Teachers and Breaking Up Fights
When was the last time you saw two students fighting in the hallway? I think most all of us have either seen a fight break out in the hallway, cafeteria, classroom, or bathroom of the school. Some of us have even been lucky enough to get to break up these little squirmishes.
Why do we break up these fights? To maintain safety and order, right? No one wants to see one student pound another into the ground nor do we want any of the after effects that fights tend to bring (hyper students, gossip, retaliation, etc…). But, should we be breaking up these fights without any sort of training?
Yes, training. Have any of you been trained on how to successfully break up a fight without getting hurt in the process and protecting the interests of the students in the area? What about handling the after effects mentioned above? Anyone, anyone….Bueller, Bueller?
I can’t for the life of me find the article but, recently, a teacher in the Dallas Independent School District is suing the district in federal court for injuries sustained during the course of trying to break up a fight in her middle school. As the 50’s aged, 5′3″, realitively small woman tried to separate the two boys, she was thrown to the ground, tore the medial meniscus in both knees, and hit her head on the locker. The fight ensued.
I know….she probably should not have been the person of stature to break up this fight but I don’t think any of us would argue that she acted on instinct and did what she thought was right for the students…maintain safety and order. Obviously, she was unsuccessful and it has cost her. She reported that she cannot shop, play with her grandkids, or do the job she once did from her crutches.
So, my question for the peanut gallery today is, should we educators continue to break up these fights that occur on our campuses? Should this be a job for administration? Security? Male teachers? Other students? Who’s responsibility is this? Obviously, a federal court is going to decide if Dallas ISD was negligent which could cost them a lot of money. Obviously, liabilty is a powerful motivator.
Is there even a training availible for this?
I do think there should be training. We are
trained to handle out of control students with
special needs to keep from injuring the student
and ourselves. We should should also be shown
how to keep from injuring ourselves during a
hallway brawl. Personally, I will try to avoid
getting in the middle of a fight. I think often
in this situation it is just as important to keep
other students from getting involved when an
altercation ensues.
Patty
July 13, 2007
Absolutely there should be training, and also clear rules for all teachers/school staff on how to handle this. My father nearly lost his job when he pulled a child away from a fight…how ridiculous is that?
AB in OR
July 13, 2007
I definietly think you teachers deserve to be trained if you’re supposed to break teenagers up. As a student myself, I do know exactly what goes on with fights and the poor teachers stand there simply ticking the kids off instead because they’re too scared to break the fight up and it’s simply because teenagers do have a lot of strength – how else would a teen get a black eye in a fight?
Teachers deserve more than they earn – you’re supposed to teach us and keep the generation going and yet keep both yourself and the students safe? It’s exactly why I DON’T want to be a teacher.
Abbi
November 18, 2007