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| Students Gone Wild | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 23 2008, 05:47 PM (617 Views) | |
| Post #1 Feb 23 2008, 05:47 PM |
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Phoenix School Bus Raw Video Folks, this is not at all unusual. This scene is probably repeated thousands of times daily. The pattern of behavior shown by the girl is learned. I have witnessed it myself probably a dozen times this school year. Here is the pattern: A teacher or a bus driver or some other school authority figure tries to correct a student for something that is invariably minor. The student resists even a verbal correction and escalates the situation to one of a student verbally abusing and openly defying the authority figure. The authority figure asserts that authority, lets the student know that there will be consequences, and tries to convince the student to stop the misbehavior. Nine time out of ten, that's the end of it. Either the teacher/driver/etc. is satisfied that the student understands the gravity of their defiance and will likely not repeat or he refers the student for stiffer consequences. Unfortunately, in a growing percentage of cases, the situation does not resolve itself without a LOT more grief on the part of all. As I said, this is learned behavior. Every student on that bus learned something. Some will use that lesson to repeat this behavior with some other teacher/driver/etc. Here is how the pattern continues, as clearly illustrated on the video. The student will simply not comply with instructions. They will demand some perceived "right," in this case, the non-existent right to leave the bus. (Can you imagine the consequences to the driver had she let the student leave the bus at an unauthorized stop and the student got hurt?) I had a student recently demand the right to physically leave the school grounds! In such situations the authority figure has to be very careful. The student is setting him up so that there will be physical contact and the student, who will attempt to get the staff member to initiate contact, but, failing that, will initiate subtle contact himself, will then use the exact words that I personally have heard so often, "Don't touch me," often followed by, "You know you can't touch me." The statement is a roundabout way of making an accusation that the authority figure is assaulting the student, though nothing remotely close to that has happened. Usually the contact happens as a result of the student attempting to exercise his perceived "right," the teacher/driver/etc. stepping in the way, and the student trying to push by. Upon contact, there is escalation (particularly if there are other students around), as the student now drama-queens (even the guys) being the "victim." Overblown accusations of assault and psychoses then follow, as demonstrated very well by the student on the video. The pattern is to now keep the individual bits of behavior up in a cycle--more screaming, more pushing, more accusations, ever louder and bigger. How does this happen? Why can't a staff member give a student an instruction and expect it to be followed without such an escalation? Several reasons. 1. Parents don't parent. The kids can push the parents until they get what they want. So, they try it with teachers and the like. A few teachers don't know how to be insistent, and cave as quickly as the parents do. However, most teachers know how to draw the line and not cave. The kid cannot deal with this situation, it violates their view of how the world works. They go wild. And it often either works or gets them some other kind of reward that reinforces the behavior and promotes it among any witnesses. 2. Parents support their children after such confrontations. They weren't there when the tantrum happened and don't believe that they have built that little monster with their lack of parenting skills. The parents threaten lawsuits and charges. 3. Administrators don't like the escalations. They want to avoid them at all costs. The escalations are hassles that result in having to deal with the parents who do paragraph 2 in as wild a fashion as their kid's display when confronted the staff member. Often, administrators look for a way to make the situation "go away," which, almost always, involves no serious consequence for the student. 4. The law gets involved and really screws things up. This bus driver has been arrested for aggravated assault!! She showed amazing restraint in the face of repeated provocations by the student, both verbal and physical. The only physical contact early on is the driver placing herself in the way of the student trying to get off the bus, and the student initiating contact by trying to push past the driver. The later, more serious contact occurs almost completely off-camera as the student has advanced menacingly on the driver. We only hear that part, as the driver has, in her restraint, did all the moving backwards. What choices did the driver have? --She could have ignored all misbehavior. Many teachers/drivers/etc. choose this "path of least resistance," thereby exacerbating future situations for those of us who won't turn a blind eye. --She could try to correct all misbehavior and then back down as soon as she is challenged. This is effective with children who generally want to do the right thing but sometimes don't. It is totally ineffective with many kids and is, therefore, in those situations and in the long-run, not any better than the first option. --When the student demanded to get off the bus, she could have done nothing to restrain her. She'd probably lose her job for that one and also, if the student got hurt, been sued. --She could have tried to restrain the student until the student got physical and then stepped out of the way. She probably runs a smaller risk of getting fired, but no less a risk of getting sued. --She could have, for the sake of the tape, covered her butt and let the student go. She could have announced, loudly enough for the video to pick it up, that she intends to stand in the way of the student until the student sits down. But, that, if the student gets physical and makes contact, she will step out of the way and then call 911, not moving the bus until the police arrive. There are a few downsides to this option, although it is probably the most practical. First, she must have a cell phone. I have to wonder what the bus company's policy on this is--if they have a policy. To avoid drivers talking while driving, the company may not allow phones at all. I think all drivers should have one and should call 911 immediately if a student gets out of line to the extent that this one did. Second, again, she is still open to a lawsuit if something bad happens to the student. She is probably a little more covered with the excuse that she was in no position to physically restrain the student. Third, she is counting on the student being assessed higher consequences for leaving the bus. My experience is that the consequences are actually lower, as the actions of the driver will become the issue (which was the intention of the student from the instant the driver did not cave). --She could have done exactly what she did and stood her ground, trying to protect the student and to enforce a modicum of discipline in the face of an out-of-control monster child. This is what she should do. It would be very effective with proper parenting, teaching, and administrating. Unfortunately, we don't get much of any of those these days. Instead, with atrocious parenting, path-of-least-resistance teaching, and avoid-the-hassle administration, situations like these are no longer rare and present a no-win situation for the teacher/driver/etc, encouraging them to join the ranks of the path-of-least-resistancers and avoid-the-hasslers. What can we do? Well, if we are parents, teachers, and administrators, we can stop making the above itemized mistakes! If we are judges, lawyers, or cops, we can recognize the no-win situation that teachers/drivers/etc. are in and cut them a little danged slack! We can start holding these juveniles accountable for their horrific defiant behavior. If we are teachers, like I am, and getting zero support from administration, as is my situation, we can do as I did and announce that we can no longer tolerate the situation and offer a resignation. Hopefully, the director at my school will get the message and, on Monday refuse my resignation, and, then, she can set about fixing a horribly broken discipline situation that has been allowed to fester. Since Christmas, six students whom I have sent to the office have verbally abused me and refused to go. Of them, only one has been suspended, and it wasn't the one who walked out of school twice that day, against the explicit instructions of two staff members, on separate occasions, not to do so. Two have accused me of assaulting them and threatened to have me arrested for it. Of course, they initiated contact and pulled the "Don't touch me!" garbage. The one who was suspended was only suspended because I was fed up and went to the office every hour, talking to the principal and the director, complaining about the four who preceded him and repeatedly demanding number five be suspended. After number six was not suspended, I offered my resignation on Friday. I hope they take a look at the discipline situation and fix it. I hope they see repairing things as a better option than letting a great (pardon my lack of modesty) math teacher walk out on them mid-year. But, I am not going to work in a situation where things are routinely allowed to get that out of control, where a situation like the one on the Phoenix school bus could easily arise. I ain't holding my breath. I could be out of work in a few weeks. |
Administrator
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| Post #2 Feb 25 2008, 12:39 PM |
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| I'm anxiously waiting, and hoping, to hear that she did refuse your resignation and is doing the right thing. I'm sorry it had to get to that point. The incident on the bus was horrible! It should embarrass the parents of that girl, but like you say, they'll just be as aggressive and abusive as she was, more than likely. If I were to find out that my boys disrespected a teacher like that, my goodness, I'd be furious. AT THE BOYS!! Not for the teacher or authority figure trying to get them to behave in a civilized manner. It's sad and depressing on a lot of different levels. You feel for the kids not getting the discipline they deserve, but I also wonder about them as they become adults. More than likely, they have kids that act as they do. :( |
Civilian
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| Post #3 Feb 25 2008, 01:02 PM |
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She asked me this morning to reconsider. I tried not to make it sound like I was making conditions, but, in essence, I did. We have a faculty meeting this afternoon and I am waiting to hear what she has to say to the rest of the staff about discipline at this school, their role in it, and what she and the principal plan to do about it, etc. Based upon that, I will cogitate some more and then decide. But, at the very least, she now knows what is at stake and has explicitly asked me to stay. We'll see. |
Administrator
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| Post #4 Feb 25 2008, 11:54 PM |
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I hope it works out. It sounds like math isn't too much different form swimming... I have spent considerable time in conferences with parents who feel their child was disciplined inappropriately by one of my coaching staff. I typically support my staff and often lose athletes to other teams - sometimes even midseason. On the other side of it, when a parent calls me to move their kid to my team from another team because of some percieved "inappropriate discipline" on their last team, I usually let them know I would have done the same thing as their last coach. Not surprisingly, those families don't usually join my team. |
Civil Servant
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| Post #5 Feb 27 2008, 02:09 PM |
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| Well, how did it work out? |
Civilian
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| Post #6 Feb 27 2008, 03:28 PM |
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| Yes, this is a cliff hanger in need of resolution... |
Civil Servant
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| Post #7 Feb 27 2008, 07:30 PM | oleman |
| Soooo. whats the conclusion of this episode. |
Newbie
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| Post #8 Feb 27 2008, 07:33 PM |
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I am withholding turning in my final notice. The headmaster (actually the owner) knows that I am expecting things to improve. But, for the moment, I have not formally set a date to leave. That may yet happen. In related news: The student whose actions proved to be the proverbial straw is a tall, lanky, black man. He has a name that is common to both men and women. I have another student in Algebra 1 with the same first name. She is much shorter and decidedly not lanky. She is white. The headmaster asked the principal to write up a report on what happened. He can't remember. So he hunted up the student. The young lady from Algebra 1 made the mistake of chewing gum in my class today, and earned a gum-scraping detention. She was in my classroom after school today when the principal approached her to ask if she was the student who had been giving me such trouble. She was understandably puzzled. As was I--until I later talked to the headmaster. When the principal saw that we were confused when he confronted the gum-scraper, he asked me what the name was of the young lady who had given me so much trouble. I was still puzzled. He kept on, "You know, the young lady who you wrote up the other day." I haven't written up a young lady in weeks. He said that the headmaster wanted a report on the young lady. I had no idea what young lady. So, I told him that I'd check with the headmaster and find out whom she was talking about. When I spoke with her, I found out she wanted a write-up on the tall, lanky, black, male student. Wow. The principal has lost it. |
Administrator
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