It’s bad enough this teacher made a shocking spur of the moment decision to break up a school corridor kiss between teen students by dousing them with a bucket of water. To then go on Facebook to justify it and call for the support of others is just horrible. Surely the teacher in question has enough sense to see that the punishment did not in any way match the crime. Public humiliation is a very serious offence.
Suspending this teacher was certainly an appropriate course of action:
A US teacher has been suspended after throwing a bucket of water on two students he thought were kissing and hugging in a school corridor.
The unnamed teacher was unapologetic despite being placed on administrative leave by John Overton High School in Nashville while the incident is being investigated, WKRN-TV reported.
The teacher reportedly posted afterwards on Facebook that his actions “seemed to work”.
“Got in trouble at school today,” he wrote.
“Threw a bucket of water on two kids hooking in the hallway of the high school where I plan to send my oldest daughter next year.
“It seemed to work and they stopped. Keep me in your prayers peeps.”
A mother of one of the students told WKRN-TV that there was no excuse for the teacher’s treatment of her 16-year-old son and his 17-year-old girlfriend.
Maggie Tiefenthal said her teenage son, who she claims was only hugging his girlfriend, was “embarrassed and upset” after the incident.
“They are not dogs. That is what you do to dogs and they are not animals,” she said.
Ms Tiefenthal said the principal had seen CCTV footage of the incident, but she had yet to see it.
“The administrator said based on the video, the kids did nothing inappropriate,” she told WKRN-TV.
Ms Tiefenthal said the girl’s parents were also upset by the incident.
She added that the teacher’s Facebook post had only made it worse.
School spokeswoman Olivia Brown said that the school had never had problems with the teacher before and he had a “good standing”.
Tags: Assault, Education, facebook, Hugging, John Overton High School, Maggie Tiefenthal, News, Olivia Brown, Parenting, professional conduct, School, Water, WKRN-TV
Topical Teaching 
March 14, 2012 at 12:04 am |
i think the teacher’s response was more emotional than correctional. While i don’t endorse the children kissing or even smooching at the school corridor, i do believe that the teacher’s reaction was quite high strung.
The question is, will this action stop the children from kissing or smooching in future? The answer is NO. All it will do is make them more cautious about where they do it from now on.
March 15, 2012 at 11:55 pm |
There is no doubt that the teacher’s actions will do nothing to stop their smooching ways. Thanks for the comment!
March 14, 2012 at 1:19 am |
What an unfortunate incident! When I am on yard duty and i see this sort of thing going on between students I find that my immediate presence is sufficient in most cases. Basically, it’s only a problem if it’s a problem. Most students respond well to being told, at an appropriate time and in an appropriate context/place, which public behaviours are acceptable and which are not.
It seems to me, in the case in point, that the school had no policy in place to cover this matter and if it did the policy was not communicated to the students. The result is that the teacher then acts, instead of according to policy, according to instinct.
March 15, 2012 at 11:57 pm |
I think most schools don’t have such a policy. I hope there isn’t the need for such a policy either. Common sense is all that’s required.
March 15, 2012 at 2:02 am |
Teenagers the length and breadth of the land love to smooch, to prove they ar e’the couple’. It’s not really publicly ‘normal’ behaviour and schools aren’t the appropriate place for it… I often find a bit of light hearted teasing stops it in it’s tracks.. .and a quiteword afterwards with loves young dream is too much.
Chucking a bucket of water is humiliating and degrading – we should be encouraging positive relationships and displaying appropriate physical affection. Pity the teacher who doesn’t see this.
March 15, 2012 at 11:56 pm |
I agree. The positive approach usually works much better.