Supposedly there is a policy at the Indianapolis Public School system that states teachers cannot put their hands on students to break up a fight. They are to ‘verbally’ try and calm the situation. I understand that this is a safeguard to keep the school, city and teacher from being sued. We live in an extremely litigious society, where lawsuits keep us from doing what’s right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00zWHM1M0SM
(video source Liam Roberts via YouTube)
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After watching this horrific video above, I cannot imagine that I would stand by and not come to the girl’s defense! Isn’t it a human reaction to help someone in need? Yes, I understand the policy prohibits faculty from getting involved physically, and what teacher would want to risk their job, a pension or a potential lawsuit…but at what point do you say, ‘the hell with policy, I’m not going to stand idle as this student potentially is beaten to death’?! I wouldn’t give it a second thought. I would gladly risk being terminated for the tradeoff of knowing a student (OR ANY HUMAN BEING) didn’t die or receive severe physical damage, because I stepped in to help.
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And if the school system is so concerned about being sued if a faculty member touches a student to break up a fight, what about a lawsuit from the girl’s family, had she died? She was in the care of the school, and their protocol did not protect her. Even more troubling is that the environment at Northwest High school, and so many others, is not safe with weekly fights being commonplace. I would imagine the male student in this video will be expelled and should absolutely be charged with assault.
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Some will even question, ‘where are the parents in this responsibility equation’? That takes us even deeper into a social problem where often it’s a one parent household. Perhaps the father is absent. Not always the case, but we hear about this issue a lot these days. There is no easy solution, but this type of “wild west” fighting needs to stop NOW. If the consequences aren’t harsh enough, against the student AND their parent, then what’s the deterrent?
