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pushed and punched by a student

 
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kimiki



Joined: 19 Dec 2008
Location: south korea

PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 2:37 pm    Post subject: pushed and punched by a student Reply with quote

One day this week a kid basically assaulted me. One of the youngest students I have, and new by comparison in the class, a little bear of a boy who is quite large and loud and seems driven by a little motor of cunning mischief. We were singing a song & doing a dance, moving freely about the room. He caught me at one point with my back turned and pushed me hard with both hands, so much that I almost fell over. I turned around and couldn't be sure who it was, though I suspected him, of course. I stopped the music, asked the class who it was, no one came forward. Everyone looked shocked and silent. The other students were really enjoying the game, so I perhaps foolishly decided to do the song one more time, after getting agreements from all to 'be good.' Once again, he managed to get behind me and this time punched me windmill style a good 4 or 5 times. It was easy then to discover the culprit.

I reprimanded him, but it made little impact, til after I told the head Korean teacher, who apparently counts as an actual human being to him because he listened very closely to her and actually displayed guilt and remorse in his expression after getting a talking to. They did not strike him however, although they routinely strike kids with a long hitting stick for various offences in our school!! & generally presented an attitude of it was not being something to dwell on or be effected by.

Honestly I had put it out of my mind and forgotten about it but I noticed some negative feelings I couldn't shake in the last 48 hours... when I got in touch with them, I realized I'm bothered by it more than I admitted before. He really just attacked me, like he was just waiting for the chance, I did not have my back turned for more than 1.5 seconds, I am quite sure, and he came at me with all the force his little body could muster.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? Or have you heard of K-students assaulting teachers ever? Probably not, I imagine. And wouldn't there be more serious results if a kid did this to a Korean teacher?? Upsetting. I dread seeing his devilishly cute chubby face again. Please offer any wisdom you may have on how to deal with aggressive students.
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OneWayTraffic



Joined: 14 Mar 2005

PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 2:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Have him straight in the corridor.

I used to get dongchimed, but only once.
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jlb



Joined: 18 Sep 2003

PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 2:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had a student at a hagwon once that seemed like she was the daughter of satan. She was never physically violent but she turned nice, sweet students who I had good relationships with into kids who made my life hell. And she was the rudest person I've ever met.

I'd been at my hagwon for about 9 months when this all went down, and up until that point had had no major discipline problems. With this girl though, I talked to my boss and asked him to talk to her. I said that I'd give her one more chance and if she behaved herself, she could stay in the class. If she couldn't, then I was not teaching her and I would quit my job before I had to.

Anyway, the predictable ending. The talk with my boss happened, she came back into my class and was evil from the first minute. I went to my boss and told him that it was either her, or me, but one of us had to go. She was not back at the hagwon the next day. I heard from the Korean teachers that my boss called her mom into the office, and refunded her the monthly tuition and sent her on her way.

So if this this continues, I would talk to your boss and say, it's either me, or this kid. Perhaps he could switch to another class? Or be asked to leave the hagwon? But, I wouldn't do this more than once during your year-long contract. More than that, and it will just seem like you can't control your classes. It will cost your boss far more to replace you than she/he would lose in tuition from this kid.
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Ramen



Joined: 15 Apr 2008

PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 3:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i would've employed the service of bigger kids Razz
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Bruce W Sims



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Illinois; USA

PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In the West there is a way of dealing with behavior-disordered students and a system of referring such individuals to counseling for their mental or emotional problems. Assault, battery, manipulative behavior, asocial or anti-social behavior are unfortunate, but also symtomatic of deaper issues if not addressed.

With no other recourse you did exactly what you needed to do. Had your boss not respected your safety and your position as the teacher you would have been right to let the position go as such things tend to escalate without intervention.

So far, I have not told you anything you don't know. The reason I lay it out for you in print is that you need to let these words sink-in until you realize that I am telling you the truth. Why is this important? Because episodes such as the one that you have shared can fester over time and interfere with your ability to be fair and supportive with students.

You have had a couple of bad apples, but the blessing was that your supervisor supported you and you didn't have to deal with it by yourself. Now make sure you find time to debrief with some fellow teachers and keep it up until you can't stand to mention it one more time. Thats how you will know you have started to heal. FWIW.

Best Wishes,

Bruce
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Ramen



Joined: 15 Apr 2008

PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bruce W Sims wrote:
In the West there is a way of dealing with behavior-disordered students and a system of referring such individuals to counseling for their mental or emotional problems. Assault, battery, manipulative behavior, asocial or anti-social behavior are unfortunate, but also symtomatic of deaper issues if not addressed.

With no other recourse you did exactly what you needed to do. Had your boss not respected your safety and your position as the teacher you would have been right to let the position go as such things tend to escalate without intervention.

So far, I have not told you anything you don't know. The reason I lay it out for you in print is that you need to let these words sink-in until you realize that I am telling you the truth. Why is this important? Because episodes such as the one that you have shared can fester over time and interfere with your ability to be fair and supportive with students.

You have had a couple of bad apples, but the blessing was that your supervisor supported you and you didn't have to deal with it by yourself. Now make sure you find time to debrief with some fellow teachers and keep it up until you can't stand to mention it one more time. Thats how you will know you have started to heal. FWIW.

Best Wishes,

Bruce


in fluent korean of couse. Razz
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koreatimes



Joined: 07 Jun 2011

PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 7:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This kid didn't target you, and since none of the other kids called him out when you asked, you are dealing with a classroom dynamic. Bullies tend to hide from teachers so they can continue their bullying.

Putting something up like a point system where everyone is the same "size" might be enough to encourage everyone to look at their actions. If you have more than 15 students, you might want to group them together into teams and reward the team who behaves the best.
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litebear



Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Holland

PostPosted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 11:53 pm    Post subject: Re: pushed and punched by a student Reply with quote

kimiki wrote:
One day this week a kid basically assaulted me. One of the youngest students I have, and new by comparison in the class, a little bear of a boy who is quite large and loud and seems driven by a little motor of cunning mischief. We were singing a song & doing a dance, moving freely about the room. He caught me at one point with my back turned and pushed me hard with both hands, so much that I almost fell over. I turned around and couldn't be sure who it was, though I suspected him, of course. I stopped the music, asked the class who it was, no one came forward. Everyone looked shocked and silent. The other students were really enjoying the game, so I perhaps foolishly decided to do the song one more time, after getting agreements from all to 'be good.' Once again, he managed to get behind me and this time punched me windmill style a good 4 or 5 times. It was easy then to discover the culprit.

I reprimanded him, but it made little impact, til after I told the head Korean teacher, who apparently counts as an actual human being to him because he listened very closely to her and actually displayed guilt and remorse in his expression after getting a talking to. They did not strike him however, although they routinely strike kids with a long hitting stick for various offences in our school!! & generally presented an attitude of it was not being something to dwell on or be effected by.

Honestly I had put it out of my mind and forgotten about it but I noticed some negative feelings I couldn't shake in the last 48 hours... when I got in touch with them, I realized I'm bothered by it more than I admitted before. He really just attacked me, like he was just waiting for the chance, I did not have my back turned for more than 1.5 seconds, I am quite sure, and he came at me with all the force his little body could muster.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? Or have you heard of K-students assaulting teachers ever? Probably not, I imagine. And wouldn't there be more serious results if a kid did this to a Korean teacher?? Upsetting. I dread seeing his devilishly cute chubby face again. Please offer any wisdom you may have on how to deal with aggressive students.


Was this student in Kindergarten? If so I'd be far less worried if I were you (and a little more understanding). If the kid was older then it's a more serious problem of course.
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Julius



Joined: 27 Jul 2006

PostPosted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

OneWayTraffic wrote:
I used to get dongchimed, but only once.


Thats not possible.
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Ninja-Bees



Joined: 08 Mar 2011

PostPosted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 2:55 am    Post subject: