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School Violence
Nov. 8th, 2006 12:07 pmThis morning, I got ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cavendish's okay to post something which I would very much have liked to post yesterday, but chose not to, because none of us knew if, and in what way, the latest incidents at Cavendish's school would make the news.
For those of you who don't know him, he's a very engaged teacher at a local vocational college. Someone who works his ass off to provide good, interesting English and Chemistry lessons, and who tries hard to treat all this students in a fair and human manner. And believe me, especially the latter isn't always that easy, as Cavendish's school not only offers the regular, usually traineeship accompanying courses. They also have special classes for the poorly qualified and the drop-outs with virtually no comprehension, no communicative or mathematical skills. It's like one great pool for the underprivileged, the badly socialised; the frustrated, helpless and violent.
Yesterday, a kid belonging right into this group attacked one of Cavendish's less popular colleagues with a broomstick. According to witnesses, the assault happened right on the school yard and came out of nowhere. Quick, brutal blows, executed with a lot of force. The broomstick broke in the process. Had Cavendish's colleague been hit on the neck or head, he'd probably be paralysed or dead. An ambulance transported the shocked, bleeding man into hospital. So far, no one has been able (or wants) to identify the escaped attacker.
But as if the act of violence committed by one severely disturbed individual wasn't enough, here comes the truly frightening bit: A quite popular opinion among students seems that the beaten-up teacher actually deserved what happened to him as some form of payback for his often less than fortunate teaching methods.
Apparently, our current educational system not only breeds time bombs. It also doesn't seem to care whether those forced to deal with these time bombs actually possess the necessary human skills and personal charisma for such a highly demanding job.
This morning, Cavendish's school was in the local radio news. Quite possible the story is all over WDR2 by now.
cavendish's okay to post something which I would very much have liked to post yesterday, but chose not to, because none of us knew if, and in what way, the latest incidents at Cavendish's school would make the news.For those of you who don't know him, he's a very engaged teacher at a local vocational college. Someone who works his ass off to provide good, interesting English and Chemistry lessons, and who tries hard to treat all this students in a fair and human manner. And believe me, especially the latter isn't always that easy, as Cavendish's school not only offers the regular, usually traineeship accompanying courses. They also have special classes for the poorly qualified and the drop-outs with virtually no comprehension, no communicative or mathematical skills. It's like one great pool for the underprivileged, the badly socialised; the frustrated, helpless and violent.
Yesterday, a kid belonging right into this group attacked one of Cavendish's less popular colleagues with a broomstick. According to witnesses, the assault happened right on the school yard and came out of nowhere. Quick, brutal blows, executed with a lot of force. The broomstick broke in the process. Had Cavendish's colleague been hit on the neck or head, he'd probably be paralysed or dead. An ambulance transported the shocked, bleeding man into hospital. So far, no one has been able (or wants) to identify the escaped attacker.
But as if the act of violence committed by one severely disturbed individual wasn't enough, here comes the truly frightening bit: A quite popular opinion among students seems that the beaten-up teacher actually deserved what happened to him as some form of payback for his often less than fortunate teaching methods.
Apparently, our current educational system not only breeds time bombs. It also doesn't seem to care whether those forced to deal with these time bombs actually possess the necessary human skills and personal charisma for such a highly demanding job.
This morning, Cavendish's school was in the local radio news. Quite possible the story is all over WDR2 by now.
