sticking up for the teacher. He did not conduct himself in a professional manner. But maybe he felt he had the kind of relationship with a student where he could horseplay. So, has he overstepped his boundaries as a teacher? Yes! But, if the student had his hoodie/hat off initially, this scenerios would not have taken place. We don’t know what was going on in the mind of the teacher. The parent: What is the real issue here for you? Is it really what the teacher did or what your son did? What are you teaching your son about life? Are you teaching him that if he followed the policies and procedures of the school, maybe this incident may not have occurred? Or are you using the teacher as the scapegoat? In this day and age it is hard enough being a teacher without having to tell students how to follow policies and procedures. My personal opinion, teaching a child to follow policies and procedures is a parents job. I don’t know! Only you know for sure. My point is: All three people are playing roles in this scenerio. What is the purpose of a teacher being reprimanded. Is the student being reprimanded. Communication is the key to growing. I hope all three of you sit down and do this and figure out where you go from here. Because really, I don’t any of you three would get awards for modeling behavior.