Reply #3: I teach at a cc, and I have had some students who genuinely scared me. [View All]

[QC]

One of them was one of those perpetually angry people who bitterly resent even having to be in the class (they are geniuses, after all) and when I would return his papers he would write furious responses to my comments, four or five pages of sputtering rage in a minuscule scrawl on notebook paper, front and back.

The class met at night, and I would always make sure to be talking to someone on my cell as I walked to the car, so that they could call the cops if something happened.

House arrest ankle bracelets are such a common sight that I don't pay them much attention anymore.

The thing is, one of the best things about community college work is that you often get to work with people who are at difficult times in their lives. There is great satisfaction in being there for them when they need some support. But, there are still some anxious moments, and when I read the news reports about Loughner and his behavior at Pima, I immediately thought of some of my own students.