Today in one of my classes, boy A got up and punched boy B in the face. Then there was a series of pushes and desks flying around until two lareger guys pinned them down. Boy A claimed that he "had a short fuse" and was "protecting his honor". Boy B had criticized boy A in front of the entire class about ten minutes earlier. (A few of us believe that boy A was somewhat intoxicated)

I have not witnessed a fight in any class. (sure maybe in the halls or at lunch in jr high or high school, but not IN class.) I'm still very shaken by the entire incident.

The world seems really out of control lately. Anyway, I was just curious if anybody else has ever witnessed violence in a COLLEGE classroom before.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

Answers

Um, no. I don't blame you for being shaken.

In the immortal words of somebody or other, that shit's fucked up.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

Have seen it once here where I work. We have ad several near fights that i have averted. The world has seemd to become a place accepting "uncontrollable" outbursts. Its not my fault is a common theme it seems. I have a short fuse, its my nature. No thought for self-control evens seems to be raised.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

No, actually. I haven't seen a shoving match, much less a real fight, since junior high. I find the "protecting his honor" comment kind of humorous -- why does it not offend honor to go around walloping people without warning?

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

Well, I want to know if defending his honor was worth getting arrested (which he was) and watching 20 of his peers fill out police reports against him.

I was sitting next to the guy that got punched, and I ended up getting slammed against the wall (that's what I get for sitting in the back corner) before fleeing to safety. To make matters worse, my professor is hearing impaired and had her back to the event because we were supposed to be watching a class member give a speech. I don't think she knew what was going on until the fight broke out. I don't fault her for this.

A few of us that were sitting near the boys kept trying to think of ways we could have prevented it. One girl actually felt like the entire thing was her fault because she didn't throw herself in front of boy b. Her line of thought was that boy a wouldn't hit a girl. I told her that I wouldn't put it past him at this point.

I find the entire event embarrassing. Thanks for letting me vent, Beth.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

I work at a college, and incidents like the one you described (and ones far more frightening) have increased so much over the last few years that today the department held a roundtable on disruptive students. In addition to straightforward violence, we've seen an incredible increase in the number of mentally unstable and unsuitable for college students. I think it is probably due to new welfare laws (work or go to school, or don't eat), but whatever the reason, college has indeed gotten more dangerous.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

I have a friend who taught high school for a year. She taught at a school about 45 minutes outside of town in one of those itty-bitty towns. She reported NUMEROUS fights in school. She actually had two of her seniors start punching one another while in class and she wasn't allowed to break it up. Administration had instructed teachers to alert security but do not try to end the fight in any way, shape, or form. This small town has a very bad problem with gang activity and the majority of her seniors could barely read.

Have we become this apathetic?

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2000

i've never seen a physical fight at my college, but people are mean. example: the glbt group writes happy national coming out week messages in chalk on the sidewalk. someone goes in the middle of the night and writes homophobic stuff over it. some group does a program on campus handicap accessibility and they put a wheelchair in the middle of the quad. someone steals it in the middle of the night. there is this whole undercurrent of hatefulness that manifests in the form of backlash against any group trying to promote diversity/equal treatment. the very few who will actually speak up about it claim they're sick of issues like human rights "being shoved down their throats". these are mostly white abercrombie and fitch wearing suburb kids. they are so mean :(

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2000

one thing Im learning in my courses on contemporary schooling and culture of conflict,is that people who dont have to live their lives - without-or at least without privlege,never need to look at the pain thats caused by simply not being a part of the norm.or the majority.

And as long its not your pain and reality,your able to turn away or at least throw away the reminders left by others. a shame...we need different teachers,students,and what we might refer to as modern day 'elders' for our future. I recommend reading Sitting in the fire by arnold mindell(parts of it are hoaky,but it does the heart good).

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2000

Well, as the voice of the UK (I'm assuming I'm the only UK-based person here at the moment, and if not, please don't ruin my fantasy, as I'm enjoying being the voice of 60 million people), violence in schools is a big problem over here. Lots of NZ teachers come to work in London - the UK Education boards tempt them over with good packages because there's such a teacher shortage over here. Easy to see why, since teachers themselves are getting beaten up every now and then, and being called whore/bitch/slut/other mean names on a regular basis by kids as young as 7 or 8. Apparently - I mean, I'm not a teacher or anything, it's just what's been reported.

So all the teachers are having nervous breakdowns. And the system of teacher assessment over here is way harsh - a teacher killed herself last week after a poor assessment.

If that's what it's like for the teachers, I don't even want to think about how the pupils treat each other these days. There was a rape case involving a 9 year old boy and a 7 year old girl in a London school last year, and similar incidences are popping up every couple of months.

All in all, I'll be fleeing home to quiet and safe NZ with the first sign of morning sickness at this rate, because unless you've got a spare #100,000 to privately educate your child in the UK you don't want to be sending them to school here, in my opinion.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2000

I'm sorry Jackie, but I have to disagree with you. Yes, there are schools in London which are awful, but these are very much in the minority. I've visited lots of schools across Scotland in the course of my work, and I've been impressed both by the teachers and the pupils.

Bad behaviour in schools makes the news precisely because it is so uncommon; I have a friend who teaches special needs kids in a rough area here in Glasgow, and even she doesn't have to put up with the sort of things you mention. Just as there are dodgy areas to walk in at night, there are schools with rough, rude pupils, but it doesn't mean the only good education is one from a private school.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2000

Bea, I'll happily stand corrected - you certainly sound more knowledgeable on the subject than me! And Tristan's work brings him in contact with lots of schools, and he's so far made it home each night without stab wounds.

I'm just a sucker for what the media tells me at the end of the day ... (please don't go telling David from the protestor thread!)

By the way, in the USA is it customary to start putting your kid's name down for a good school before they've cut their first tooth? A colleague of mine has a 8 month old son, and they've already talked to about 5 nursery schools regarding him - including paying non- refundable booking fees! Crazy or what?

Bea, what do you do school-wise, anyway? Because I really admire school people.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2000

I'm not a teacher, I'm afraid - I make TV and radio programmes which support the curiculuum, and sometimes feature pupils' input. (OK, so maybe they wouldn't give me the complete monsters, but still...)

I agree totally with the madness of this early registration thing though; I seem to remember reading that some schools are so over- subscribed you have to get cracking pretty soon after the conception!

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2000

jackie, you're not speaking of violence in university classrooms, though, are you? big difference...i went to a pretty rough high school, and though i don't remember seeing anything erupt during class, it wouldn't have surprised me. i've certainly never seen it happen in college, and that really does surprise me.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2000

er, that really would surprise me, rather.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2000