In our public schools, fights are uncommon. They don't happen every day, they don't happen every week, and they don't happen between every student; however, fighting is not unusual.
There is a culture at some schools that fighting is cool and I'd argue that it comes from the inability to use their words. Expression is limited in many inner city schools to acts of violence and boisterous profanity when it comes to conflict resolution and disagreements.
Fights, when they happen, happen between all races, genders, and sexualities, so blame can't be assigned to any one group of people...except the teachers. Often these uncommon, but not unusual, events are triggered (in the eyes of administrators) by a lack of engagement in the classroom.
A fight broke out in my classroom once. A student walked into my classroom and started punching one of my boys. I left the classroom to break up the fight considering I knew both students, the fight was getting out of hand. I had no phone, radio, or hall monitor in sight to call for help. Instead of helping me, my students pulled out their phones to record and my fellow teachers in the hall closed their doors, leaving me to fend for myself.
The following day my administrator told me that if my kids were not allowed to leave the room for bathroom and water or if the student was more engaged in the lesson, the other student would not have been able to enter my classroom, without permission, and assault my student.
I've also seen a fight between two girls that was so bloody it made me nauseous. The administration is handling it now, thankfully, but the students, when asked where the adult was to break it up, told me that they broke the fight up themselves because there was no adult and they were worried for the safety of the other girl. Only after the size limit on the video recording was satisfied though, of course...
Rather than focusing on blame, we need to focus on three things: Monitors, consequences, and most importantly, social and emotion health. Without enough monitors for our hallways, consequences for misbehavior, and social/emotional health support for our students, NOBODY can feel safe at school. I know the district has a tight budget, but you can't put a price tag on safety.
There is a culture at some schools that fighting is cool and I'd argue that it comes from the inability to use their words. Expression is limited in many inner city schools to acts of violence and boisterous profanity when it comes to conflict resolution and disagreements.
Fights, when they happen, happen between all races, genders, and sexualities, so blame can't be assigned to any one group of people...except the teachers. Often these uncommon, but not unusual, events are triggered (in the eyes of administrators) by a lack of engagement in the classroom.
A fight broke out in my classroom once. A student walked into my classroom and started punching one of my boys. I left the classroom to break up the fight considering I knew both students, the fight was getting out of hand. I had no phone, radio, or hall monitor in sight to call for help. Instead of helping me, my students pulled out their phones to record and my fellow teachers in the hall closed their doors, leaving me to fend for myself.
The following day my administrator told me that if my kids were not allowed to leave the room for bathroom and water or if the student was more engaged in the lesson, the other student would not have been able to enter my classroom, without permission, and assault my student.
I've also seen a fight between two girls that was so bloody it made me nauseous. The administration is handling it now, thankfully, but the students, when asked where the adult was to break it up, told me that they broke the fight up themselves because there was no adult and they were worried for the safety of the other girl. Only after the size limit on the video recording was satisfied though, of course...
Rather than focusing on blame, we need to focus on three things: Monitors, consequences, and most importantly, social and emotion health. Without enough monitors for our hallways, consequences for misbehavior, and social/emotional health support for our students, NOBODY can feel safe at school. I know the district has a tight budget, but you can't put a price tag on safety.
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