South Carolina Deputy Fired Over Student Confrontation.
Source: nyt
A South Carolina sheriff said Wednesday that he had fired a white deputy who was caught on video grabbing an African-American student, flipping her backward as she sat at her desk, then dragging and throwing her across the floor as he tried to remove her from the classroom.
The Richland County deputy, Ben Fields, was dismissed after an internal investigation concluded that he had violated department standards, said the sheriff, Leon Lott. Deputy Fields, who had been assigned to Spring Valley High School, is also a subject of a federal civil rights inquiry that could lead to criminal charges.
“Deputy Fields did not follow proper training, did not follow proper procedure, when he threw the student across the room,” Sheriff Lott said at a news conference in Columbia.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/29/us/south-carolina-deputy-ben-fields-fired.html?
= new reply since forum marked as read
The deputy says he's sorry "the whole thing" happened. Well, the "whole thing" he's probably referring to is the fact that he was taped and got caught being a brutal sadist. (is that redundant? I think so) Sorry, not enough bad words for this guy.
The other item I wanted to mention is that the sheriff handled this well. He made his decision quickly, which I think is appreciated.
Oh, one more item: I think we need to hear from the student. I want to know why she refused to leave the class. If she was interested in texting over learning math, what's the problem? Why not just let her sit in a room and text her little heart out until she finally figures out she needs to know math? Sounds like a much easier way to approach the problem.
Oh, an btw, I am an educator--higher education--but I have worked with h.s. students in the past.
Ok, one more thing and I'll shut up: this cell phone thing with students is reaching a crisis point. This may be the incident, although at this point, it's shadowed by the police brutality issue.
Cher
they have no shame. They could care less if they don't know something. We're the only ones who think they should be industrious.
I happen to be in a position where I see them come full circle, as I've seen them goofing off in high school. I see them in the first few years of college, not taking any of it seriously.
Then, in my college-level adult evening courses, I see them when they finally shape up after getting hit upside the head by the competition in the work force.
Some people just mature late.
Cher
at least IMO.
In addition to the broken homes/neighborhoods, in many students' homes, there's no tradition of looking to books to solve problems or enrich one's life.
I'm not standing up for this student, but we have to be realistic about what we expect.
Furthermore, we have not acknowledged the subtleties of cell phone addiction. You think I'm kidding? I absolutely am not. I have been researching cell phone use and students for quite some time, and one reason I think they are so hooked on them is that this device provides some semblance of an emotional connection for them. It might be superficial and it might be phony, but when it's all you've got, you're going to hang on to it for all it's worth. This fits in with your broken homes/neighborhoods comment.
I just learned that the student's mother died. In view of this, the defiance makes some sense. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that is like losing your mother. It has to be one of the most devastating experiences in one's life.
In view of all this, I do think the student should be cut a break, and I say this as a teacher who goes ballistic when a student is texting during one of my carefully planned classes.
Cher