Should students be able to defend themselves at school without any disciplinary consequence?
373166
you should depending on the situation if you didn't start and you get hit first hit him/her back then they'll leave you alone or just walk away. use martial arts as a last result.
386553
I wondered that as well, since techically, you are of age. But every establishment must have rules, and I think this one is for both the safety of the students AND the school.  They have to take precaution to protect themselves in case something unfortunate happens, like accusations of rape or assault. Although some students foot their own bill, a lot of parents are entrusting these schools with their kids and paying a lot of money! So there are certain guidelines that are in place for everybody's good. All colleges don't have those policies, but some are more strict than others.
674736
Nobody should be afraid at school.  If your teachers and the principal are not aware of what is going on, make sure they become aware.  Tell someone.  Don't do it in front of the bullies, because that could backfire on you.  Wait until the jerks aren't around and tell a teacher, guidance counselor or the principal so that they can keep an eye out for bullying behavior.  \n\nThey have a lot of students and they can't watch all of them all the time, but they will watch the ones they know are causing trouble.  \n\nAsk your parents to enroll you in a self defense class.  It will help you protect yourself, and may help you gain self confidence.  Bullies pick on people they think won't fight back.  If you have self confidence, and the ability to defend yourself, it won't take long for them to figure out you're not the best target for their aggression.\n\nI am a grown up and have been a grown up for a long time, but I was bullied by a bunch of jerky white trash girls, and I occasionally still think about it.  I'm sure they grew up to be gross, fat, toothless, tattooed white trash chicks, and I take some pleasure in that.
917982
If you study an art then you gain self-discipline and self-respect.\nThese two things alone should keep you out of trouble. All fights are clashes of egos, the people fighting have the option of walking away. If there is not option to walk away then it is not a fight, it is a self-defense situation. Self-defense situations can usually be avoided with situational awareness, which you should also be learning.\n\nWith self-discipline comes organization and study habits.
882916
I agree that, at school, children are not held to a standard of morality or a set of rules in harmony with morality.  They therefore find themselves confused concerning the proper behavior at school.  This is one of many government failures in the public "education" system.  Additionally, their methods for enforcing their "rules" are quite ineffective.  You are quite right on all these accounts.\n\nBased on personal experience, I disagree that violence and fear of the same is healthy for children or for their discipline, though force has a place when used against the same.  There exists only one rational response to violence, and that it violence.  In the words of Ayn Rand, the threat of violence inherently removes morality from the discussion.\n\nViolence creates serious pschological stress (leading to diseases and disorders of the mind), and it looses efficacy as the children grow up.  As children get bigger, they realize that they can resist violence with violence much more effectively, and they tend to want to perpetuate violence to others when their will is violated (as has been done to them).\n\nMy own experience with my two little girls reveals that children want to obey their authority figures without threat of violence when such brings them security, sovereignty (in which they have proven themselves), order, consistency, and rationality (predictability).  I can count the number of times that I have used violence (a gentle, firm "spanking") against my daughters, over the course of both of their lives, on one hand with fingers to spare.  Freedom and sovereignty (even privileges) are all much more effective tools for disciplining children.\n\nBTW, every child I have ever known was a mirror image of their parents.  You can learn more about a person by observing their children for a few moments than by being the parent's friend for a month.  Additionally, every out-of-control child I have seen had a dysfunctional family (either single parent or soon to be single parent, or out-of-wedlock birth).\n\nYes, government is causing disciplinary problems, but no, the root is not in the preclusion of violence.
1124412
Rules are a pain because they need enforcing and children expect that they will be enforced exactly the same way for each student.  What I found more helpful was to use the school's Code of Behaviour and to discuss and reinforce it regularly.  Then, any situation that arose could be dealt with from that perspective..\n\nIn one school where I worked, the Code of Behaviour had four points and, sorry, I can only remember three of them - (not necessarily in order):\n- always do your best work,\n- keep your hands and feet to yourself,\n- treat everyone with respect.\n\nThese seemed to cover any situation that arose.  For example, if a student wears t-shirts that have offensive slogans on them, the discussion will be around respect.
13891
you shouldn't fight at school...but if someone jumps on you and starts beating the **** out of you...what are you going to do? sometimes you HAVE to fight.
842665
Teachers have a union and I expect they would be glad to help him.  I think it would be highly unfair to punish a teacher for defending himself (would they punish a female teacher who was being sexually assaulted on school property by a student if she fought back).  Of course schools are political so who knows what someone might do.\n\nIt is too bad the student was not disciplined.  I am not in favor of out of school suspensions except in extremely henious situations, but this would have been a perfect time to make his punishment to help out that teacher every day for a period of time at school.  Just the kind of thing that can change a students whole life around.\n\nPlease let us know somehow what happens.  I will keep you all in my prayers.
813714
Harris Interactive, a survey research company, has conducted several studies on safety and violence among youth.  Many states have conducted research in order to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act's detrimental labeling of a "consistently dangerous school".  You can find these resources on the internet (check out some of the links below).\n\nMy opinion is that learning how to deal with something empowers you and gives you a sense of competence or control, so I would rather have the measures in place rather than the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil approach which simply gambles that nothing bad will happen.
964296
The best way to deal with a school fight, if you aren't in danger of getting any permanent damage is to smile and say nothing. You aren't going to win anything except momentary points with the rest of the idiots standing there waiting to see somebody get hurt/ expelled and then you are either the loser or the winner with egg on your face. Make the person who started it feel so stupid you couldn't possibly be worth the effort it would take to kick your azz and then get out of jail...and yes, I have been there, but it wasn't worth the hassle, now that I look back on it.
884081
Self Defense is valid if it was used to repel an unlawful provocation committed against you.  You might had been misinterpreted for fighting because you could have continued attacking your opponent even after the attacker ceased.  Thus, you can appeal your suspension by citing self-defense.
658024
I liked the answer on bullying, and I fully agreed on it. But, teachers can be bullies too.\n\nI read in a parenting magazine the other day that 42 states still allow spanking! Yeah, and whether or not YOUR child has had this happen to them, a girl in a public school system in Nebraska (I think it was Nebraska) was paddled with a board that was 2 inches thick with holes in it according to the article. That's f*cking insanity! \n\nAs far as the local school system around here, most of the kids don't know it- but it's legal. The school handbooks just say that it's, "STRONGLY RECCOMENDED NOT TO USE CORPORAL PUNISHMENT". It really bothers me. I myslef do not believe in spanking. I'm more than positive that a lot of parents around here would not be pleased to here that their child has been spanked. If that happened to my child, I would tell the school that it should not be just, "STRONGLY RECCOMENDED NOT TO USE CORPORAL PUNISHMENT". If they refused to do anything about it, I'm sorry, but here comes the violent side of me: I'd kick that teacher's a*s!\n\nI know many parents would do the same thing. And here's another thing I don't like about public school systems: The right to permanently take away objects from students. Yes, I know how hard most teachers work to get children/young adults to pay attention in their class room. But if they are to take say a brand new $359.99 iPod, umm,yeah, I might be a little more than pissed. I think that they should just put the item on their desk till the end of class and then GIVE IT BACK!\n\nFurther more, it seems like they just let any one walk in and become a teacher. A local teacher around here went to the local Mamasita's restaurant and saw a 16 year old girl sitting across the room. Little did he know, the waitress who was waiting on him was the girl's mother. He said to the waitress, "Get the girl over there a Apple Martini... oh, and also, give her this." He handed the woman a card. It said, "NEEDED: MORE THAN RATED R FUTURE STARS FOR THE porn site www.whateverthehellthesite'snamewas.com.\nOi! Was he ever in trouble!\n\nBut for some younger teachers, they aren't giving enough opportunity. A teacher applying for a job might see a "NEEDS MORE EXPERIENCE" thing in the mail from our local school. Well, how the hell are you going to get experience if no one will give it to you? This is about more than education of the students! Future teachers can learn more about teaching from their first teaching gig.\n\nWell, I believe overall, that there could be ALOT of improvements for the school systems.\n\nEDIT: Best answer?
801086
I think the boys have to be held accountable, but stupidity shouldn't be a pass to avoiding punishment.  School disricts are cracking down because they are simply responding to pressure to address issues aggressively hence they are accussed of being lax.  Furthermore, there are more pressure on schools to maintain a health learning environment that is condusive to achieving better school performance schools and meeting federal no child left behind requirements.\nTwo weeks suspension seems pretty tough, but full suspension or expulsion seems a little harse.  Kids do stupid things.  I would say hold them responsible in some way but don't screw up their academic careers.
1092142
Yes! There are too many students who believe that Thug Life is proper behavior for school; and because the states/parents have tied the hands of teachers by relieving them of disciplinary strategies, some students think it's a ticket to a fun house where they can do anything they want to without repercussions.
692574
Yes. They have too even though it is a breach of privacy. It is a safety issue what if the kid has drugs, weapons, or the like. You have take into consideration the safety of all the kids in the school versus the privacy of one. i know it sucks to have your privacy breached but safety is more important and legally the locker is the school's propery yopu don't own or rent it so they can look in any time you want. Hope this helps. :)
1088991
It's actually corporal punishment - where kids get whacked with canes for wrong answers, etc.\nCorporate punishment is the above answer.\nAnd no, it is illegal. These days even grabbing a kid's sleeve in self-defence when they're whacking you with a chair can be labelled teacher-student abuse; unbelievable.
1182039
Its the law that children must go to school (until the age of 16 when they can drop out) there are no loopholes and no ways around it. If a student underacheives too much they get held back. If a child disrupts the school environment too much they get expelled or suspended. If their actions can be described as consitently criminal (theft, assault) then they will continue their education at juvie.