Philly police: 8th-grader punched teacher in class

as a national award winning teacher in Economics, I have been in this situation. All of us have in North Houston, Texas. Our district asks us to document as much as possible. We have a home pending conference suspension and the police are called to attend the meeting. If there is a "problem" during the meeting, he takes over and issues tickets to the parents and the student. We have an alternative campus, but they have a difficult time retaining teachers. People that are certified to teach secondary subjects often give up and can make more money with less stress in the professional world. I can't blame them. But after 21 years, I have actually seen our district take actions to deal with it. Can anyone guess the number factor that most of these children have in common?..... yap, you are correct..... no fathers and no grandfathers on either side. uncles are in jail. living with grandmas..... why can't we just get to the "root" of the problem. HOMES that are deteriorating in the 3rd generation where there are no fathers. God created the whole couple and family plan for a reason. Until we change as a culture, it is only getting worse. When I talk to a student who has an involved father, I rarely have to talk to them again. The strength that a father brings to a child's upbringing is greatly unappreciated.
People have no idea how bad it is for teachers. My 2 daughters will NOT be teachers. I refuse to let them be abused like I have been. I want something better for them.

You should see our schools in Milwaukee. Our superintendent doesn't want us to suspend disruptive kids. He says, "They can't learn if they are not in the classroom". Guess what! When they are in the classroom, nobody learns anything. Our kids do whatever they like, they know there are no consequences.

Any little; snot-nosed punk takes a swing at me, it's going to turn into a two-hit fight real fast, where I hit the punk, and the punk hits the deck, and the authorities and parents can kiss my grits.

I'm retired now but I was punched in the face and knocked down in a high school in 2006 and went to the emergency room - the teen was taken to juvenile jail, and I testified at the court hearing to have him expelled and put in juvenile jail for a period of time and to get counseling - the school did nothing for me! I hardly had an apology from the administration - female here ... was 67 - campus police didn't come to the class and the guy was beating the heck out of a smaller student - that's when I stepped in to save the kid being beaten - it can be a jungle out there for teachers - (I'm an award winning teacher - kids took ist place in nation so it can happen to any teacher - my big beef was the administration just wanted to sweep it under the rug ----

Effing parents of these monsters need to be beat along with their offspring....No wonder good teachers quit this profession altogether.

I quit one school in an 'affluent' district when some parents (and their brats, of coruse) started attacking me personally and saying that I was too strict and I taught too fast and all the kids failed and I had inappropriate teaching materials. The materials was what all the teachers used in that Regents course, the kids were supposed to be 'gifted' and it was the 2nd week of the schoolyear. They wanted their kids to get good grades but they did not want their kids to work at all. One 6th grader was harassing a classmate and the mother does not believe it...

kids need to learn when you do something stupid you pay the price ... bring back the paddle.

Kids are processed like cattle in the public schools.

This happens a lot more, you just don't hear about it because administration hides it and looks bad for their schools. I have taught in Illinois and Alabama and have seen it with my eyes. These students are animals and if you haven't been in a inner city school, just go check it out and you will be shocked. Animals act better than most of the students. It is usually one type of race.

Kick the kid's punk arsh into next Wednesday, problem solved.

Looks like there'll be another criminal added to this world. The system needs to change about how we educate kids. The naughty ones should be punished by force doing janitorial work so that they'll learn their lesson and won't commit the same crime again. What good does a suspension good for? He probably wanted to get suspended so that he doesn't have to go to school for a while. Kids that age doesn't like school and waking up early in the morning anyway. Suspention is not punishment, forcing to do janitorial work is punishment!

Ok, if anyone every did something like this to me, it wouldn't matter if i was a teacher or not, i'd knock his @$$ flat out on the floor!

That happens all the time in my district.

School boards are elected, so they can be voted out. That said, it also takes tax dollars to fix the problem. We have one of the largest high school campuses in the midwest, and there is a security force with radios. There is a zero tolerance policy and if someone even threatens violence, they are arrested, removed and punished. The staff seem to constantly remind the kids that they are about to become part of the workforce, so they should focus on an education that will help them find work or go on to more schooling. They remove anyone disruptive because the graduating class totals over 700 seniors every year and they don't have time to let a few punks ruin it for everyone else.

More proof that the "time out" punishment is NOT working.

BRING BACK THE BELT!

And yet your union had to pay a molester in Cal. to drop his wrongful termination claim?

what do you expect ? There sports so called fans are the same WAY!!!!!!! A State full of LOSERS !!!!!

Can't wait for the parents to come out to the media and tell us all how he is actualy such a kind and gentle child and that somehow it is the teachers fault. Its coming, count on it.

kick him out

And a bunch of stupid parents will probably say its the teachers fault this escalated... not the kid who threw a punch... Let's focus on raising kids properly... a kid raised by responsible parents wouldn't have done this. Bottom line.