Thursday, December 02, 2010

Classroom Beating: Florida Student Gets Pummeled While Teacher Sits Back

Classroom Beating: Florida Student Gets Pummeled While Teacher Sits Back
By SARAH NETTER
ABC News
Dec. 1, 2010

The pummeling of a Palm Beach, Fla., middle school boy by another student has infuriated the boy's family who say the teacher did nothing but sit by his computer while the fight raged in his classroom.

Video of the fight between Joshua Poole, 13, and his Jeaga Middle School classmate shows Poole swinging wildly as he is punched repeatedly before falling to the floor. The teacher's inaction was reportedly due to a school policy that staff can only intervene after undergoing training, according to the school district.

That type of "policy run amok" is a growing problem in schools across the country, according to Carol Kochhar-Bryant, a professor at George Washington University's Graduate School of Education and Human Development.

"In the past there have been many families, if the child gets injured in any way by an intervention by a teacher, there have been instances where the teachers have been reprimanded," she said. "Those policies protect the school, they protect the teacher, but we are realizing now they don't protect the child in those situations."

...Teachers, she said, "are entrusted by society to take care of children." ...

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