Sunday’s column: Botetourt teacher is getting a raw deal
Jaquen | Wikimedia Commons
It is Sunday, but school is in session. Here’s a short pop quiz. The subject area is education. There’s only one question, and it’s multiple choice.
1. If you as a teacher stop an unruly student from entering your classroom by grabbing his shirt and admonishing him to put a lid on it, you:
A. Deserve an award for deft handling of a classroom distraction.
B. Merit a reprimand for not getting out your paddle and handling that little monster the old-fashioned way.
C. Could be charged and convicted of assault and battery, and face the prospect of losing your job, and then being sued for $110,000.
Because I know you devilish readers well, I’m certain a few of you chose ‘B.’
But if you’ve been reading this newspaper lately, you know the correct answer is ‘C.’ Outrageous as it seems, that’s precisely what has happened to Lord Botetourt High School teacher Victor Terry.
Back in November, Terry stopped an overly boisterous teenager as the boy entered Terry’s technology education classroom. Terry grabbed the kid’s shirt or something like that — in a way that caused no injury whatsoever. And he persuaded the student to shut up, although probably with gentler language than that.
A few days later the kid and one of his parents swore out a warrant charging Terry with assault and battery. February 7, a judge convicted Terry in Botetourt Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. The penalty was a $50 fine, which the judge suspended.
The problem for Terry was a state law that mandates the removal from the classroom of teachers convicted of assaulting students. In other words, they lose their jobs. While Terry appealed the conviction to Circuit Court, the school system suspended him with pay.
READ THE REST OF THIS COLUMN HERE.
March 4, 2012 - 6:00 AM
Why, whatever in the world could have put an idea like that in the mind of the Student and his Parents ?
Dan
Don’t be too hard on this kid. His knack for yelling, being obnoxious, and seeking large gifts of money earned by others make him a perfect recruit for the OWS gang.
A teacher simply tries to restore order to the classroom by disciplining an out-of-control and totally disruptive student? No physical harm is done? Sounds to me like the person that needs disciplining is the Botetourt County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge for issuing such a ruling, along with all of the county authorities who allowed this situation to even go this far. What a waste of the taxpayers time and finances. Best of luck to the teacher and hopefully he will find a better job within his profession that respects him and supports him.
what a bratty kid and the parents are no better.
Have cash, will sue.
Richard@5
You really don’t even need cash. Crandall will take you on for nutt’n if he smells a dollar bill for his efforts. But it’s the same case on this one.
Dan, heads up, the link to the rest of the column is not working
You betcha the answer SHOULD be B. Teachers started to lose control and respect, not just from students, but also parents when corporal punishment was taken away.
If B was an option, I dare say this problem student wouldn’t be such a problem. Of course, he probably has been given some “label” and some special academic treatment over the years to make sense of his behavior. Kids today are ADD, or ADHD, or they have some numbered plan for them to follow. Back in the day, they were MEAN or LAZY.
I got my butt whipped once in school . . . . ‘once’ being the key word. It did scar me, it stung like hell, though, and I wasn’t about to experience it again. I learned my lesson, as did friends of mine who experienced the same thing.
I had one teacher that had a very ingenius way of handing out the punishment. She didn’t think it was fair to be sent to the ‘gallows’ alone, so she accumulated names on the board beginning on Monday. When she got to 5, you got to go together. She said it helped her “loosen up” doing that many! If she didn’t get 5 during the week, the lucky ones on the board were granted clemency at the end of the week.
You know what that meant? When you got your name on the board early on, you became a diplomat, a peacemaker – you learned leadership skills in dealing with your fellow 5th graders, because you sure didn’t want this lady (she was young, too, could really swing it) to light you up, so you did everything in your power to stop trouble . . . until at least Friday.
Today that teacher would be villified (and sued, of course), but in my book, she should have gotten a Teacher of the Year award, because I remember I learned more from the threat of the paddle than I did anything else that year of 5th grade.
Our problem today is the Perfect Paul and Precious Penny get no discipline at all, for the most part. We’re soft as a society, until we want to sue somebody, then its all about the Benjamins, there is nothing held back, because there is always some ambulance chaser out there that should have gotten their rear end whacked in school that is willing to take it on for them (and a fee, of course).
While the teacher may not have been right to put his hands on the student, the incident should not necessarily fall under assault and battery by any stretch of the imagination. So define unruly; was the student’s behavior such that it necessitated the action by the teacher? Not sure from the information given. Perhaps the teacher needs to learn how to better diffuse a situation so that it doesn’t escalate. However, I wouldn’t call this necessarily a non-event; I’m sure all parents here would be upset at any teacher laying their hands on their little ‘angels.’ But I hardly think the man should lose his job for the incident or that the case should have gone this far.
Thanks, Elena. Should be fixed now.
RickH, I’m sorry that your kids only respected you because you hit them. As for teachers…no one has any business laying their hands on someone else’s child. If someone wants to call themselves an “educator” they should have the creativity to figure out some other punishment.
The lawsuit is ridiculous. I guess the mom is counting on Botetourt just throwing some settlement money at them. I feel for the kid, it has to be humiliating.
@8
I’m old enough to remember the days of widespread use of corporal punishment. My memory is that it didn’t work – although I admit never having experienced it myself. I do remember a 7th grade class that was pretty badly behaved (here in good old SW VA!). The principal came and took most all the boys out for a paddling. They returned, swaggering and bonded in their experience, to continue their behavior for the remainder of the year. It obviously didn’t work even to me as a 7th grader.
Now, as a teacher, I have had to physically control students who were unruly. Fortunately, not often, but I can totally relate to Mr. Terry’s situation. Kids aren’t different today than they were 40 years ago but parents sure are.
Repeated studies have shown that the more children are exposed to corporal punishment, the more likely they are to exhibit violent behavior as adults. Children learn from their parents; if the parent problem solves with violence then the child does likewise.
When I was teaching a parenting class, some of the discussion was on techniques for disciplining children. Each class had about 15-20 parents, and more than half used “switches” on their children, no matter what age. To say I was horrified is an understatement. In addition, I would ask how many parents (each group had one parent per child represented ea. month) would allow a teacher to physically punish their child @ school. I was lucky to have one parent say “not my child!” – as a matter of fact, when the school asked them to sign a school document allowing corporal punishment, most were more than willing. I taught this class for 10 years, until 2008 in this area.
My point being, that most parents in my classes did not object to physical punishment at home or at school.. all saying that was the way “they were brought up”. I had a steep hill to climb trying to convince them otherwise, so it is more than interesting to me that the parents in Botetourt are making this into a legal matter. Are they from around here?
Let’s turn the tables. What about the numerous times students lay their hands on teachers? What repercussions do you think should result? It happens more often than people may think. My son has come home from school on more than one occasion and retold events of students pushing, kicking, shoving, and “body-checking” adults in his school with what appears to be little to no punishment for the kids. Saying, “Kids will be kids,” don’t wash with me. Kids and their parents need to be as accountable as those teachers who work hard each day to educate our children.
Mr. Terry has the right to stop behaviors at the door before they come into the room.
I was not at the door with Mr. Terry. Were there other teachers in the vicinity at their doors?
Was this the first incident or was this incident #25 with the same student – same behavior? Are other teachers having similar issues with the student? If so, then here’s a young man who needs a firm redirection by his parent and the school.
If you have children, do you know how much time is wasted in classrooms because a one or two students’ inappropriate behaviors? A lot!
I do not believe that Mr. Terry’s behavior was inappropriate. The student was not punished. He was stopped at the door. I am not sure how much more creative( #11) Mr. Terry could be. Maybe, he could have played a game or song to creatively redirect the student’s boisterous hall behavior. Again, I was not there.
I am sure that it’s difficult for the student at school as it must be for Mr. Terry. I would have hoped that the school administration’s intervention would have been brought this to a fair resolution IF the parent would have gone that route.
What a mess!
I can’t figure out what parents want. First, parents are in the papers complaining that students are bullied at school. Then, when an obnoxious, most likely bullying, student gets reprimanded the teacher is sued. I guess the lesson for teachers is to let the children run the classroom? Or, better yet, the parents who have no control of their own children (because their children behave this way in public, it’s obvious) get to run the schools and run over the students who do behave? Where is the reward for good student behavior? I’m confused.
I have had 2 children taught by Mr. Terry and never in all those years had a problem with him. He is a very well liked and respected teacher at LB and it would be a shame to lose him. The ridicule and shame the student is receiving from the other students is most likely from them knowing his mom is doing this. ( Only for the money ) Evidence has proven that Mr. Terry only placed his arm out such as my parents used to do to prevent me from flying out the front windshield when they stooped to fast, and never harmed the student in any way. Hopefully Botetourt County will not cave and just throw a settlement out, fight this charge and prevail. Mr Terry has my support.
I was physically assaulted by my 5th grade teacher. In front of the whole class, she grabbed me by the front of my shirt and slammed me face first into the chalk board, ripping my shirt. I told my parents and they didn’t believe me. The physical assault was bad enough, but the embarassment and heckling by the other kids that went on after it was over was even worse. My Mom was a nurse for the Health Department and covered the schools, so she knew all of the teachers and administration.
Fast forward 12 years when I was in college. My fiance and I are eating dinner with my parents in a restaurant and as we are leaving we pass a table with this teacher and her husband eating. My Mom stops and the niceties are exchanged. When she looked at me and said, “Oh, I remember you…I just loved having you in my class, etc.” Well, I confronted her right then and there with what she did to me in vivid detail, even describing my favorite shirt that she ripped. I told her that she could sit there and pretend to be nice all she wanted, but me, her, and God know what she did that day and she’ll have to answer for that to Him. I walked out as everyone in the place was in shock, jaws dropped. I got in the car. A few minutes later, my parents and finace all got in the car and we sat there for a minute in silence. My Mom turned to me and said, “I am so sorry that I did not believe you. Obviously you have carried that burden for many years and I just want to apologize.” I told her that it was fine and I had just let it go that very night. Now it is her burden to carry, not mine.
Anyone that has never been physically assaulted (not just paddled or whooped, but assaulted) could not possibly understand.
Great story, Bug. Good for you. Hope you ruined her day.
(o\ ! /o)Good for you for telling her that you never forgot.
Bug. That type of physical assault from a teacher on a fifth grader is unacceptable and should have been investigated and properly dealt with. On the other hand, there is nothing in your anecdote which describes wheteher there was any inappropriate behavbior on your part to bring on such a violent reaction. Why am I feeling that we do not have all of the picture here.
Finally a column i can relate to from Dan. I agree totally with your assessment of the situation and hope they throw this out of court asap.
A perfect example of the system created by leftwing trial lawyers. This wouldn’t happen if we MADE THE LOSER PAY for both parties. It would pretty much put an end to frivolous nonsense like this.
But the lawyers who make the laws aren’t about to end the gravy train in favor of common sense. Shoot, a Roanoke City jury would probably get the mom the quick cash.
(o\!/o)
The teacher should find you and apologize. Your confrontation should be the motivation to do so.
Teachers are often in doubly difficult situation in schools in regard to liability. Aside from spurious allegations of the type Mr. Terry is being forced to endure, there’s also the far more common situation of intervening between students in conflict. In one school in which I taught, this was a weekly occurrence. There where many times I stood between two angry students or found it necessary to physically restrain one student who was pummeling another. Letting them fight is a liability risk, and breaking up the fight is as well. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Every teacher needs liability insurance.
Loser pays would keep way, way, way too many legit lawsuits out of court.
Loser pays would keep way, way, way too many legit lawsuits out of court.
If they’re truly legit, they’ll win. Duh.
“If they’re truly legit, they’ll win. Duh.”
And with that, Suzie has just declared the McDonald’s coffee lawsuit “truly legit,” because the plaintiff won. That is the bete noir of the “frivolous lawsuit” crowd. And she’s correct about that.
It may be the first time she’s ever been correct about anything on this board.
What Lutins failed to mention is the $100,000 is his fee if he wins and the family gets the $10,000. What an ambulance chaser.
And with that, Suzie has just declared the McDonald’s coffee lawsuit “truly legit,” because the plaintiff won. That is the bete noir of the “frivolous lawsuit” crowd. And she’s correct about that.
Dan once again flunks geometry. If a, then b, does not equal if b, then a. Just because legitimate lawsuits win doesn’t mean frivolous lawsuits can’t.
“Never argue logic with a mathematician” – Bernoulli
What Lutins failed to mention is the $100,000 is his fee if he wins and the family gets the $10,000. What an ambulance chaser.
Once in awhile, OG makes a great point. EVERY story about a lawsuit should be forced to mention the fee the attorney will get. It’s really time to shine the light on these leftwing hucksters.
I’m sure Morgan Griffith, Bob Hurt, Greg Habeeb, Bob Goodlatte, Bill Stanley, and all those “leftwing” trial lawyers would be only too happy to have the fees disclosed in their lawsuits.
TLA is Democrat Party’s largest donor. Trial lawyers are leftwing as a rule. This law ain’t about to be changed.
22.Bug. That type of physical assault from a teacher on a fifth grader is unacceptable and should have been investigated and properly dealt with. On the other hand, there is nothing in your anecdote which describes wheteher there was any inappropriate behavbior on your part to bring on such a violent reaction. Why am I feeling that we do not have all of the picture here.
Comment by dave — March 5, 2012 @ 2:05 am
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Perhaps because you are a tool, dave. I was called to the front of the class to do a problem on the board. I’m sure I was not paying attention. Nothing deserving of being physically assaulted I can assure you. I got my share of butt whoopins in school and I deserved every one of them. This was different. And this was not an isolated incident with this particular teacher. There was a pattern of abusive behavior that followed once she got away with it the first time. That was the longest school year of my life.
I’m now 43, so many moons have passed since the incidents occurred and since I turned the tide of public embarassment and humiliation back on her. I don’t even know if the old hag is still alive and I don’t really care. I can assure you that if someone ever assaults one of my children you can bet your wrinkled a$$ they won’t come off scott free.