If you were a teacher, would you hit a kid back in your class if he/she hit you?
By keela_mark
@keela_mark (128)
United States
March 9, 2007 9:52am CST
I want to share an experience with you... I am a computer teacher. Yesterday, there was a fight in my class with two meaty 5th grade boys. Usually I will get help, however I jumped in the middle of the fight because they were fighting on top of the electronic equipment and also one kid had a sharp pencil in his hands. Once I jumped in the middle, one of the kids punched me in the back (I don't think it was an accident). As a reflex, I hit the kid back. I wrote the incident up along with the starter of the fight who is also the one that punched me. My question is...What would you have done if you were in my situation?
3 people like this
6 responses
@magnet (2087)
• United States
21 Apr 07
If I were in your situation, I would not try to get in the middle of the fight. That would avoid me getting hit. I would get in contact with the principle to intervene and the children would be suspended from school.
@kgwat70 (13387)
• United States
10 Mar 07
I would not hit a kid back in my class. I am a teacher as well and have never experienced this but I could not throw a punch or hit another student, whether a kid or an adult. If I felt my life was in danger I may need to do something in order to protect myself but in this case I would not hit them and would report them to the person in charge and have them deal with the student.
1 person likes this
@inked4life (4224)
• United States
9 Mar 07
I would have most likely done the same thing as you, just pure instinct. I just hope that this incident doesn't come back to haunt you though, and that justice prevails. I have to applaud you, and all teachers for that matter, seems to me like it is one of the toughest, most thankless jobs in the world.
1 person likes this
@michelledarcy (5220)
•
9 Mar 07
I think it that situation I might possibly have done the same, it is hard to know. I know that if my little girl bites me I hit her just a a reaction.
However as a teacher if you were in this country and hit a child you would be sacked, so you need to be really careful about doing things like that.
1 person likes this
@uniquenorthern (932)
• United States
21 Apr 07
I probably would have instinctively hit him back too, and then regretted it. Pure reflex. To be honest I really don't know if I would have gotten in between them to begin with, it all depends on how big they were. I am a pretty small woman to begin with at 5' tall so I tend to stay out of people's way when they are fighting, but with kids it would probably be different.
@Windrunner (477)
• Pakistan
23 Apr 07
well if i was in such a situation i would not have reflexively punched back the kid, but would have thought of a better and more educating punishment. for example i would have sent the kid out of my class and given him 100 lines to write. that way at least the kid would have felt that he was been given punishments and would have avoided punching a teacher the next time
