Unruly students in class? No problem. Just throw them out the window.
Monday a teacher threw two Moroccan schoolboys out a first floor classroom window because they were being too noisy, an English Ministry official said.
Instead of disciplining the students by sending them to the principal’s office or writing a referral, the teacher thought the best option was to get rid of them completely through whatever means necessary, even if that meant causing physical harm.
The two youngsters, aged nine and ten, ended up in the hospital after the incident. The younger suffered a fractured shoulder and serious injuries to the face and head. The other child had slight injuries.
The school official in Morocco had no comment on whether the teacher would be disciplined, but how could she not be? She threw two children out of a window because they would not be quiet!
Nowhere in a teacher’s manual does it say anything about disciplining students through physical force. They are not the parents or guardians of the students so there is no legit reason for them to even be touching students. However, in some states there are actually laws that protect teachers from lawsuits.
In Maine, state law provides that a teacher may not be held civilly liable for the use of a reasonable degree of force against the person if the teacher believes it is necessary to control the disturbing behavior or remove the person from the scene of the disturbance.
Shirking the blame from teachers to the school district is a large problem. The school district did not harm the students- the teachers did. Therefore, the teachers should be the ones held liable.
Of course some students will get out-of-control and require disciplinary action, but the punishment must be appropriate. Zero-tolerance rules formed can work when used in good taste and not to the extreme.
The school official in Morocco told Reuters, “They did not listen. They should have listened.”
Yes, they should have listened and quieted down, but they should not have been thrown out the window. That teacher needs to get a grip on life and realize the error in her ways.