Sixth graders beg for lives as teachers stage fake gun attack:

[Praxius]

I can't speak for the school system. I can only speculate on a few possible agendas. Let's just review what could be the results of this activity..

1) Scare the kids with respect to guns and condition them to be afraid of them.

2) Scare the parents to think the school is vulnerable to condition them to be afarid for their children's lives.

3) Scare the adults by intimidating their kids with the idea of guns harming them thereby conditioning the adults to be afraid of guns.

4) Scare the government into thinking there is a problem in terms of a repsonse.

I can't see what possible positive effect this type of activity would have upon students of this age. This is what leads me to think someone has an agenda to frighten those affected by the so called "drill" for some very selfish reasons. Perhaps it is the school's way to condition people to be afraid of all of those "dangerous guns".

But then again, it could be merely some stupid people trying to educate kids in their own stupid way.

Again ,just speculation on my part here.

Even if any of those were the motives, they're not anything I would want my teachers to pull. That is not what I would want my students to go through during their time in my school, and if I was a parent, my children would be out of that school, because that just absolutly goes to show piss poor judgement was made on their part, and if they got piss poor teachers, why would I want my child being taught by them in the first place?

Chances are you're gonna get one of these students to think "Well the teachers are allowed to scare the shit out of us, so how about we scare the shit out of them?" And then things get worse.

[Osborn F Enready]

I don't think Brien or I agreed with what the teachers did Prax.

[brien]

and if I was a parent, my children would be out of that school,

But some people have no choice because the government school is their only alternative, which is no alternative at all. The people responsible for this should be terminated.

[Praxius]

Hmmm.... around here in Canada, there's a lot of schools in close proximity of another.... for most places, it'd just be a difference of hoping on another bus.

[brien]

Hmmm.... around here in Canada, there's a lot of schools in close proximity of another.... for most places, it'd just be a difference of hoping on another bus.

I wish that were true in the US. In government schools, the student is forced to attend one specific school and can't just "hop a bus" to another district. If they could, perhaps the incompetent government schools would close down. The government school administrators will have nothing to do with school choice.

[Rinoa]

I wish that were true in the US. In government schools, the student is forced to attend one specific school and can't just "hop a bus" to another district. If they could, perhaps the incompetent government schools would close down. The government school administrators will have nothing to do with school choice.

I like that idea and the idea of firing teachers/paying good teachers more because they actually do the job. Those are two things that would vastly improve the quality of education.

[ZNFYRH]

I hope these teachers are fired for their lack of judgment.

There is no value in literally terrorizing students.

[Praxius]

I wish that were true in the US. In government schools, the student is forced to attend one specific school and can't just "hop a bus" to another district. If they could, perhaps the incompetent government schools would close down. The government school administrators will have nothing to do with school choice.

That's odd.... yeah your school system is certainly different from ours..... If I was getting shit at school, or I wasn't getting the full education I wanted in my school, I can call up the school in the next town, ask for any vacencies and when I want, I can usually get the transfer to the new school.... I grew up in schools where every year you'd have two or three new students from another school come in, etc.

That and if something like this situation with the teachers occurs, or something the teachers did to piss you off, you can actually get to the right reps to get things delt with..... much like the police, the doctors, the poloticians, etc..... they answer to the Canadian people.... something a democratic country should abide to..... something your government should get kicked in the ass for.

[brien]

something your government should get kicked in the ass for.

There are many, many people, who are in favor of school choice in the US, and we have made some inroads with Charter schools, but the Teacher Unions are strong and powerful and will have nothing to do with fair and equal choice in schools.

[The Dunedan]

American teachers are basically untouchable thanks to the National Educators Association. The recent push to ban cellphones in schools has very little to do with preserving order in the classroom*, and much more to do with the fact that video and audio recordings from such devices have been used repeatedly to prove that teachers wre physically** and emotionally abusive, politically biased, and negligent. The inevitable lawsuits and firings, which previously would never even hav been seriously entertained because "It's the student's word against the teacher's," put the near-untouchability of Publik Skool teachers in the national spotlight and embarassed the Union rather badly. Can't have that.

*A trip to any American Publik Skool classroom will quickly dispel the notion that teachers have any interest in keeping order. Some do, but most are there for the power-trip.

**A 150-kilo English teacher was captured on video beating and kicking a High School student in Florida in 2003. The schools response was to put the teacher on paid suspension, while expelling the student who was beaten and the student who took the video and banning cellphones.

[Rinoa]

I hope these teachers are fired for their lack of judgment.

There is no value in literally terrorizing students.

Sadly, they probably won't be. They will most likely be moved to other schools instead.

That's odd.... yeah your school system is certainly different from ours..... If I was getting shit at school, or I wasn't getting the full education I wanted in my school, I can call up the school in the next town, ask for any vacencies and when I want, I can usually get the transfer to the new school.... I grew up in schools where every year you'd have two or three new students from another school come in, etc.

It's not common to trade schools here, but with the right forms it can be done. It's just a much bigger pain in the ass, and you have to give reasons the school finds satisfactory, as well as be the type of student another school is willing to take.

That and if something like this situation with the teachers occurs, or something the teachers did to piss you off, you can actually get to the right reps to get things delt with..... much like the police, the doctors, the poloticians, etc..... they answer to the Canadian people.... something a democratic country should abide to..... something your government should get kicked in the ass for.

I completely agree, I think that teachers unions have gone way too far. And honestly, I'll give teachers higher wages when I can test their teaching ability to decide what kindof wage they deserve.

There are many, many people, who are in favor of school choice in the US, and we have made some inroads with Charter schools, but the Teacher Unions are strong and powerful and will have nothing to do with fair and equal choice in schools.

My sisters actually attend one and it is fantastic. They are actually five grades ahead of their public counterparts because their teachers are so much better, and because of required parental input.

American teachers are basically untouchable thanks to the National Educators Association.

]

I'd like to have that Association disbanded for harm done to the education of american children....

The recent push to ban cellphones in schools has very little to do with preserving order in the classroom*, and much more to do with the fact that video and audio recordings from such devices have been used repeatedly to prove that teachers wre physically** and emotionally abusive, politically biased, and negligent. The inevitable lawsuits and firings, which previously would never even hav been seriously entertained because "It's the student's word against the teacher's," put the near-untouchability of Publik Skool teachers in the national spotlight and embarassed the Union rather badly. Can't have that.

In some cases, yes. Teachers that aren't doing their jobs and are pushing for cell phone bans do want them for that reason. But, I left high school last year, and I'm sorry, but both sides of this debate, students and teachers, have their own devils and angels. Some teachers are good teachers dealing with disrespectful students who literally take phone calls in the middle of lectures, and others are bad teachers hiding their bias.

*A trip to any American Publik Skool classroom will quickly dispel the notion that teachers have any interest in keeping order. Some do, but most are there for the power-trip.

A sad view of teachers. My experience was not that way. Actually, the normal personality type that gets involved in teaching is not the 'power trip' type, but the type that enjoys children, and wants to help to better the world. Some are mislead, and others are what you mentioned, but those are the minority.

**A 150-kilo English teacher was captured on video beating and kicking a High School student in Florida in 2003. The schools response was to put the teacher on paid suspension, while expelling the student who was beaten and the student who took the video and banning cellphones.

A disgusting act, but an uncommon one. Perhaps one out of every fifty could be enticed to behave in that manner(you cannot tell me the student was completely innocent...undeserving of a beating obviously, but he probably purposely did something to egg it on.)

[fushigi]

I know I must be an evil person, but I laughed my guts out when I read this. I used to spend a week every year as a camp counselor at a winter survival training for sixth-graders from the school I graduated from.

Every year we'd tell the story about "Old Man Caruthers," the red-eyed cannibal hunter who lived out in the woods and carried his red lantern through the forest every night on the way to his slaughterhouse. Then we'd lead a night hike back to the cabin, and every group would get "lost." Of course, for each group we also had a teacher out in the woods with a red flashlight. We'd always get the kids to sit down and try not to make a noise, then we'd say as many things as we could to make the kids cry. "11 years is a long life--you should be grateful you got this much time," was my favorite.

Come on, it's all in good fun. I guess that was the teachers' tragic mistake--they were trying to teach the kids something.