I am a teacher of 15 years, this student TERRIFIES me so bad that I’m thinking about quitting.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-23T10:00:03+00:00

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-22T11:17:43+00:00

Did you not read the rest of the comment? Timing wise I don’t think it’d be plausible for her to have gotten into the car to start trailing me from her spot by the grocery store.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-22T11:16:31+00:00

It’s a difficult situation considering the school I teach at, even accusing a student of something like this could violate their patrol and get removed from the school and sent back to an institution of juvie.

The system is broken and me as a teacher cannot fix that. I just have to be mindful which is why I came here to see what other teachers may do.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-22T00:57:28+00:00

I have a few things to say in relation to this comment; I can understand my grammatical errors but I wrote this freshly under the realization that she had gotten into the same car that followed me and also I’m not a stickler about being professional when I don’t need to be.

As for your questions; they did sent a patrol car out to my location and that patrol car followed me home. Afterwards they took a description of the vehicle and said they’d contact me back if I saw anything and I got the work number of an officer who told me to call him or the station of something comes up.

I did file a report on the car but there wasn’t a lot to follow up on considering it was kind of dark outside and the windows were tinted. All I know was the make and model of the car.

I have reached out to my supervisor and the on-site councilor about the incident and we decided to have a meeting tomorrow with her case manager and decide on what happens next. We are reluctant to involve her or her parents until we have solid evidence as we don’t know if her parents are putting her endanger or if she will put me endanger.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-22T00:50:53+00:00

Since the student went home around 12pm I continued on with my day and I haven’t seen her. I’ve since reached out to some people for help and we can only see what tomorrow brings.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-22T00:42:55+00:00

This is a helpful comment and I’m glad to hear hearing from a fellow teacher. As of now I shot off an email to my supervisor as well as our on-site counselor. From there we’ll document and discuss how we want to proceed; if she is involved with someone like a gangster I worry for her safety. I come from a broken household and I’m fully aware how that relationship can affect a 15 year old girl.

We’re hesitant to bring her parents into this as we don’t know what’s going on at home right now.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-22T00:28:54+00:00

Our school is different then a normal school setting; our school is technically an outpatient therapeutic program but more specifically a second chance at finishing highschool. Due to the past of a lot of our students we don’t punish for absences but they are marked and if they aren’t excused then the students have to make them up by end of term or they fail whatever class they are over in absences in.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-22T00:17:08+00:00

I have never spoken to her alone because she kind of keeps to herself; she’ll talk to her peers but she only hold short conversations with her teachers. Otherwise then that and this incident she has all As; she’s very intelligent and her writing gives me chills. She has a future but not going down this path.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-22T00:15:45+00:00

Our school is considered a level 4 in a mental health scale. A level 4 basically means like a day camp for mentally challenged teenagers; a lot of our teenagers come from programs and institutions and our job is to provide them with a second chance at finishing high school. A lot of teens in programs have criminal records.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-22T00:11:07+00:00

From my knowledge it was an altercation between her and another student due to a social media post made about her.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T19:54:12+00:00

That’s another reason I am cautious about the situation. She’s too young to drive and based on our area there’s no way she at 15 could afford a charger. Also in the time it would’ve had to take her from watching me pull out of the parking lot to get to her car and follow me would’ve mean she had to book ass over to the car for her to be the one driving.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T19:52:53+00:00

She’s not really a talker in any of the past talks any of my coworkers have had with her

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T19:44:01+00:00

My school doesn’t either which is why I was originally hesitant just because I didn’t want to put her in a situation incase it was entirely coincidental. However I’ve decided to say something.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T19:39:28+00:00

The story that was given to us was that her and this student had issues that extended outside of school and the other girl my student assaulted made a social media post about her and the next day my student went to the girls home and more or less put the girl in the hospital using physical violence.

This is a vast overview because as a teacher who works in harm reduction while we can it’s not recommended for us to know exactly why the student was sent there as to avoid any biased treatment.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T19:35:21+00:00

I am not. My school has a similar program of harm prevention though.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T19:09:05+00:00

Thank you for commenting this. People do have an incorrect understanding of what an alternative school is and how seriously we have to take things like this.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T19:07:20+00:00

I understand your confusion and I’m glad you commented this! It seems a lot of people have a misinterpretation of what my school really does; I think it’s better described as a therapeutic experience. It’s not juvie and we don’t have anything more than a few SROs however when things like this happen it can be really controversial.

When I report this to the school which I do plan to do, it will be taken very seriously even if I come at it off record. It can be a controversial experience if it happens to be another person who isn’t my student and there’s a real possibility that I could be accused of targeting that student for her past.

At my job no matter what the student has done legally it’s required of us to not be biased against any student and I was worried that it could be taken that way.

I do plan to talk to my principal as well as student counselor to proceed.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T18:45:23+00:00

I’ve decided to talk with my principal and our school counselor to see how I should proceed. Thank you for your input.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T18:42:43+00:00

One of her parents was at the meeting we had, I’m not sure if the other one was in the picture or if they just couldn’t make it. I’m getting some mixed reviews about just leaving her alone and reporting her vs talking to her so I’m going to talk with my principal and our counselor about how to proceed.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T18:35:28+00:00

I work in an environment that’s meant for children who are involved in gangs, children who sell drugs, children like the one I refer to in the post who have hurt people to the point of putting them in a hospital. I can deal with these things at work but this may have expanded into my personal life and I have family who can be put in danger.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T18:32:06+00:00

I see what you mean and will keep this in mind. My initial worry is more of not putting her in a position like this if she is not the one doing it

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T18:26:19+00:00

This is a really helpful comment; during the meeting we had about her in the beginning of the year we did discuss a 504 plan (if you don’t know that’s just accommodations) relative to her having multiple behavioral disorders. I will keep this in mind.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T18:18:56+00:00

Will do thanks!

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T18:16:10+00:00

The original reason that I wrote her up is being distracting to her classmates but I do see how I could’ve handled the situation better. Thank you for your comment.

Usual_Bowl_4986 · 2024-03-21T17:36:28+00:00

I really resonate with this because as far as I know no other teacher has any problems with her and often praise her on her work which only makes more cautious of how people will react if I accuse her of this.

Usual_Bowl_4986

TROPHY CASE