Fighting Back 'A teacher fights back against unruly kids'
D.J. Burrough
Christian Science Monitor, April 23, 2004 Elizabeth Anne Moore, a high school teacher in Phoenix, AZ, was repeatedly harassed
by one 15-year-old student. She says he would tell her "daily" to "go [expletive]
myself."
But when Moore complained to school administrators, they responded by assigning
the unruly youth to an after-school detention program--for just three days. So Moore "decided to use the legal system
to restore order in the classroom--and her life. It worked: A justice of the peace
ordered the student not to have any contact with her on or off school grounds,"
reports the Christian Science Monitor (CSM).
"It shows just how far things have gone," Nancy Udell, CG Director of Policy,
and a former teacher, told CSM. "The days when the teacher could give a stern
look to a student and have that child sit up and take notice are clearly gone."
CSM's coverage of the incident focussed on how the fear of lawsuits and crushing
procedural requirements are undermining the ability of teachers all across America
to maintain order in their classrooms. From the article:
It's an unusual tale of a teacher fighting back and offers a look into how difficult
it can be for educators to protect themselves from abusive students at a time
when many schools have "no touch" policies and teachers are afraid to discipline
kids for fear of lawsuits.
From 1997 to 2001, teachers were the victims of approximately 1.3 million nonfatal
crimes at school, according to a survey published by the National Center for Education
Statistics. . . .
Since the mid-1970s, handing out a suspension or expulsion has become difficult.
In a landmark case, the Supreme Court ruled that students were protected by the
14th Amendment and couldn't be denied a public education without due process.
In the New York school system, the form required to start a suspension is 100
pages long.
CSM called attention to a recent Harris Interactive poll, commissioned by Common
Good, which found that:
77 percent of principals and 61 percent of teachers "avoid decisions that they
think are right simply because they might be challenged legally."
Even though schools most often win when challenged in court, Udell said, the
threat of a lawsuit has affected how schools and teachers mete out punishment
in the classroom.
"It's a huge pendulum swing and we have to do something to come back the other
way," she said.
Click here to read about the new Harris Interactive/Common Good poll on defensive
teaching. | 
