This news article was published last month, but I’ve been ruminating on it since then, and finally decided I had to unload.
It concerns a 50-year-old man, a 20-year veteran teacher in England, who was “goaded” by his students during science class. Finally he snapped and lashed out at his 14-year-old tormenter, beating him over the head with a dumbbell. And according to the teacher, it wasn’t his fault.
Rather, it was the intolerable pressure the “targets-obsessed national curriculum” places on teachers. He also blames the school for allowing him to return to work too soon after he had taken off several months due to stress. As a result, he couldn’t have prevented the act and feels no guilt about it. “I love kids,” he said, “and I'm the last person who would ever want to harm a child. I didn't make a decision to hurt the boy, it just happened.”
The article goes on at some length to speak of the “ordeal” of the teacher: his flashbacks, the disruption to his family relationships, his dreadful experience in prison, etc.
Absolutely no mention is made of the extent of the boy’s injuries.
Have we become so entrenched in a victim culture that an entire news article can focus on the tragic story of a teacher who assaulted a student and skip altogether the tragic story of a student who was assaulted by a teacher?
Sue, I don't think the article said that the teacher did not feel guilty. He describes how he was hallucinating images of the injured boy after his arrest. I actually find it quite refreshing to hear his story.
ReplyDeleteTo take another scenario, if someone has a heart attack while driving, resulting in the death and injury of others on the road, how guilty should they feel? (Assuming they were unaware of any heart problem). what is the difference between a heart attack and a "brain storm" attack? As you probably know. our news has recently been full of the horrific shootings in Cumbria, and all sympathy is rightly being given to the victims and their families. However when I see postings describing this clearly deranged man as "evil" and who can never be forgiven, something inside me quails.
The road of sanity is very thin, and we hang onto our reason by a thread. There, but for the grace of God...
Thanks for your comment, Marion, but here's a direct quote from the article:
ReplyDelete"But he insists he feels no guilt over the attack because he firmly believes there was nothing he could have done to stop it."
But as you say, "There, but for the grace of God..."
Obviously there was nothing he could have done to stop it - he said so himself. He was ill and the student(s) tormented him. I would not want to be a teacher these days. A lot of children get out of hand and have no proper upbringing from their parents and the teachers are supposed to not only teach them, but teach them manners too. It's hard being a teacher. I feel bad for him.
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