School violence appalls officials, City teacher beaten by female student

[Mugu]

By Sara Neufeld | Sun reporter (Baltimore)

The trouble began, Jolita Berry said, when she asked a girl in one of her art classes at Reginald F. Lewis High School to sit down.

The student did not obey, coming closer to confront the teacher. "She said she's gonna bang me," Berry said. "I said, 'Back up, you're in my space. If you hit me, I'm gonna defend myself.'"

But Berry, who is 30 and started her job teaching art at the Northeast Baltimore school in December, did not defend herself. The girl caught the teacher off guard as other students cheered her on and screamed, "Hit her!"

"She just started beating on me relentlessly," Berry said, recalling the Friday morning incident that left her with a sore shoulder and a broken blood vessel in her eye.


Complete article at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-te.md.ci.teacher10sapr10,0,601646.story

[LisaM]

1. There are some angry kids in our schools right now

These incidents aren't isolated. What is going on? Why is American youth so angry? The war? A complete sense of helplessness? The neglect of our public schools? Lack of parental and family attention? Not having extended families to turn to or nurture them? All of the above?

[Warpy]

3. Mom and Dad are working all the time

just to put food on the table. These kids watch TV and know that Mom and Dad aren't doing as well as those families on TV and that they won't, either. The antifamily policies of 39 years of unbroken conservative rule are coming to fruition.

They have no sense of purpose, no sense of direction and no hope for the future.

Parents are doing the best they can, but they can't do it alone. These kids are the proof of that.

[LisaM]

5. Well, not just food.

They're working to pay for cell phones, iPods, cars for kids when they turn 16, and on and on. I see kids at the mall spending money in an unbelievable manner. Yet the kids still feel that they are on a dead end. This is a sociological nightmare; we need to address it.

[KamaAina]

20. I don't think a lot of 16-year-olds in Northeast Baltimore have cars

Cell phones? iPods (or knockoffs)? Maybe. But the big-ticket items like cars? I doubt it.

[LisaM]

29. It was just an example. Lots of kids DO have cars.

When I was in high school, very few kids had cars and drove to school. Now, they have to actually save out parking for TEACHERS because so many kids drive to school. And everywhere in our district is served by buses, unless the kids are within walking distance. My brother drove to classes in college and parked farther away than where he lived just to have the status of having driven. I've even heard that students call school buses "Loser Limos".

[Wizard777]

10. That's one of the flaws of capitolism. Now corporations get mom AND dad

for what they used to pay dad.

[Warpy]

21. It's one of the flaws of the economy, period

that the major portion of labor that women perform every day is slave labor, unpaid and unvalued.

Bearing and rearing the next generation of citizens and workers for this country is considered a silly hobby of self indulgent females.

[Wizard777]

6. The tables have turned.

I'm 76. When I was going to school it was the teachers that threatened and used violence on the students. Except that back then it was called Discapline. Now we've done away with that and wonder why the kids are running wild. I can remember when the movement to end corporal punishment in schools began. There was just nothing worse or more inhumane than spanking a child. Now the kids beat the teachers when they aren't bringing a gun in to kill half the school. If a kid hits a teacher they need to beat that lil bastard within an inch of their life then go beat there parents within an inch of their life. To let them know in no uncertain terms that their lil talks and time outs aren't working. They need to try something a lil stronger like a switch. I can't see the logic in not allowing a child to be spanked because of the bruises and whelps. Then a few years later the SWAT team come to the school and puts a bullet between the kids eyes. Has anyone seen the bruises and whelps an assault rifle will leave on a kid? Save a kids life. Bust their asses but good!

[Book Lover]

19. Stay the hell away from my kid (nm)

[LisaM]

24. Sadly, that's the attitude a lot of parents have - their kids can do no wrong.

My father was a public school teacher his whole career, and I just thank God he retired a few years ago. It seems that fewer parents care these days how their kids act in school and are so quick to blame the teachers.

[Yupster]

78. That is the biggest change

When I went to school you got punished at school and then you got a worse punishment at home for embarrassing the family.

Now you probably don't even get punished at school and then the parents bring lawyers up to the school to challenge whatever the tiny punishment was (detention?).

Actually that is just one of the two biggest changes. The other one is such a large percentage of kids being brought up in homes without fathers.

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. Tell your kid to keep his hands to himself then

I am a teacher and I can guarantee you that if your kid ever hit me, I would definitely defend myself. And the law in my state says I CAN defend myself.

[Pithlet]

34. Defend, yes.

But the poster you were responding to is responding to a post advocating beating children in school, and then beating their parents. You don't think that's just a tad OTT? Teachers do have a right to defend themselves, and I don't think the person you're responding to was arguing otherwise.

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. You know I just breezed through that post

Sorry didn't read it closely enough before I responded.

[Wizard777]

49. Okay then beat the child within an inch of their life and the have CPS remove the child.

For child neglect. The parents are neglecting to beat the childs ass to establish respected boundaries. Don't criticize it if you don't have anything better. My way worked. We didn't have student beating up teachers or kids shooting up the school. That is what your way gets us. The next time a kid shoots up a school. I'd like to see the principle tell the police. If I can't beat his ass. You can't shoot him. I mean DUH! Now get in there and give him a time out and try to figure out where society has failed him before he kills everyone else in the school.

Oh yeah and I can't forget this. :rant: :sarcasm:

[mitchum]

82. I would not only defend myself, I would also press charges

I have made that very clear to alll concerned

[misanthrope]

23. Why do you need to ask?...

...We are reaching the fruition of consumerist culture driven by continual subconscious intervention (via television) which has eroded ethics in exchange for profits.

It's not about community, conscientiousness or personal responsibility anymore. It's about getting what you can when you can.

[MountainLaurel]

51. I'm gonna throw out a guess here, but

Probably these paragons of virtue learned such behavior at home. It's not anger, it's poor socialization. There are a hell of a lot of people out there who believe that the way to address something they are opposed to in some way is through violent means, whether it be a teacher telling them to sit down or a woman on the bus saying excuse me so that she can pass. These kids are the human equivalent of feral dogs trying to get along in a dog park.

[SammyWinstonJack]

52. Wonder how that came about?

There are a hell of a lot of people out there who believe that the way to address something they are opposed to in some way is through violent means, ...... Maybe the past 5 years or so? :shrug:

[MountainLaurel]

53. Can't blame this on the Shrub

This goes back generations upon generations. Hell, if we're talking unnecessary wars, try going back a few millenia.

[varelse]

77. Are you sure about that?

From the same article

The teachers union has long asserted that city school administrators aren't reporting violent incidents or doing enough to punish children who are violent, for fear their schools will be labeled "persistently dangerous" under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Maryland defines a persistently dangerous school as one with a certain percentage of its student population suspended for violent offenses. Critics say that that discourages suspensions and makes violence worse because students see they can get away with it.

[gateley]

2. This is HORRIFYING!

The article describes the number of incidents of violence in that school -- and others.

SOME students are suspended. Can't they be charged with a crime?

The principal blamed the teacher for provoking the student by claiming she would defend herself!

I was educated by nuns in Catholic schools -- but my friends in public schools would NEVER have attacked a teacher!

[bluestateguy]

4. I'm getting really fed up with this

One of these punk kids needs to be made an example of.

Life imprisonment! No future!!!

[Wizard777]

7. In my day they would have gotten their asses beat in front of the whole school.

But hey lets just keep contemplating how society has failed the child until the SWAT teams come to put the kid down like a rabbid dog.

[TomInTib]

8. And then there's the principal.

Part of the public outrage stemmed from how Berry said her principal responded to the incident. She said the principal told her she'd provoked the attack by telling the student she would defend herself.
<>
The principal, Jean Ragin, did not respond to telephone and e-mail messages yesterday.



Let the witch adopt the little monster, then.

[kevinbgoode]

59. The principal needs her butt kicked. . .

out of a job permanently.

[devilgrrl]

9. This will sound really stupid but what incentive is there to behaving anymore?

Like kids these days have a future...

Sorry if that was dumb.

:hide:

p.s. - I'm not defending the kids actions.

[Wizard777]

12. Not dumb at all. We won't allow a principle to beat a child. But we will allow the police

to kill the child the principle can't beat. Because if you beat a kid's ass for misbehaving they will grow up to be criminals. Now we've seen the flip side of this. If you don't beat their asses for misbehaving. They become mass murderers before they graduate.

[karab]

11. and what

And what did the teacher do to prompt such an attack?

[blonndee]

13. Um, she told the girl to sit down.

So I guess she deserved to be beaten.

[Mugu]

14. Teacher ‘petrified’ after being attacked by student

Teacher ‘petrified’ after being attacked by student

By Mike Celizic, TODAYShow.com contributor


Six days after she was sucker punched and beaten in her own Baltimore classroom, high school art teacher Jolita Berry still finds it almost impossible to watch the MySpace video of the attack. And she can’t make herself go back to work.

snip

“A lot of times when this happens, you see the student the next day. I hear that she was back on Monday, but I haven’t been back. I don’t know,” Berry told Lauer. “The thing that gets me, is that after the attack, they sent me to the clinic and on my way out of the door she was right there in the doorway. I should not have had to see her.”

Lewis High was put on probation by Maryland school authorities last year for the high number of violent incidents reported there. Marietta English, the president of the Baltimore teachers’ union, said that the school has taken to not reporting incidents and not disciplining students for fear of being labeled “persistently dangerous,” a designation that would allow students to choose to go to other schools in the city.

snip

“They know that there are no consequences for their behavior, so they are pretty much running the school,” English told NBC News. Berry agreed with English. “There are no consequences,” she said. “The students do whatever they want because they know nothing’s going to happen to them.”



Complete article at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24047456/

[MichiganVote]

15. Can't believe police were not called and student has not been expelled.

[Snarkturian Clone]

17. Thanks, inclusion!!!! NT

[MichiganVote]

18. No kidding. Don't leave the little crazy kid behind!

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. Oh was this a special ed kid?

I didn't see that in the article.

We have far more trouble from kids without disabilities at my school.

[ulysses]

35. that's what I want to know.

Funny, that automatic assumption...

[Snarkturian Clone]

41. I think it's pretty reasonable thing to infer.

A violent kid that has been classified emotionally disturbed would be in an Art class with the general population and her school is probably like my school where the violent kids don't have TSS workers like they should. The 3 incidents like this at my school in Trenton were all by kids that were classified ED (which I guess isn't fair to say because about 40% of our kids were classified as such).

So no, it's not in the article and no I have no other evidence but as you so easily forget, this is DU.. where evidence is not required to make knee-jerk assumptions, so dammit, I want my one knee jerk assumption!!! :silly:

[proud2BlibKansan]

43. 40% of your kids were ED??

You do realize that is about 20+ times the national average?

Or maybe you are exaggerating. :)

[Snarkturian Clone]

50. It was a charter school

for kids who got kicked out of Trenton's public system. Out of the 12 new teachers they hired that year, I was one of 3 who made it until July 21 (Extended school year).

[proud2BlibKansan]

55. So it was an alternative school?

And 40% were diagnosed ED?

That still seems like a lot.

[ulysses]

62. hold on - you worked in a charter for expelled kids

and you're blaming inclusion for the behavior problems?

[blonndee]

63. Good catch. n/t

[ulysses]

67. here's the deal - because special ed law

makes it difficult to place kids with special needs in alternative settings, the idea that a charter school for expelled students consists of 40% students with emotional/behavior disorders means that 1) the relevant district is breaking laws right and left, which is entirely possible, or 2) someone is lying out their ass.

[blonndee]

68. NCLB is encouraging all KINDS of "lying."

It's necessary, even for the "good guys." Anyone who has read any data (or teacher or student testimony) about NCLB couldn't possibly come to any other conclusion.

[ulysses]

72. I got my ass in all kinds of trouble last year

because I was in the habit of finding parents of my kids on the way out the door for what they thought was the last time. They'd tell me that administration had told them not to bring the child back to school for the rest of the year - this was in March. Stupid fucker that I am, I told them to call my superiors downtown and then followed up with a call to those superiors myself. Several uncomfortable meetings later, it kept my kids in school but my administrators made my working life shit for a couple of months.

[blonndee]

73. That is so sad. But they DO want those kids "out," among others.

It's better for AYP, after all.

I mourn for the kids who have suffered under NCLB, I mourn for the teachers who have been so unfairly limited and smeared as a result, and I mourn for this country for the reputation NCLB has unfairly left upon public schooling.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Only the voices of teachers and students are going to change this cluster-f**k. It's that bad. As you know, I'm sure.

[proud2BlibKansan]

75. I vote for #2

:)

[readmoreoften]

79. I've talked to Snark about this before this thread. He did work at a charter school in Trenton.

I'm from there myself and--special ed composition notwithstanding--last year Trenton was the 12th most violent city in America out of over 420 US cities. For perspective, Newark was 22nd.

[Snarkturian Clone]

80. Here's how it works...

the director went to all the area schools and said "give me your worst 15 kids". They did. Then he went to the parents that he had defended as a trial lawyer for various crimes and said "I'm starting a school, give me your kids". Trenton's public system then started dropping their problems on our school so they could put them on record as "transferred" instead of expelled. Then the director became a born-again Christian and went to the area schools and said "give me your kids that get picked on" (because it such a great idea to put kids who get picked on and the worst 15 kids from every school together). The waiting list is at 190 now. They were threatened with shutdown when a state official did a surprise visit and there were kids smoking weed in the doorway when she arrived, then a fight when she got through the front door, then a kid assaulting a teacher when she got to a classroom. I have no idea how the director managed to convince them to keep the school around after that.

It's looks like my #'s were slightly off, but according to their school report card (I'll PM you a link), it's 36.1% with IEP's... and I'll tell you from reading most of those IEP's that they had to be at least 75% ED... so that puts the number at 27% with ED. So I guess I was exaggerating (!).

[ulysses]

83. I can believe that.

Piss poor thing to do to troubled kids, but I certainly know it happens.

What you're describing, though, is at the opposite end of the continuum from inclusion. It's a separate school for at-risk youth which, outside the alternate universe of charter schools, we only do in a psycho-ed situation.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. dupe

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. The teacher can and should file charges

I am shocked that her union hasn't recommended that she press charges. I know mine would.

[Lars39]

32. Principal ought to have disciplinary action taken against him/her, too.

[blonndee]

64. I totally agree.

From my limited experience, complacent and fearful administrators are often to blame for this kind of crap. After reading a little about this specific case, definitely.

[Forrest Greene]

61. It Seems

...from this article that the blame, if you want to assign any, belongs most properly on dishonest, careerist school administrators.

[Snarkturian Clone]

16. This happens more than you think.

When I worked in Trenton, NJ this happened 3 times in a year... all went unreported. I work in philadelphia now in a nicer but not great school. I gave my anecdotal account of how it is to work in an inner city school and was shouted down as a racist bigot so it's pointless for me to go on... just wanted to let you know that this is not as unusual as one thinks.

[opihimoimoi]

22. Violent kids should be banned from school, never to return....let um get a fkn GED

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. In my state, they can and are permanently expelled

for assaulting teachers and other violent offenses.

[opihimoimoi]

70. Good for yor State...Safer for other kids /teachers....

[WinkyDink]

33. Expulsion means only physically; school districts must still pay to have that student educated

somewhere, if said student so desires.

[proud2BlibKansan]

36. I don't think that is true unless they have an IEP

[Snarkturian Clone]

40. I keep having visions of a nightmarish twisted future

where murderers on trial will whip out their old IEP's and say "see, it says 'emotionally disturbed'"!!! I should be excused from murdering people!!... and then employers will be forced to have a percentage of their workforce be adults with Individual Employment Plans.

[proud2BlibKansan]

42. Sorry I don't see it that way at all

Special ed teacher here :hi:

[ulysses]

66. wow, that's a pretty crazy leap.

IEPs have been around for a while, and to my knowledge, no defendants have ever used an identified emotional/behavior disorder as a defense in a murder trial. Or maybe you have an axe to grind...

[proud2BlibKansan]

76. Remember that Supreme Court case a year or so ago

challenging the death penalty for mentally retarded individuals?

[kevinbgoode]

58. I agree completely. . .

The moment they behave in a disrespectful manner, particularly in a violent way, they are out. It's interesting - I just had a similar discussion with a high school honors class I'm teaching. . .I'm a college teacher and have little training to teach people younger than 18 so we had this discussion and I asked them what happened when there were fights at school. Their response? In-school detentions...if it is serious, perhaps a suspension.

I told them right then and there that I was trained to teach adults and not children. One student asked me what I'd do if someone got into a physical fight and I laughed. . .and then said "You would never be in my classroom again. I don't have children and I'm not raising children. The moment one student forces me to have to act like a parent, your ass is out of here. I don't owe you an education if you haven't been raised with any manners."

They were surprised. One asked me if I've ever kicked a student out of class before in college. I laughed and said "Absolutely. Three times. The last time was because one was reading her Human Anatomy book during my lecture. I don't run a study hall and I don't give a shit if you have other things you want to do." One young lady's eyes got big and she said "I'm always doing my next class homework during the class before." Hahaha. . .I just said "Aren't you glad I don't teach high school?"

[blonndee]

65. I have to admit, this is part of why I miss teaching college.

I love my HS students, but will almost certainly go back to teaching adults. Soon.

[opihimoimoi]

71. Its a freakin priviledge...if them kids act violently /threateningly they should be expulsed

from the system...its not them we worried about...its other kids/teachers...

Let them bad kids be losers....or get a ged

[WinkyDink]

31. And THIS is why we're charging them as adults.

[Xenotime]

38. Sounds like the teacher was proving it...

"If you hit me, I'm gonna defend myself" sounds like a threat to me.

[ulysses]

39. announcing your intent to defend yourself is a threat?

How?

[PVnRT]

44. There are a few people on DU, ulysses

who think that teachers are big, mean bullies who only have jobs because of that evil union determined to sreck out public education system.

[ulysses]

47. yeah, I know.

I learned this in an urban public school: don't blink. I had kids offer to hit me, but they stopped once they realized I wasn't going to whimper in a corner. Or send them to the office. We dealt with most stuff in-house. :evilgrin:

Mean bastard, I am. :hi:

[proud2BlibKansan]

45. We are advised to tell this to kids

My union and the administrators in my district tell us to let the kids know we are allowed to defend ourselves and will if we have to.

[PVnRT]

46. You know, what disturbs me even more than the beating

were the precious little snowflakes cheering the student on.

I'd send them all to juvie for a year to think about it.

[kevinbgoode]

60. Absolutely!

They would suddenly discover that none of their sorry asses are going to get credit for that class...and would likely have to stay in school another semester - and that's just for cheering the little perpetrator on.

The perp would be out of the classroom permanently. If a school board or Administration allowed that brat back into the public school, I'd be suing the district and her parents and demanding that she not attend any classes without an adult escort.

In my opinion, people like that have no business being allowed in public alone without supervision.

[Ikonoklast]

48. If this happened in a mall, would that child be in custody right now?

Just because the violence occurs in a classroom doesn't mean a crime wasn't committed.

[proud2BlibKansan]

57. Bingo!

Before we had state laws in place to deal with violent kids, our union encouraged us to file charges, because there was a city ordinance that made assault in a public place illegal.

[Stuart G]

54. Yea, I was attcked 3 times by students while I was teaching

Early in my career, things were pretty bad. It was a couple of years after Dr. King was killed. It was awful.
..But somehow I stuck it out and after 6 years, I began to get the picture. The picture was pretty ugly.
.. Most of my students couldn't read. Although a history teacher in a inner city school, I revolved everything about reading and comprehension. A lot of my discipline problems were lessoned. Strategies were in place to deal with situations before they got bad.
............But it took a long time for me to learn how to avoid what happened here., and I had very little help..
,,,,,,,I feel bad for any new teacher faced with problems like this. What can I say..?

[Stuart G]

56. I might add......each of the three incidents..

were handled completely different..One correctly, one poorly, and one very poorly.

[blonndee]

69. How does one find out about the laws/policies for teachers in this situation?

My district has never addressed this, at least not to me. I was afraid to intervene in a fight earlier this school year because I had heard of teachers being accused of "assaulting" students as they attempted to break up violent fights. No one has ever said anything about this to me, and as a new teacher, I would like to know my rights and responsibilities when it comes to violent situations, but I haven't found anything online, and I dare not ask my principals.

[Trillo]

74. Perhaps this is a naturally expected outcome of a "compulsory system"

that fails to pay (with the standardized unit of exchange: money) for labor, and which requires an increasingly higher and higher set of hoops for its students to jump through.

Perhaps there are some who cannot be treated as non-violent ones. If they're expelled, by law these students must re-enroll elsewhere, essentially shifting their violence problem to another school, to someone else, without actually dealing with the problem itself.

Another way of looking at this is, if you corner and cage a wild animal, say a mountain lion, and then taunt and tease them, would you not expect to get clawed?

[deutsey]

81. I remember hearing a Jesuit priest say he wasn't as concerned about the end of the world

as he was about the end of our civilization.

That distinction's been on my mind a lot lately, especially with reports like this.