SC - Columbia - Sheriff Slams Female Student to Floor In Class - #2

[katydid23]

If only the teacher had taken her aside after class...yep.

So a teacher sees a student looking at her phone, he asks her for it, to hold until class is over and she refuses. What then? Is the teacher supposed to back down in front of the other students and let it go? Would any other kids ever comply with his future requests if he shrugged and walked away?

 

[bluesneakers]

Yeah that is his lawyers job. I don't know if Fields was a member of a union (probably not since he was fired so quickly) but you can bet they will be suing to get his job back and back pay.
This is going to end up costing that town a heap of money all because some teacher couldn't handle his job and the admin was so weak.

It's going to be an expensive mess for them.

Do you think Officer Fields is going to end up being charged with anything?

 

[vestigare]

Actually, if she thought the teacher was being unfair, she could have left class as instructed and plead her case at the VP's office. imo

She could have done a lot of things. So could the teacher.
But we can only deal with what actually happened.

 

[bluesneakers]

So a teacher sees a student looking at her phone, he asks her for it, to hold until class is over and she refuses. What then? Is the teacher supposed to back down in front of the other students and let it go? Would any other kids ever comply with his future requests if he shrugged and walked away?

We've been over and over this. The teacher could have simply said "We'll discuss this after class" or given her a note. Then ignored her and gone on doing what he's paid to do - teaching kids algebra. After class he could talk to her about her behavior, hand out some kind of punishment, send her to the principal, whatever. It's very simple and teachers do this every single day without having to call in the hired guns.

Teachers, like anyone who deals with teens, need to know when to pick their battles. He picked the wrong battle and made a terrible decision.

 

[vestigare]

If only she was capable of following SIMPLE instructions and had a hint of respect for authority.

Apparently ignoring the teacher's demand is not a big deal, neither is ignoring the principals demand/order, and then a police officer came in and she blatantly ignored his demand too.

And everyone is to blame EXCEPT her? Wow!

I think there is a huge problem here with people failing to understand that two people can wrong at the same time.
There is also a problem with understanding that her actions in no way warranted the way she was treated by that RO. The RO was not fired because his actions were warranted and necessary. He was fired because they were not.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

I care too. I care that she obviously has problems and is angry, but I ALSO care that the other kids in the class were made to feel unsafe because of her defiance, even before the cop entered the classroom. These kids didn't encourage her. They tried to persuade her to leave the classroom. Why do you think they did that?

I haven't seen anything about the other students feeling unsafe before the cop entered the classroom.

This account from a student who was there indicates it was the cop who made them fearful. Not the girl.

"I've never seen anything so nasty looking, so sick to the point that you know, other students are turning away, don't know what to do, and are just scared for their lives," Robinson said. "That's supposed to be somebody that's going to protect us. Not somebody that we need to be scare off, or afraid."

"That was wrong. There was no justifiable reason for why he did that to that girl."

http://www.wltx.com/story/news/local/2015/10/27/student-who-videotaped-incident-speaks-out/74664592/

 

[kimlynn]

So a teacher sees a student looking at her phone, he asks her for it, to hold until class is over and she refuses. What then? Is the teacher supposed to back down in front of the other students and let it go? Would any other kids ever comply with his future requests if he shrugged and walked away?

Not at all. He could have asked and if she refused he could have said see you after class thus letting all know that the issue wasn't going to be ignored. IMO

 

[Hope4More]

Those kids reactions seemed very muted. I couldn't understand why the student behind the student being grappled by LE didn't even look up with all the noise of the desk being moved about. Very strange and goes against human nature to want to look.
The only time she moved and looked was when she almost got creamed by the desk thanks to the officer flinging desk and student around regardless of safety.
As to why the students wanted her to leave...they knew what was coming because they had experienced it in the past?
Sad really.IMO

Is it totally impossible for you to understand that the other kids in that class were SCARED by her defiance? They didn't think it was cool. They didn't support her. They wanted her to leave because they wanted the escalation to STOP.

Their own sense of security and safety was being violated by HER.

I noticed they didn't look up either and also find it sad, sad that the actions of one had exposed all of them to such ugliness, and that they were powerless to stop her, even though they tried.

 

[katydid23]

We've been over and over this. The teacher could have simply said "We'll discuss this after class" or given her a note. Then ignored her and gone on doing what he's paid to do - teaching kids algebra. After class he could talk to her about her behavior, hand out some kind of punishment, send her to the principal, whatever. It's very simple and teachers do this every single day without having to call in the hired guns.

Teachers, like anyone who deals with teens, need to know when to pick their battles. He picked the wrong battle and made a terrible decision.

We do not know his history with his new student. Maybe he was picking this battle because he had asked her before and she ignored the warnings.

It is true that teachers do this every single day with no call to hired guns. So what was different this time? He looks like an experienced teacher. Why did he feel the need to call the VP? Teachers do not do that frivolously. It's like calling your boss to say you need help with something you cannot handle yourself. There must have been something more to it than a simple reprimand and that's it.

I am sure that the VP has a lot of experience with rebellious students. Why did he feel the need to call in a Deputy?

 

[magnolia]

All the teacher had to do or say was please put your phone away until class is over. Instead he made an issue of it by asking her to give up her phone.
Another option would have been to see her after class.

BBM-Why do you think the rules should have been different for this girl?

 

[katydid23]

Not at all. He could have asked and if she refused he could have said see you after class thus letting all know that the issue wasn't going to be ignored. IMO

He could have but he didn't. I wonder why. He looks like an experienced teacher. What made him reach out to his superiors for help? Must have been something out of the ordinary to make him react in that way, imo.

 

[Hope4More]

Hard not to disrupt the class when you and your desk are being thrown about the room.

JMO.

I understand that you want to keep the focus on what Fields did. IMO there are equally important aspects of this that can be discussed without constantly reducing every other point of view to a bad cop story.

 

[katydid23]

Not at all. He could have asked and if she refused he could have said see you after class thus letting all know that the issue wasn't going to be ignored. IMO

Any reason at all to believe she would have agreed to see him after class?

 

[sonjay]

My guess is the group of lawbreakers were mostly athletes. Officer Fields did a lot of work with the football team and in my experience athletes get away with a lot of crap. Teachers and admin look the other way.

It's also possible the teachers and admin think the beating was necessary and the firing unfair.

Those poor kids.

JMO.

What group of lawbreakers?

 

[vestigare]

It's going to be an expensive mess for them.

Do you think Officer Fields is going to end up being charged with anything?

I don't see how he won't be charged. He violated policy. Policy is there because lawyers have combed over the scenarios and realize which ones court cases have already determined are excessive force or a civil rights violation etc....

The question is will a jury convict. It is nearly impossible to get a jury to convict a cop even if they badly injure someone, and nearly impossible if they don't. People just don't care if someone else had their rights violated.

 

[magnolia]

Yeah that is his lawyers job. I don't know if Fields was a member of a union (probably not since he was fired so quickly) but you can bet they will be suing to get his job back and back pay.
This is going to end up costing that town a heap of money all because some teacher couldn't handle his job and the admin was so weak.

BBM- We are in agreement on that one.

 

[sonjay]

I want to respond to your post again, with another thought. The "thought process" here, is discernment. To be able to see differences in events. It's the refusal to see differences in events that has caused schools to adopt "zero tolerance" policies, and punish the kids who bring a butter knife to school in their lunches and kids who bring switchblades in their backpacks the same. To punish the kid who offers his asthma inhaler to a friend who is gasping for air the same as a student who passes around hydrocodone. I think it's because people who violate the rules are bent on pointing to others who didn't have the same intent, and demand that everyone be treated equally, and take reason and discernment out of the equation.

These two incidents - the defiant girl, and the peaceful expression of dismay, are two different things and if we allow people to insist they are the same, we've handed in our ability to effectively govern. Those who see the obvious differences should be allowed to run the schools, and those who can't see the differences should put their talents in other directions besides school supervision.

This. This needs to be repeated.

The two events were entirely and completely different things. There's no point in pretending they're equivalent, because they're not, and it doesn't fool anyone.

 

[kimlynn]

Is it totally impossible for you to understand that the other kids in that class were SCARED by her defiance? They didn't think it was cool. They didn't support her. They wanted her to leave because they wanted the escalation to STOP.

Their own sense of security and safety was being violated by HER.

I noticed they didn't look up either and also find it sad, sad that the actions of one had exposed all of them to such ugliness, and that they were powerless to stop her, even though they tried.

Kids are tougher than you might imagine. They see and experience situations differently than adults. What may scare us has little or no impact on them because they have youth on their side and IMO don't take things as seriously as an adult might.
Having *said* that...I think the main fear for the children was of the officer. That is my opinion.
Shame that they attend a school where they live in fear of doing the wrong thing and are cowed by this former authority figure.
I have yet to read of any students fearing the female student in this incident.
We did have a link shared that indicated there was fear of this SRO. IMO

 

[Hope4More]

I haven't seen anything about the other students feeling unsafe before the cop entered the classroom.

This account from a student who was there indicates it was the cop who made them fearful. Not the girl.



http://www.wltx.com/story/news/local/2015/10/27/student-who-videotaped-incident-speaks-out/74664592/

That's not what the article said. The one student interviewed said the whole situation was scary, which it was, and scariest at the end because they were forced to witness a violent confrontation.

As for her telling the cop " I don't even know who you are" ?! WTH. Now cops need to introduce themselves and hand out business cards?

 

[al66pine]

Do you think it was because she was new to the school that she wasn't aware of what would happen when the officer was called?
I wonder if she was even aware about the cell phone rule.

Can she or any high school student be unaware that school has a cell policy? They may vary somewhat, school to school or from school this student previously attended. If she attended SVHS since first day Aug 19 to late Oct, then ~ 6 or 7+ wks. Seems like cell use might come up in casual convo w other students and/or home room teachers' announcements.

Even if not, school dist book* (briefly & generally) says students there are prohibited from using cells during class. Presumably (I may be azz-uming) this student, like others signed to ack handbook contents**.

SVHS cell policy =
- not a secret hidden away in the principal's locked closet.
- not complicated or difficult to understand. Simple English.
- not difficult to comply voluntarily, without a teacher reminding/asking, without a vice-prin asking/requesting.

Appears this student just did not want to comply w explicit written policy or w requests/orders from 3 school Emp'ees. All, JM2cts.




_________________________________________________

* Richland School District Two, Back-2-School Handbook, 2015-16
page 35 addresses students' cellphone usage, etc.
"High school
High school students may use ECDs such as cellular phones, electronic pagers ... before and after school, during their lunch break, within “free zones” (as determined by the principal) and as deemed appropriate by the teacher and approved by the principal for educational and/or instructional purposes only. Any other use of wireless communications is considered misuse and violations may result in disciplinary action.
Consequences ..."

** On page 2, Superintendent's Welcome states:
"Parents and students must acknowledge receipt of this handbook by signing the confirmation form and returning it to the student’s advisory or homeroom teacher. It communicates to us that the parent/guardian and student have access to the handbook." bbm SVHS student handbook.

Can jump to dist & SVHS books ^ from https://www.richland2.org/svh/pages/Default.aspx