"...she was trying to get his attention..."

okay, i had a little trouble with this one. not that i was torn, but the fact i wanted to believe the teacher and the double talking lawyer were sincerely apologetic and are willing to admit guilt on the part of the teacher, but i felt like they were still trying to justify the reason for her actions by blaming the way the system is being run.

the story line: in houston, tx a teacher has been fired for beating a 13 yr old student causing a black eye, a contusion, and bruises.
the excuse: student was a threat to a mental disable female student.
justification: student has abusive criminal record and has a history of striking fellow students as well as teachers. according to her lawyer "...she was trying to get his attention...".
setting: jamie's house charter school for troubled teen. "no system of security". teachers are first and last line of defense for themselves and other students in locked rooms.

watch here

my take on it: okay. you know what you're getting into working in an environment where these kids have known issues. these are kids. they obviously have no positive role models. this particular situation involves a teacher who earned teacher of the year twice in three years of teaching. you mean to tell me that she could not think of any better way to handle this situation? how about becoming a physical barrier between the aggressor and the victim. call for backup. call his momma. she's on camera portraying that she cares (but then again, dollar signs cause people to do strange things). to me, it seems the stress of the job (i do not doubt that the school is a highly stressful environment) got the best of her and she found an inappropriate outlet in the form of a trouble making teen. i relate this incident to working in a mental institution. these people are fragile. we know that going in. so if a mental disable patient hits you or becomes aggressive, we relate that to a mental disease, restrain them, remove them from the situation, and give them space. why couldn't she and the onlooking staff do the same? i'm not saying this boy was an angel, just an angel with a problem.

Dom
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be easy coz life is hard...