can he do this?

Question

Can a adult put his hands on a child, what does the law say is reasonable force.

and can a adult then tell you they are allowed by law to do this

A teacher grabbed my son at school, when questioned the teacher told me the law allows him to touch my son and there is nothing i can do about it

My son went out of school the day before to the local McDonald's for dinner and was told he could not do this because of school rules...... to which i agree.

The next day the deputy head went up to my son before he had done any thing and went on at him that he will not be going out of school this lunch time to which my son had already purchased food from school to eat in school that day ...........
my son confirmed to him he would not be leaving school that lunch time but the deputy head pushed him and grabbed him for doing nothing on this occasion

I would like to thank every one that answered my question and now been to the school and talked to the teacher concerned.

I have decided to look to the school for help with this matter and hopefully things will be sorted.

i understand teachers have a hard job to to and some times things get out of control with the teacher and child but we are the adults and should not become the child .............

thank you once again

Answer 1

It depends on the action of the child. It could be that restraining the child - even against the child's will - is for it's own protection.

Answer 2

I'm sorry about your son...but the answer to your question is absolutely not. This is why children today are in the worse shape ever in the history of education. People...took the rights of the parents and the teachers and the school board away, abolishing capital punishment in schools and the home. A child has the right to cry foul and get away with it in our great court of law today. If a parent or teacher physically disciplines a child the child welfare steps in and teachers lose their jobs and parents are ostracized in court leaving our children to pretty well do as they dang well please. Everyone sits back and shakes their head and wonders why children are so unruly today.

I personally would like to see the schools given back the right to control the classrooms as they did when I went to school, where we started the day with the good ole pledge of allegiance and every student bowed their heads for a moment of prayer. Teachers handled their students as they seen fit and if it became too much of a problem the principle stepped in. Rarely was a parent notified unless the student was expelled. Truant officers gathered up the kids on the streets and seen to it that they continued their education. Drugs and guns were not part of the school apparel

Answer 3

No. You don't give enough information for an informed conclusion. An adult has to be very careful when touching a child, especially when it is not their child. Reasonable force is based on what force the child is using. Just because an adult tells a child they can do it does not mean that they can. The child should talk to their parent or to police.

Answer 4

unfortunately it depends on if it is his child. This country has a stupid law that says you are allowed to smack your child as long as it is not hard enough to leave a mark. As for reasonable force, that come down to the situation. If someone was trying to break up a a fight or stop someone from hurting someone else then there is such thing as reasonable force. But it should be just that - Reasonable. As for just hitting or putting hands on a child for no reason then no, can't do it.

Answer 5

Hi,

This sounds like common assault to me. The teacher has no legal right to touch anyone without good cause. He may only restrain a child using reasonable force if the child is a danger to him/herself and/or others. The child cannot be threatened or abused in any way. This is intimidation. This needs to be reported immediately to the police.

You will need reliable witnesses to the incident.

Good luck.

Answer 6

In some states such as Texas, a teacher can put hands on a child but it is completely against every school regulation on the books. Unless of course it is a private school then that may be different. You can also put hands on to protect yourself or others from harm, try putting hands on the teacher using his argument.

Answer 7

Assuming you are in the UK, this is technically common assault, however I would have to ask for more information before advising you to go down this line. Whether you could (or would want to) ever prove this depends on a lot of factors. I would suggest a meeting with said teacher where this situation could be discussed and resolved would be a better (and cheaper for the tax payer) option than making an accusation of assault.

Answer 8

That is assault and I would be looking to bring criminal charges. Unless you have signed a 'loco parentis' waiver form with the school they cannot act in this manner. The law states that any person may use reasonable force to protect themselves or another, to effect an arrest or to prevent the commission of a crime. I dont think this qualifies.

Answer 9

You really don't give enough information to make an informed answer.
Did the teacher grab your son just for the heck of it, or was he preventing him from fighting, damaging school property, hurting himself, hurting another student....???
Sorry, but to me this is one of the problems with our education system - little Johnny is not held accountable for his behavior in school and the parents are always quick to blame the teacher for administering discipline of any type. Maybe if little Johnny was out of line he deserved to be removed from the situation.

Answer 10

I would hope this teacher also explained the circumstances that led up to this action. I believe that when discipline was taken out of the schools, the educational system took a nose dive. We all want to protect our children from abuse, but don't we want them to grow up to be respectful, educated, responsible citizens as well?