A teacher hits the wall after attack by student

Reposted as history. Originally posted in January of 2005.


By MATTHEW BOWERS - The Virginian-Pilot © January 17, 2005

SUFFOLK, VA — On paper, Lisa W. Rath’s ordeal ends Tuesday. A juvenile court judge will sentence one of her students, a girl who savagely beat her in a King’s Fork Middle School hallway last year. But not everything is in the court record.
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She no longer feels safe in Suffolk. And teaching’s not the same. “I’ve put a wall up now between me and the students,” Rath said, “and I won’t let students over the wall.” So she plans to move. And, at 38, she’s preparing for a career change.

Teachers are frequently criticized for the shape of education in America. What is overlooked is that our courts and the unelected judges (through their pampering of students and the refusal to allow discipline) have gutted the education safety environment. How can you teach when students are allowed to act like animals with little consequence? How can students learn when they are told about their rights and never about their obligations?

This is one article whose lessons are important if we are going to fix our schools. And the most important lesson is that we have to give the teachers back a school system that has discipline and safety. Teachers have a right to be safe. That will require taking back our courts, and controlling the unelected judges who rule based on liberal opinion rather than law. The judges need to understand that punishment is a lesson too..... a lesson our youth never learn in the current court system, and by their edict, the school systems as well.