student calls 911 after teacher rattles table to get class' attention

[Liberal_in_LA]

ATHERTON, Calif. -- A California school teacher was placed on paid administrative leave after he rattled a table to get the attention of his math students, startling an eighth-grade girl who used her cell phone to call police.:eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

---------------------

Officers found a calm teacher with class in session.

The sergeant says the teacher's table-rattling startled a student and she used her cell phone to call 911.:eyes: He says other students in the class weren't bothered by the teacher's actions.

Redwood City School District deputy superintendent John Baker says the teacher was placed on leave because there was a police response.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/02/student-calls-11-teacher-rattles-table-class-attention/

[Ian David]

1. My teacher used to throw the chalk at us if we fell asleep. n/t

[Poiuyt]

We had a teacher who would throw the eraser at us

The soft squishy kind. There would be a big explosion of chalk dust. We all thought it was funny.

[cliffordu]

29. I had one of those too....

She could hit me in the chest while I was sitting in the back of the room, throwing on the diagonal, overhand......

[lumberjack_jeff]

32. I had a teacher whom I was quite confident would and could throw us at the chalkboard. n/t

[sufrommich]

2. Well, it's been a long time since I was in school. Rattling a

table is a 911 call now? I remember a teacher throwing a desk to get our attention.Jeeze.

[TheDebbieDee]

3. So, because one over-anxious student out of a classful

felt threatened enough to call police, a school district spazzes out and a teacher was placed on admin leave..........

If I was a teacher, I probably wouldn't last a month!

[NV Whino]

4. Why did the student have a cell phone in the classroom?

[csziggy]

5. Maybe they need to give the girl counselling for her PTSD

Because that is the only way I could see she would over react that way!

Seriously, what is wrong with the child? Was she so off in some cloud that she was unable to realize what the teacher was doing? Or was she so frightened that she felt the need for police assistance? Or was she just trying to disrupt the class by having the cops show up?

[GoCubsGo]

12. My money is on the latter.

Calling the cops on adults who try to inflict even the most innocuous punishment on them has been the "in" thing for adolescents over the past couple of decades. They claim "child abuse" in order to try and get the adult arrested. My brother, who is a cop, has tons of stories of teenagers calling the police on their parents, accusing them of abuse because they attempted to get their unruly brats under control. And, there wasn't necessarily any "spanking" or other physical contact involved.

That they are putting this teacher on leave is nuts. So is allowing that kid to have a cell phone in class.

[loudsue]

17. They should have put the student on 3-day expulsion for costing

taxpayers money just to get attention.

The school administrators need to have their phones ringing off the hook. Just more trashing of teachers' rights here, and it has to stop.

[speltwon]

18. I confirm this syndrome. I have also had parents try to prosecute teachers for assault

In one case, a teacher hit a kid in the side of the head with... two pieces of paper. While school districts have policies against any physical assault by a teacher on a student, the LAW in my state is such that teachers have the exact same discretion to "correct' a child with physical discipline that a parent does. Regardless, kids that call police for bullshit calls deserve a stern talking to.

What is ironic is that SOME kids who call the police on their parents for "abuse" because of a spanking claim their TEACHER told them that spanking is child abuse. I heard that several times. Hint: whether or not it is abuse is a question of opinion in the broad sense, but it most definitely is not illegal.

[GSLevel9]

6. disgusting...

little princess needs a month of Yard Duty picking up trash.

[niyad]

9. my friend's dog kennel could use a good cleaning.

[damntexdem]

7. Help, help, help, police! My teacher is trying to coerce me into paying attention in class!

Teacher brutality! Trampling on my rights to screw around in class!

And by putting the teacher on administrative leave "because there was a police response," the idiot administrator has opened the door to future 911 calls, which will not only further threaten education at the school but will also quickly piss off the police.

[bettyellen]

8. teacher needs a union rep and that kid needs a time out, without her cell phone

[provis99]

10. Fox News isn't a credible source. Fail.

The story is probably a flat out lie by Fox News. They do it all the time.

[Abq_Sarah]

11. 911 call

released here: http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_17526296?source=most_viewed

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. thank you!

[csziggy]

27. Listening to the 911 call she does not sound that upset

Until she is worried that the other kids will hear her in the rest room ratting on the teacher.

And from that story:

Ruby Prado, who told The Daily News she is the mother of the girl who loaned the 13-year-old student her cell phone, said she would be surprised to learn Haynes had used profanity.

"My daughter is an honor roll student and I would say it's partly -- mostly -- because of him," Prado said. "He's a very good teacher. He's committed."

She said her daughter hadn't mentioned that Haynes used any swear words and is concerned her teacher might now be in trouble.

"I honestly think that this whole thing has nothing to do with my daughter or any of the kids," Prado said. "It just sounds like the whole thing has gotten blown out of proportion."
http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_17526296?source=most_viewed&nclick_check=1

ETA - She also sounds a lot like my niece who would work herself into hysterics over the smallest things. Her family nickname was Drama Queen for a very long time. Her mother, my sister, was a little like that as a teenager, but our parents wouldn't play that game. With her own daughter though, my sister let her escalate the hype until they both were completely out of control.

[Igel]

16. That's known as "ad hominem."

While they have their place, it's also worth pointing out that the truth or falsity of a statement doesn't depend on who's doing the talking. Esp. when we already want to believe that we know the truth or falsity of the statement.

In this case, it's true. Understated, mis-stated, oddly stated, but the situation sounds a bit strange and the reports aren't entirely consistent.

http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_17526296?source=most_viewed&nclick_check=1 has an account.

The Redwood City School district--where the Selby Lane School is located--talks about it as well. http://rcsd.schoolwires.net/rcsd//cwp/view.asp?A=3&Q=288732

The school covers pre-K through 6th grade. It's an elementary school. The girl who called is 13 years old. She started school when she was 7 or 8 or failed a year. Either way, she over-reacted. Either she's very, very sheltered so the very sight of an irate teacher spouting profanity sent her around the bend *or* she's already traumatized, so she assumed that for a teacher to drop a desk and raise his voice would lead to violence. Or the student was so pissed off at being told that she was going to fail another year that she took advantage of something to seriously screw over a teacher.

http://rcsd.schoolwires.net/187710123134937633/lib/187710123134937633/SARC_0910/110215_2009-10_English_SARC_Selby_Lane_ES.pdf
The school is poor--overwhelmingly Latino with a very high percentage of ELLs (sorry, "LEPs"). It gets Title I money to help increase performance.

[apocalypsehow]

19. There is still time to edit your post a second time, if you hurry. n/t.

[provis99]

22. I stand by my statement. Fox News isn't a credible news source.

Do you think otherwise?

[apocalypsehow]

23. Yes, I think otherwise, particularly in this instance, since the story has been proven to be fact.

Now, it's too late to edit your post, but since it has now been proven to be in factual error, you can always ask a mod to delete it.

How about it? :shrug:

[Abq_Sarah]

33. What about this statement

The story is probably a flat out lie by Fox News. They do it all the time

If someone happens to link to one of their articles, the first thing I do is look at who wrote the story.

When I see this: Published March 02, 2011 | Associated Press that tells me they're running with a story from a different news agency, more often than not with an exaggerated headline.

[Leopolds Ghost]

13. That kid deserves to be mocked

The teacher should retaliate by asking all students in that class put their cellphones in a bag.

[Guilded Lilly]

15. Honest to frickin GAWD. ..

just how far does the absolute idiocy in this country have to REALLY go before grown up, common sense minds prevail?????

[Igel]

24. Common sense?

We have laws and policies, with enforcement by lawyers and administrators with meddling by politicians and parents.

Any two of them would leave no room for common sense. Put all of them together and it makes nonsense look damned wise.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

20. I wonder what one of Bill Gate's lackys

would have suggested in the headset as a way to get the students attention.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x565826

link on edit

[Curmudgeoness]

21. Smart assed little brat. I am SO glad that I am not a teacher.

My hat is off to all the teachers out there. I don't know how you do it.

I guess I am lucky, I kicked a desk to get students' attention once. No one called 911, although they were pretty shocked. Shut the bastards up. God, I have learned to hate brats.

[jp11]

25. The student should have been fined for the false 911 call, sent to

a psychiatrist, and had their phone confiscated in addition to possible school punishment such as detention/suspension.

[opihimoimoi]

26. Fire the fucking Principle

[Iggo]

28. Shouldn't that student be suspended for using a cell phone in class?

Zero tolerance means zero tolerance, right?

[Joe Fields]

30. I've seen teachers do a hell of a lot worse.

[Octafish]

31. Lighten up, Miss Frances. I had a teacher who kicked my pal's chair when he was in it.

The guy was leaning back and the desk had actually started to tip back, pulling up the front legs. He was very slow to react to a question from the teacher, Mr. K. So, Mr. K kicked under the desk, sending my pal flying backward.

Nobody called the cops. I answered the question. My buddy went on to finish med school and joined the Air Force, making it a career.

[Modern_Matthew]

34. I had a PE teacher in 2nd grade that threw a remote at me for talking. nt

[Jamastiene]

36. The band teacher at my junior high would smack the chalk board with a drum stick

sometimes. She was one of the nicer ones.

Funny, once I got to the senior high, it was like a different world. The abuse just ended right away. They might have yelled at us sometimes, but it was much less violent. I couldn't get over the difference.

[Jamastiene]

35. On the first offense, our teachers would come up and slam their fist down

on our books, as close as they possibly could get to us, then they would yell at us. On the second offense, they would line us up in the hallway and hit us with a paddle. On the third offense, it was a trip to the principal's office where he had an even bigger paddle. There were no fourth offenses. The principal's in my junior high school REALLY enjoyed themselves if they could draw blood through your clothes. They got off on it. They got this look in their eye. I'll never forget that look. I knew then, I was dealing with sadists. I just didn't know the name for it yet. I learned though. I'm still picking splinters out of my ass all these years later, and that was junior high.

I wish I could have called the police, but where I live, the police would laugh and leave you to fend for yourself. Even parents are no help where I live. They love it. The more their kids get beat, the better. Being an area full of "holy rollers," I guess you can say that's how they "roll." Spare the rod and all that. At least those parents in East Rockingham who made their kid sleep in a dog house on a below freezing night got charged when the kid died. Too bad they still thought they were in the right even after they were convicted.

I would have loved it if I had had the right to call the freaking police for something as simple as rattling a desk. It would have been like a dream. I would have had to ask someone to pinch me to make sure I wasn't dreaming.