January,
I did not realize you had been a teacher! What a valuable insight!
With this last incident at Va Tech, and the copycat mentality with unstable students, and unstable parents enabling them, like the one I dealt with today, I know the concern is there and cannot be understated.
I also sensed the ***'t principal's underlying concern in this as he supported me!
If anyone should be a target in this situation, though, I know it would be me for confronting this boy!
I watched a crime program recently on "Teen Thrill Killers," in which the development of the brain was discussed. It was stated that during adolescence, the middle school age particularly, the frontal portion of the brain is not developed enough to control impulses. I see this every day, of course, with these students. It does concern me with the unstable ones, of which there are just a few at my small school.
I could see the seething anger and conflict within this boy as he stood there lying about the manner in which I had touched him, in the presence of his unstable father.
We are scheduled to have a "code red" drill next week, practicing how we as a school would respond in the instance of some sort of attack by a gunman or bomber.
It's all too scary for me to contemplate right now!
Patty