Down in Texas over the last week or two....the political guys have been busy. They decided that there just isn't enough protection for teachers in the classroom. So, they've crafted this bill, which basically says a teacher will have the fundamental right of self-protection in the classroom, and can take down (in the literal sense, shoot-to-kill) any punk who threatens the teacher or their students.
Naturally, there are some folks who are a bit peeved. There's a question-mark if it'll pass, and bigger questions will arise later when some punk kid does something stupid to threaten harm of a severe nature on someone, and Ms Jenkins pulls out a pistol and shoots them. The kid's parents will sue and claim it wasn't right....and some Texas judge will have to determine the circumstances which the law would be effective. Supreme Court episode? I'm guessing in less than five years....it'll come up.
In the 1960s and 1970s....a kid was mostly smart enough to realize the impact of stupidity. You might do one stupid act and get suspended for three days, which meant you had to explain to the parents why you were that stupid. If you really crossed the line.....you were suspended from the school for that school year. This typically meant you had to find another school to accept you or wait a year to re-enter the old school. We had three kids who came over to my school in the final three years I attended....who were suspended from regional schools nearby. It was a harsh deal of reality for them.
Generally, I'm of the mind that you need a half-day orientation class for each kid who gets past the 5th grade. You do it on day three or four of the new school-year. The theme for the three-hour episode is stupidity. If you think you are stupid enough.....here's what we will do to you. Share the theme with their parents and emphasize the line drawn out. Then as each kid crosses the line....finish them off with a minimum of one day of school lost. Any suggestion of physical violence? Make them attend a sand-bag filling seminar at the gym.....fill up three-hundred sand-bags and then you get a chance back in the class.
It's hard to imagine where we were forty years ago, and where we stand today. You rely on some marginal math teacher, who can barely teach.....to be the defender of your kid in school. Somewhere in the mix.....you are hoping that this old battleaxe of a teacher who is nearly sixty-five and retirement.....has a pistol in her purse and will easily take on any threat to her kids in the classroom. Priorities here.....are a bit different.
