For once, a teacher is allowed to practice self defense

[A-R]

If you're not sure if this is "right" for a teacher to strike a child in this situation, just put this same scenario in any other public place: A 6-foot-tall teen-age "man", curses at a 64-year-old woman, gesticulating wildly as he closes to striking distance and gets right into her face, still shouting expletives, and (this part is in dispute) actually puts his hands on the woman.

In any other place, the woman's RIGHT to retaliate in self defense would be obvious. But because she is a teacher and the aggressor is a student, many in our society think her self defense actions are "wrong". This is likely because nearly everyone has either been a student or parent of a student, but very few go through the daily tribulations of being a teacher. And most forgot to put themselves in the teacher's shoes in such scenarios.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/0 ... 71112.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[OldCurlyWolf]

She should have nailed him so hard in the gonads that he would be forever removed from the gene pool.

[The Mad Moderate]

Now that I am out of high school I think corporal punishment should be reinstated in all schools, the feeling of the paddle on bare flesh would be a great deterrent to some of the smart mouthed delinquents that seem to populate the halls of our schools.

[Jasonw560]

My wife, a former teacher, said, "good for her!!"

Kids think they can get away with anything nowadays. The school should give her their highest acheivement and a raise.

[A-R]

Yep, and now that the prosecutor has ended the witch hunt against the teacher, he should prosecute the student as an adult for felony assault.

[RottenApple]

Now that I am out of high school I think corporal punishment should be reinstated in all schools, the feeling of the paddle on bare flesh would be a great deterrent to some of the smart mouthed delinquents that seem to populate the halls of our schools.

Are you sure you're a liberal?

[The Mad Moderate]

Now that I am out of high school I think corporal punishment should be reinstated in all schools, the feeling of the paddle on bare flesh would be a great deterrent to some of the smart mouthed delinquents that seem to populate the halls of our schools.

Are you sure you're a liberal?

Yes! Believe it or not there are some of us who still know how to think.

[MasterOfNone]

Now that I am out of high school I think corporal punishment should be reinstated in all schools, the feeling of the paddle on bare flesh would be a great deterrent to some of the smart mouthed delinquents that seem to populate the halls of our schools.

Are you sure you're a liberal?

Yes! Believe it or not there are some of us who still know how to think.

Doesn't the "now that it wouldn't happen to me" clause qualify as liberal?

[The Mad Moderate]

Now that I am out of high school I think corporal punishment should be reinstated in all schools, the feeling of the paddle on bare flesh would be a great deterrent to some of the smart mouthed delinquents that seem to populate the halls of our schools.

Are you sure you're a liberal?

Yes! Believe it or not there are some of us who still know how to think.

Doesn't the "now that it wouldn't happen to me" clause qualify as liberal?

touche

To be fair I think most would be hard pressed finding a child who is in favor of corporal punishment.

[MasterOfNone]

To be fair I think most would be hard pressed finding a child who is in favor of corporal punishment.

I suspect the well-behaved kids are for it, especially those who want to learn but are interrupted by specimens like the one in this story.

[suthdj]

From what I see the boys hands never left his side. Is being a teenage butt(being nice) grounds fot getting punched? Now I don't think teachers should be defenseless but here it appears she punched in fear not because he touched her.

[fulano]

Hummmm...Huffington Post and there are over 3,000 comments at the end of the article. I'd have to sign up to read them but I'll bet they slant in one direction.

[Dave2]

Is being a teenage butt(being nice) grounds fot getting punched?

Yes.

Now I don't think teachers should be defenseless but here it appears she punched in fear not because he touched her.

The teacher and most (though not all) of the class claimed he had already hit her or grabbed her or something. Either way, though, based on the video it seems highly likely that he would've started hitting her in a moment or so. I'm no expert, but I can't recall ever seeing an incident where someone's yelling like that and then not have it come to blows. Maybe I just hangout around calm people. <shrug>

[OldCurlyWolf]

From what I see the boys hands never left his side. Is being a teenage butt(being nice) grounds fot getting punched? Now I don't think teachers should be defenseless but here it appears she punched in fear not because he touched her.

Apparently you never learned how to handle a bully. That is what he was being. And a lot of teenage boys are very stupid about physical violence.

She should have given him a boot hard enough to give him a Darwin Award. NO Procreation for IDIOTS.

[sugar land dave]

She gave clear instructions to "back up" before he continued to move in on her pressing her up against the door. Justifiable in my book.