chonsigirl wrote: It is a sad comment on the times, that if a teacher intervenes they can be hurt-or worse yet accused of assaulting a child.
She's absolutely right. I'm kind of an expert on this kind of thng, since I run the parking lot at lunch hour and after school at a very, very tough Alternative High School.
I have hand to hand combat training from the Air Force, karate training, and I was a bouncer at many bars in my life, as well as being a field agent for a Security company and a loss prevention officer.
What it boils down to is this....I have all kinds of responsibility in that case of a fight, but very little real power.
On the one hand, we CANNOT allow a fight to continue without intervention. Teenagers are perfectly capable of killing another human being with their bare hands. As a matter of fact so are you. It only takes 3.5 pounds per square inch of pressure to break a neck or a skull. You can actually generate that just by falling down and not catching yourself right. Human ife is far more fragile than anyone, especially teenagers, believe. Don't believe me? Ask the "Hockey Dad". He's currently doing life for punching a referee one time and killing him.
But actually stopping the fight in real life? Not an easy proposition at all. i have a very effective wrist lock, that works wonders, and there's always the "collar of the the shirt" grab. But getting in the middle of two powerful teenagers fighting is just asking to get dental work done without a tranquilizer.
I have a very LOUD and deep voice, (I call it my "command voice") that I developed in the Air Force and it's startling enough to sometimes phase the combatants and allow me to intervene, but if that doesn't work, I just have to circle and hope for an opening.
I have actually heard another principal advocate that the fighters be allowed to duke it out, but that's irresponsible to me. Often these days, the losing fighter will decide to up the ante by pulling a weapon.
Even if you are careful, calm, and even toned, and skilled at submission and psychology, you can still get hurt. Earlier this year, after I had separated two girls going at it, one of them decided to renew the fight by rushing the other girl...straight through me. I ended up with a few torn muscles in my back and it took weeks for the pain to go away.
a large 8th grader put his arms out to hold me back, and only got one week suspension.
And that's the other thing. Punishment is so lax these days that fighting seems to be officially condoned! There was a time when behavior such as this resulted in instant expulsion, but thanks to ridiculous lawsuits by unfit parents, schools hands are completely tied. You can extort money, brutalize and bully, even steal, and not worry a whit about the consequences these days.
I blame poor parenting.
