On Wednesday, cellphone video showed a female student punching a 65-year-old St. Louis High School teacher in a hallway as a crowd “surrounded” them, jeering and shouting.
What are the details?
Video shows a student dragging a female science teacher to the floor at Normandy High School. KSDK-TV reportedHe added that the teacher appeared to be trying to restrain the student as the student kicked and punched him.
The teacher's boyfriend, Greg Stanton, said the teacher told police that the student had left class and returned to get his library bag, police said. However, when the teacher told the student to wait, the student pushed him away, grabbed his book bag and attacked the teacher, Stanton told KSDK.
Police said the teacher was hospitalized after the altercation, and relatives said he was in pain but was expected to be okay.
“She was being beaten pretty badly…I was at work and I got this video…she was surrounded,” Stanton told KSDK.
There appear to be at least two cell phone videos recording the altercation. One unedited video The student is seen hitting the teacher in the head nearly 20 times with his hand. When the two were separated, a woman in an orange jacket (apparently another student) pushed her teacher back to her floor and lunged towards the student her teacher was hitting on her.
Stanton added that after the altercation, the teacher “couldn't really talk. She didn't know why and was crying.”
Police told KSDK that criminal charges against the student will be pursued through St. Louis County Juvenile Court.
What did the school district say?
According to the station, the Normandy school issued the following statement:
The school district is working on an incident that occurred this morning between a teacher and a student. The government takes this matter seriously and is cooperating fully with local law enforcement. Additionally, we have begun an internal investigation to gather the necessary facts regarding this matter, and will take appropriate action based on the results. The safety and well-being of our students and staff is of paramount importance to Normandy Schools Collaborative, and our primary focus is to provide a safe and nurturing space for students to learn and teachers to educate.
“One of the most difficult jobs in the world”
“Teaching is one of the most difficult jobs in the world,” education consultant Ian Buchanan, a former Normandy school principal, told KSDK.
The station asked Buchanan: “What do you do as a teacher? If a student were to swing at you, what would be your ideal reaction?”
Mr. Buchanan replied: “There are a lot of techniques that teachers have been trained to use and practice. I think the first thing is to resist that initial reaction.” [respond] In a defensive sense…we definitely don't want to do what's called an “eye for an eye” or “retaliation for retribution.” At the same time, for those who don't know, teachers are humans too.So we can talk about all of this theory [what’s] It was supposed to happen, but when faced with a situation like that, you never know what will happen. ”
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