STUDENT FIGHTS
In an email to my friend A.R. 10-21-05
On Tuesday morning, I started my day at school breaking-up a fight in the stairwell. I don’t know where boys in the 9th grade get the idea that they can beat up a 9th grade girl. Generally, at that age, the girls are bigger and stronger than the boys, as was the case that morning.
He had been fooling around and tried to trip the girl as they were walking up the stairs. She got upset over his constant pestering, and according to her, he touched her in an inappropriate manner. That was the last straw for the girl. She pushed the kid away and his drink spilled on him. That’s when I found them in the stairwell, in grips staring each other down like animals in the wild. The boy kept holding onto the girl despite her repeated warnings for him to let go. The yelling got heated. I tried to calm them down. The girl warned him, very seriously: “I’m going beat the shit out of you if you don’t let go of me!” The boy, however, kept holding onto the girl by her collar, not wanting to let go at the cost of loosing pride and standing with his friends if he were to back down. Then, he made his critical mistake, saying to her something to the effect of “fat, ugly bitch who...” Wham! He was knocked back onto the stairs. Staggering back up onto his feet, a little disoriented, he found his mouth full of blood. Wham! Once more, just in case he forgot the first one.
Who's lost some pride and standing now? As I’ve always said, experience is something you get only right after you need it. It was obvious this kid had no experience fighting a girl twice his size. But he does now.
It’s policy, for legal protection, that teachers do not physically get involved in student fights. Even in the case of a kid smashing the brains out of another, if I hurt a student while physcially intervening, then I’d get into nearly as much legal trouble as the offending student should he or she actually killed someone. (Hm, we'll leave the question of moral obligation out of this for now.)
And usually, kids don’t want to actually fight. They understand the odds of getting hurt are high, and they don’t want to get hurt. But often times in the urban “hood”, the front of being “tough” must be upheld. If a kid is ever seen as weak, even in front of a teacher, then his or her chances of surviving the streets before and after school (and sometimes even in school) are immediately in jeopardy. It’s the sad reality of life for inner city kids these days.
On the first day of class I explained my philosophy about students who want to fight in my classroom: “If you want to fight,” I told them, “give me 2 minutes. A bag of popcorn takes 2 minutes to pop in the microwave. Then I can watch you smash the shit out each other.”
Downs - Copyright © 2005
In an email to my friend A.R. 10-21-05
On Tuesday morning, I started my day at school breaking-up a fight in the stairwell. I don’t know where boys in the 9th grade get the idea that they can beat up a 9th grade girl. Generally, at that age, the girls are bigger and stronger than the boys, as was the case that morning.
He had been fooling around and tried to trip the girl as they were walking up the stairs. She got upset over his constant pestering, and according to her, he touched her in an inappropriate manner. That was the last straw for the girl. She pushed the kid away and his drink spilled on him. That’s when I found them in the stairwell, in grips staring each other down like animals in the wild. The boy kept holding onto the girl despite her repeated warnings for him to let go. The yelling got heated. I tried to calm them down. The girl warned him, very seriously: “I’m going beat the shit out of you if you don’t let go of me!” The boy, however, kept holding onto the girl by her collar, not wanting to let go at the cost of loosing pride and standing with his friends if he were to back down. Then, he made his critical mistake, saying to her something to the effect of “fat, ugly bitch who...” Wham! He was knocked back onto the stairs. Staggering back up onto his feet, a little disoriented, he found his mouth full of blood. Wham! Once more, just in case he forgot the first one.
Who's lost some pride and standing now? As I’ve always said, experience is something you get only right after you need it. It was obvious this kid had no experience fighting a girl twice his size. But he does now.
It’s policy, for legal protection, that teachers do not physically get involved in student fights. Even in the case of a kid smashing the brains out of another, if I hurt a student while physcially intervening, then I’d get into nearly as much legal trouble as the offending student should he or she actually killed someone. (Hm, we'll leave the question of moral obligation out of this for now.)
And usually, kids don’t want to actually fight. They understand the odds of getting hurt are high, and they don’t want to get hurt. But often times in the urban “hood”, the front of being “tough” must be upheld. If a kid is ever seen as weak, even in front of a teacher, then his or her chances of surviving the streets before and after school (and sometimes even in school) are immediately in jeopardy. It’s the sad reality of life for inner city kids these days.
On the first day of class I explained my philosophy about students who want to fight in my classroom: “If you want to fight,” I told them, “give me 2 minutes. A bag of popcorn takes 2 minutes to pop in the microwave. Then I can watch you smash the shit out each other.”
Downs - Copyright © 2005
posted by Mr. Downs at 10:17 PM
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