Does my situation require any particular care- input from teachers especially welcome

[frayluisfan]

Document EVERYTHING

That's my main piece of advice. It really sounds to me like your principal is the kind who would not mind at all leaving you hanging in the breeze--she doesn't seem to mind letting *other* people face intimidation and the threat of violence. If she is not taking threats seriously from a confirmed gang member, GO THE HELL OVER HER HEAD! You need to be sure that a paper trail the size of the Federal Tax Code is building, at the very least in your own files. Talking to a sharp lawyer is also an imperative, in my mind. This could all wind up being nothing, like some have said, but if it ever escalates into a confrontation, you lose. Even if you win, you lose. The principal, based on what you have said, is giving you no support and may seek to have you fired, *regardless* of how an incident really happened. And that might well be the end of your teaching career, *unless* you have lengthy documentation going, preferably with other people (other teachers who will stand with you, other/higher administrators who are informed, and maybe even a lawyer whom you are updating every time this kid so much as looks at you crosseyed).

COVER YOUR HINDPARTS!!!

 

[fireflyfather]

One: Make it clear to the principal that you are not satisfied with a one day suspension for a physical threat against your person by a student. Be polite, non-confrontational, but firm. Ask her if she was threatened physically by a student and known gang menber, would she consider a one day suspension the end of the matter? Point out that the kid is old enough to join the army, and therefore, old enough to be a threat to someone. Ask her to imagine, that for some irrational reason, the same student threatened her in the same way, what she would want done, and if her answer is full of forgiveness, ask her what she would want if her son/daughter was the one threatened by a gang member. Ask her why the double standard. Point out that she is also responsible for your well-being, not just the student's. Also remind her that an IEP is NOT a license to intimidate or threaten others. It's still a crime. If she is still unresponsive, you may want to consider pointing out to her that you have the legal option to press charges against the student, can contact the local gang unit of the police department, WILL contact the teacher's union, and that she may be liable if something does happen and she gave the student a slap on the wrist when you made it clear that you felt it was a credible threat. Make sure to use the words "zero tolerance". Document the meeting. If you are feeling really ballsy, ask her if it's ok with her if you record the meeting, making sure that you offer her a copy of the tape as well. (do you have tenure?) You need to specifically state to her, as soon as possible, that you do not want this student returned to your class until the case is reviewed. Also, you NEED to document that she allowed the student to return to classes before his suspension was completed. She is not following through with consequences, and this communicates to students that there ARE no consequences.

Two: Contact the union anyway. You need to contact both your local union rep on campus, and a representative of the union at their offices. Document both of these meetings. Consider arranging a meeting with the principal with the union rep present. Consider recording that meeting as well.

Three: As has been said before, demand an immediate re-evaluation of this kid's IEP. Insist that a school psychologist be a part of that evaluation. Make it clear that you want him evaluated in terms of violent behavior, and that you want VERY CLEAR, EXPLICIT notation of his behavior goals in regards to violence, and the consequences if he does not meet these goals (i.e. If he has another violent episode of any kind, he will be moved to a more restrictive environment...i.e. special day class, special day school, court school, or home school). If they come up with half-cocked goals such as "reduce violent outburst" or similar dangerous crap, then you need to approach alert the union and the superintendent of your school district. If that doesn't achieve the desired results, you can go to the board. IT gets sticky, though, because you cannot release information from his IEP to the public or non-district employees.

Good luck with this, but DO NOT let this principal get away with endangering your life. Point out to her that you consider it a matter of her physically endangering her staff through inaction (negligence).

You'll probably get fired (unless you have tenure), but you can then sue the living **** out of the principal and the district.

--SB

 

[hillbilly]

No job is worth what you're having to go through.

I say find another one.

And yes. I'm a teacher.

And no, I'm not kidding.

Your current boss is going to stand around and twiddle her thumbs while you get killed. If not this gang-bangin' thug, then the next one, or the one after that.

This is an untenable situation. You need to eject, eject, eject.

hillbilly

 

[Kentak]

I bought my own small security camera for my classroom. It was wall-mounted in a corner and could pretty much record everything that was said and done in the room. I got it mostly to avoid "he said, she said" kind of crap if I had a dispute over a kid's actions or words, as well as a deterrent for more overt misbehavior. I once captured one student's assault on another that became a classic in our building. In fact, I think the principal used it to expel the kid.

It's important to note, the camera was not hidden. In fact I had a sign next to it that said, "Smile, you're on ClassCam." My principal had no objection to me doing this. The equipment was all privately owned by me, including the tapes. If he/she had objected, I could have made a strong argument for it being a legitimate way to protect myself from false accusations of misconduct by students.

I'm not saying you should do this. But it is a hell of a good way to document threatening words or gestures.

Good luck. That life is behind me now. Thank goodness.

K

 

[Jim Reaves]

Good Advice

Chaim
You have gotten plenty of good advice on the situation. I am a SpEd Teacher, I have started and ran a Alternate School with nothing but Gang Members in it.
99 percent of my male students had a major hangup with Male Authority figures. Don't take a chance with this young man, ask for a immediate change of placement for this young man. Do an IEP meeting, get everyone possible in the meeting, and change his placement.

It is a tough job and you can help many of the students but you cann't save them all. Good luck.

 

[highlander 5]

I am not a teacher but in this case the advice of;
1 get your union involved 2 make a paper trail of incidents with this kid 3 file a police report talk to the gang unit GET THEM INVOLVED. 4 Screw the principal go over her her head even if it means going to the head of the school board better yet their boss the mayor.
I don't envy your position in the least but tis better to be a pain in the butt than being severly injured or killed by a walking ad for birth control

 

[hso]

I have no background in this area, but I have one story to recount that reinforces much of what's been said.

My sister dealt with problem kids. She brought one down to our family's place so that he'd see what it's like away from the neighborhood out in the country. When I met him he immediately attempted to establish dominance and began to posture with threatening language. I simply told him that I wouldn't come to his house and disrespect him and he wasn't going to come to our house disrespecting us. No bluster and no threats followed, but I didn't back down.

Don't know if that helps.

 

[hjaeger]

Just a mild suggestion, would it be rational (or affordable) for you to carry something like a SureFire E2D? It's a powerful flashlight, with a solidly-built body. Its used by law enforcement across the world, and no doubt many THR members have them. The end caps of the flashlight are specifically designed (crenelated?) for use as a defensive weapon if need be.

I realize that 99.9% of this situation should be addressed by SA, behavior changes, leaving a paper trail with the school's administration, avoiding conflict, pushing your higher-ups to do something about it. I just ask this question because I am considering getting an E2D to carry with me (I am a college student in College Park, MD - rough area at times)as it doesn't really fall into the category of weapons, whereas something like a police slap (lead-filled leather thing, shaped like a comma) might be. Of course, in a school situation, knives, pepper spray, etc. are right out.

If it was closely inspected by a nanny-statist administrator type, or an LEO of the "only we are entitled to self-defence, the sheeple cannot be trusted with anything more dangerous than a half-sharpened pencil" were to closly inspect it, they might have issue with it. Otherwise, its a flashlight and you can explain it as such.

Just an idea, for any worst-case scenario. I hope this situation gets resolved by the school system.

 

[Davo]

Im sorry to hear about your situation. This is a problem in California, but not one that makes the news (your head would spin if you knew what didn't make the news here). As I see it he should be in juvy already, and he knows hes a few years away from prison. As said above YOU are the alpha, and as such you will be a target.
-Take his threats seriously. Whos dumb enough to attack his teacher? A 17 year old special needs gang banger (or wanna be), thats who. I dont believe that any local gang would target you, this guy will likley act outside any gang.
-Get your problem documented through your higher ups, you need to establish this pattern now, both for yourself and for the others he is going to infringe upon in the years to come.
-Consider notifying law enforcement.
-Have some sort of protection availible, thats a desicion for you.
-Id be more worried about vandalism and theft then anything else.
-Thanks for what you do, it does make a difference.

 

[El Barto]

My wife is a TA for the Los Angeles Unified School District and she deals with these types of kids all the time. These are the real gangbangers (many 2nd and 3rd generation in the life), the pregnant 9th graders and what the LAUSD call “Special Ed” which are really the trouble kids. We live in Maywood, where the local gov’t wants to rename a school after a Mexican President, if that helps you understand where we live. I don't know if this will help, but here are some suggestions.

Be authoritative from the start, let them know that you are the boss and won't stand for them being disobedient. When a behavior problem starts, give them 1 warning then send them to the office if they persist. If they do not alter their attitude, remove them.

The BEST course of action she takes is to call the parents. Most of parents of the kids in her school are bluecollar, factory or industry workers, usually paid piecework and many are illegal. They want to keep a low profile and they do not want to have to stop work to answer a phone or possibly take a day off for a meeting because Junior won’t do his math test. Usually a threat of this enough to straighten a kid out.

Always remember, do not compromise and maintain your cool. Remember the video of the male teacher that lost his cool and was screaming at the kids? I think it was about standing during the national anthem or something. When he started screaming he became a clown and lost his authority.

There have been a couple of instances where a “hippie” type of teacher fresh from college felt that the best way to teach was to be the kid’s friend, and allow them to explore learning or whatever and the whole class walked right over them. It took just a few words from my Mrs. to get the kids to act like angels.

Regardless of what the media says, most highschoolers are not “children” but rather fully grown adults with developing brains. They are generally bigger, stronger and more ruthless then you can imagine and most of the time they don’t think they have anything to lose. The last thing I can advise is to document everything and when the student starts to threaten either verbally or physically, call the police. The only person you need to “save” is yourself.

 

[tsalaf666]

ok, so i posted about this before but i was talking to a freind earlier today who is a prosecution lawyer.
basically he suggested that you tell the administration about the situation and that you want the guy out of the school or they will be liable for any damages that may be inflicted on you.
after that liability reminder they will promptly deal with the situation.
now, i am assuming that you will feel bad about this. well my cousin was there when this conversation took place and she had a situation where a child was verry simillar to the one you are dealing with, only younger.
she tried being nice to the kid and help him, but would still discipline when neaded.
anyhoo, so this kid got pissed at her for telling him not to make fun of a girl in the class.... well, he pushed the girl over and stabbed her in the back of the head with his pen.
so basically as much as you probably want to help this person, unfortunately it is near if not entirely impossable to do so.
hope this helps.
baruch t'hiyeh

 

[Nitrogen]

My fiancée is in the exact same situation as you. I just let her read your post.
Here's how she answered:

She replied, "become really good friends with your school's police officer" and "document, document, document. If you really think he's a threat, get him transferred to an appropriate school before he hurts someone."

 

[chaim]

Thanks again for all the advice. There is too much to respond to everyone, but I'll try to cover as many as possible in a few paragraphs.

First, there is no union for me to contact. We are a private program housed in a public school. We contract with the public schools in our county to provide services for certain of their students. While the public schools are unionized, we are not.

The principal of the school doesn't want or like this kid- but our program director is separate and took him in when the principal was about to expel him perminantly last year. She wants to fix/save him.

I'm actually less worried about anything now. Things have cooled off a bit. The kid is actually fun to have around- when he is not in my class (he is a bit of an entertainer sometimes)- and when I'm not being his teacher we actually get along OK (he likes trying to get me to like rap). Of course the moment my classes start and I'm Mr. Chaim his teacher, all heck breaks loose. He knows I'm in charge and he hates every second of having another male being in charge. However, I'm quite sure now that he isn't going to pull anything after school- if he does it will be in the heat of the moment when he is angry because I told him to do something (like when he threatened me). At any rate, he doesn't know what I drive and he definately doesn't know where I live (it will also be helpful that I live almost an hour's drive away from the school- even if he had an idea of where I lived, he probably wouldn't be able to get there).

We had the parent-teacher-student-administrator conference last week where he was told how it is and that he would be transferred to a program for kids with behavior and drug issues if he didn't shape up. His grandparents were there and they were great. His mother- she makes excuses for him, nothing is his fault. A mom like that and a dad in jail- no wonder he's screwed up.

I really do feel bad for him, he does have some good in him, but he is really messed up. The best thing for him would be a good Drill Sergeant whipping him into shape- and we actually are trying to talk him into going into the military.

As for security issues- I obviously can't carry any weapons to school. I am planning on switching from bringing everything home everyday to just a few photocopies of the book pages I'm working on and the lessons I'm in the process of planning. Put those and maybe one book in a bag or briefcase and it makes a defensive shield and gives me more maneuverability. I leave with the other teachers, I don't leave alone anymore. I do have a high power flashlight- if I ever plan to be at school after dark (maybe to watch a school play or game, or monitor an after-school activity) I may bring my Streamlight (a high powered beam in the face in the dark would be quite disorienting and give me a chance to get away). There is some gang activity at this school, I am noticable as an Orthodox Jew, and I have heard some comments in the hall (I've never been able to determine for sure who said what) so even with no likely danger from this kid it is good to be prepared.

 

[Javelin Man]

I'm glad to hear things are going a little better for you. My suggestion would be to talk to the boy when he is pals with you and tell him you would appreciate him not acting like a gang member in your classroom. You won't diss him and you won't tolerate him dissing you. Of course, you are not talking to him with a classroom full of students.

Whenever you think he is going to start threatening you, if he does, turn on that little pocket tape recorder that you're going to go out and buy tomorrow. Make a copy for the police and be prepared to file charges. Be sure to explain to mom that Dad and Jr. are going to be cell mates.

I am our teacher's union president. I would go to bat all the way to the top for you if you were in the public schools. The other students have a right to a safe environment and that same right doesn't stop at the students. You have the same right. Simply put, if you feel you are in danger, you have a right to have him removed. Press your rights. Also, a good-sized Masterlock on the end of a leather cord makes for a mighty good repellent.

Good luck and let's hope things get even better for you. And for him. He has two paths he can choose. Let's hope he chooses wisely.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

good luck

got any cop friends? or try a police store for sap gloves. i know what you mean about some of these heathens having good in em. one that i had dismissed as worthless surprised me. he turned those street smarts to good use and does right well. He takes great pride in telling me how wrong i was every time he sees me. And i tell him there are times its good to be wrong.

 

[UglyGlock]

This won't help you in the short term, but have you considered some unarmed defense classes? perhaps something like Aikido which is focused more on controlling an attacker rather than doing damage.

Why not carry that stout umbrella every day just in case it rains? Also i second the idea of a flashlight on a lanyard. And i guess you can maybe volunteer as a baseball/softball coach, so you have a good reason to carry a bat to and from school (well, in the season anyway).

Hope all turns out well for you.

 

[antagonist22]

You risk your job if you bring a defenseive weapon to school ,but you risk your LIFE if you don't. I am not suggesting you bring a weapon to school but if I were you I would rather worry about my safety than my job. You cannot predict when he will be under the influence of drugs.

Do you know if he does any martial arts?weights training? Because these factors will influence your chance of defending yourself against him.

You should have a escape plan(if you are at school and he gets out of control) such as a safe place you can run to and hide.

Park your car as close to the point your leave your school.Are you allowed to carry pepper spray in your car?

Be very careful about contacting your superiors/police. Every time they contact him may result in him being more aggressive towards you. Be very careful...

What they should do with kids like this is to send them to "rehabilitation camps" for maybe 2 weeks and completely isolate them from their gangs,bad influences and show them the "good" way of life/slowly bring a sense of discipline into them,the kid's only 17,he can still be changed.

 

[threefeathers]

I am a teacher/coach who deals with this problem daily. Your administration is the problem. In my school any kind of threat on a student is not tollerated, zero tollerence, Sounds like you teach in a Charter situation that takes the turds the Public schools have disposed of. Get a job in a Public school and see the difference. No way in hell would I teach in a non-Catholic private school.

 

[ripcurlksm]

1) "document everything with school administration"
2) Lift weights.

 

[hillbilly]

Chaim, you've made the point very clear, twice.

In your current job situation, you are in the public schools, but not under a public school official.

You are under a boss with a private company who has, as you have said twice, a real "life-saver" complex.

This idiot boss of yours, with her "life-saver" complex is going to get you hurt or killed all in the name of her own complex.

You need to find another job.

Maybe the nice principal at the school who knows how to deal with thugs (wanted him gone in the first place) needs someone with your qualifications?

I say again, this current boss of yours is happy to pay for her own delusions with your flesh, your blood, maybe even your life some day.

Find another job where you can do the same kind of work, but for a boss that won't put you in un-necessary danger.

The fact that the kid is "fun to have around" means nothing.

Serial Killer Ted Bundy was widely reported to be charming and intelligent and fun to be around. It was a big reason why he was so dangerous.

hillbilly

 

[chaim]

It doesn't look like this kid will be around much longer.

Because of another incident in my class (I'm not going to go into it, but it wasn't safety related- only oppositional related) he was on in-school suspension again today. The program administrator, the woman who wants to save him, got to spend the day with him. He cooperated for about half the day, then he got sick of being told what to do. He cussed her out and then refused all work for the second half. He is now on regular suspension (only one day though) for tomorrow, and she is now thoroughly sick of him as well. I don't think she'll be fighting as hard to keep him and to keep him out of that program for problem kids he might be sent to.

Part of me feels bad for him since I know he'll probably drop out rather than deal with that other program, but I really will be happy to see him go. He is a pain for me, but more importantly he disrupts class and keeps the other kids from learning. The other kids are decent kids, they just have learning problems. Learning problems which mean they really can't afford for me to take half the class dealing with this kid's crap- they need every minute for instruction that they can get.

Anyway, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself- something may happen in the next few weeks before the meeting where they decide what to do with him and we may end up keeping him (and his mother does know how to work the system, she works in it, and she REALLY doesn't want him to leave our program). Don't want to get my hopes too high yet.

 

[DragonRider]

Chaim, I work at a school in NOVA that is private and near Dulles airport if your interested. I don't know if we are hiring, but we did hire a new teacher last week. Pre-K through 8th, 1 to 10 ratio, 2 teachers in every class with 20 students max, with exception of 8th grade, both 21.

John

Edited to add. Gun friendly too, taught 8 teachers to shoot, and quite a few others go normally.

 

[Norton]

Too bad that the kid hasn't responded positively to all of the attention you and the other adults you've mentioned have give him. Ultimately, it's his choice.

You did what you could.....frankly more than I would have put up with....and he decided to continue with his poor attitude and behavior. One of the things I've learned in 18 years is that you do what you can for every kid with the understanding that you can't save all of them.

 

[chaim]

Dragon, thanks for the heads up. However, two things I got with my job offer was that I am paid on the public school scale (so I am not starving on private school wages) and they will pay for grad school so long as it is something related to my job. I may want the name of your school in a couple years though- once I finish my regular certification (my degree is psychology not education) and have my masters degree (on my employer's dime) I'm thinking I want to move to NOVA, Richmond, Norfolk, or PA (Pittsburgh) so I may be interested at that point.

 

[Old Fuff]

... but more importantly he disrupts class and keeps the other kids from learning. The other kids are decent kids, they just have learning problems. Learning problems which mean they really can't afford for me to take half the class dealing with this kid's crap- they need every minute for instruction that they can get.

And this is the reason he needs to be shipped out, and soon. Those other students deserve a chance for a future, and whatever his problem(s) are he has no right to take that away.

So when his future cumes up for discussion point this out...