my sons geography teacher threatened him?

Question

yesterday while my 11 year old son was in geogrphy with his elbow holding his head up the teacher came along and knocked his hand down, my son then asked him why but got no answer and then the teacher got quite annoyed with the whole class and then went back to my son with his fist about two inches from his face saying "go on put your nose on it"... this went on for a couple of minutes and his mates who saw all this says it was a threat!!....what do i do?...ive telephoned the school about this and they are telling me they will look in to it...im not saying my son is a angel cause hes far from that but surely teachers are not allowed to do this!!!....if the boot was on the othere foot and it was my son who threatened the teacher they would be excuding him!!....also the day before this happened the same teacher took my son and another boy who they were play fighting with to the headmaster and told the head master that my son kicked the othere boy in the head which he didnt....help??

Answer 1

me personally would have went to the school first as you have done but also at the same time let it be dealt with by the head of education for your area as well as the police this may seem a bit extreme but when a school says they will look into something it is usually just to keep you happy the school would be the first people to report you to the authorites if your son had went to the school with a story like that about home good luck and i hope your son is ok

Answer 2

This seems to happen quite a lot, when a teacher picks on someone all the time for no reason at all. The headmasters don't usually do anything. Try and see if other kids are having the same problems and speak to their parents about it. If you get witnesses and enough support from parents and you put enough pressure on the headmaster you might get somewhere. Also you could try and arrange a meeting with the teacher and talk about this and make sure you tell him you are not going to tolerate any kind of abuse towards your son. You can also go to the Citizens Adv and see what your options are. The teacher is not allowed to knocked his hand down or even touch him.

Answer 3

Applause to you....most parents have a hard time admitting their children are less than angelic. My first move would be to go to the school....not call. But I am a guns blazing type person. I would demand a meeting with the head principal and explain to him that the minute that teacher touched your son it was assault. I would tell the principal that the assault was followed by the teacher putting his fist in your sons face and was perceived by your son as well as other students as a physical threat. I would then very calmly tell the principal that you demand to know the actions that will be taken by the school, before you make a formal report to the school board and the police. Do not threaten that you will report it (if).....just before you make the report you want the schools stand on the issue. I do not believe in teachers being bullied but neither do i believe in teachers being the bullies. a situation like this could easily escilate to violence. Your son has now been embarassed in front of his peers which is a hard pill to swallow and will not soon be forgotten by the other children. I would also let the principal know you are afraid of the anguish that might follow. I believe this teacher should be reprimanded and possibly sent through anger management. he is setting a bad example by letting aggrivation get the best of him.

Answer 4

Are you sure your son is so innocent? If the teacher really is out of order talk to the school but you better be prepared to listen to what they say about your son. In the majority of cases it is not the teacher being physically abusive these days. I know teachers who've been physically threatened and verbally abused beyond anything most of us would expect to deal with in our working life and NOTHING has happened to the kids involved except the occasional exclusion with no improvement on behaviour. As your son is 'far from an angel' you need to tackle the issues with him as well as going to the head teacher about the teacher's threat or your son will see how he can work the system and come out winner without ever having to account for his own behaviour. Looks like teacher and pupil both need detention...

Answer 5

Sue the Teacher.

That's what you want to hear isn't it?
In this day of being Politically Correct and having Zero Tolerance for threatening or Abusive Behavior, a court case with these facts would win.

Just consider... you've admitted your son is no angel, i don't doubt that his friends are similar in character.
I remember when I was 11. I had no scruples and would lie profusely if it either got me out of trouble, or got me something I wanted.

School-kids these days are much more aware of what can be said to 'twist' the facts a touch to appear worse.

If the Teacher did this then it is not to be tolerated.
If the kids are lying, this is not to be tolerated either.

Just because someone lets the situation get on top of them so they react badly, doesn't mean that someone else should vilify them for it.

As for the other charge of 'viciously' reporting to the Headmaster that 'one had done this to the other.'
To be blunt - Blah Blah Blah.
Think back to your childhood, you get told off for something, you say "but he did...", then they say "but they did...". Sound familiar?


This is a decision only you can make. Make the one that will let you sleep with a clear conscience.

Answer 6

While I sympathize with you, I can't help but think of all the abuse that our teachers have been asked to take from the students. Students can now tell the teachers to F#$% Off without recourse. Students don't have to do their homework, dress appropriately, show up for class, or be orderly to any degree. But, when a teacher makes a decision to "wake" a student up by knocking his hand from holding his head up, he is chastised. The proper thing for your son to do would have been to, sit up straight, and not challenge the teacher.
I'm wondering, you used the "Headmaster" term, I'm assuming that you are in Britain. Does your school require school uniforms, or have they done away with it. In North America, other than mostly private schools, students can wear just about anything to school.
There is now in many cities, a call to bring back the school uniform. I think that when kids show up to school with a uniform on, that they're in more of a learning frame of mind. Much like putting on a football uniform, you're there to play football.
Respect is something that a vast majority of kids are lacking today, and perhaps the only way we get that back is to be more demanding and tougher on them.

Answer 7

You need to look at your son. Teachers know they can help these angry children and they use different tactics. Why is your son fighting? Why are you defending these bad habits of your son? Schools do not allow playfighting, fighting, talking back to teachers, but you seem to allow it. Why? His class mates said the teacher threatened your son. Teachers threaten to take children for discipline everyday. Men teachers and coaches have become fathers to most of these fatherless children. Teachers don't go out of their way to discipline children without a cause. They have too much to do. Be thankful that this teacher is trying to do something with your son before it is too late. Your son has you snowed. You need to be defending that teacher and let your son know that you will not tolerate anymore problems at school.

Answer 8

The teachers behaviour is both unacceptable and unprofessional, and you are right to pursue this.

However, put yourself in their place. Do you think your child is being disruptive and ill behaved in class? Your tone and 'hes far from an angel' suggest so.

Teachers have to try and control 30+ children at once, and actually pass knowledge and skills to them. Your son is probably preventing the teacher from doing his job, and the teacher is unfortunately powerless to do anything to coerce your son to knuckle down. Hence the frustration and anger boiling over.

This does not excuse his behaviour, but please sympathise with him.

Also, see what you can do about changing yours sons attitude and behaviour if he is causing problems at school. Have you asked a question about that on here too?

Answer 9

You have to speak to the headmaster yourself. Additionally, speak to other parents--there may be even more stories about this teacher, and report it directly to the headmaster. Be very firm but polite to the office and make sure you speak directly with the headmaster and ensure that the teacher will be properly handled. Write down the stories so you can provide hard copies to the office. Your child needs to know that you are protecting him and that he is safe, even when in school. Good luck

Answer 10

I have recently had to deal with a very similar problem with my 8th grade daughter. She has a teacher who shows favortism to others, does not conduct his behavior towards the students with even consistancy. I wrote the teacher a harshly worded letter, only after I had confirmed his behavior with some of my daughters classmates, I also wrote the Principal and gave him a copy of my letter. I threatened that if this teacher continued with this type of verbal abuse towards not only my daughter but with the class in general I would take it to several school board members I know personally. (I am politically active and our school board is elected). Keep at it in pursuing action against the teacher because you are right, if the situation were reversed, your child would be in deep doo doo. I know teaching is a tough, underpaid job, but as parents we must stand up for our kids, and I mean ALL kids when there truly is an abusive situation. Most kids are afraid to tell their parents about such a teacher,so you will not only be doing your child a great favor but his classmates as well. And believe me, after I knocked this teacher down a few pegs, my daughter has a lot more friends because they think her dad is "Cool" for taking this jerk on and the class has become more balanced and fair because this guy is being closely watched. Remember every basket of apples has a few rotten ones in them, Don't be intimidated, Stand up for what is right.