A teacher who snapped and attacked a pupil who had been goading him was cleared of attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent today.
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16 comments:
I feel it's an excellent report you have put up because these sort of assualts and attacks have happened quite a lot of times. Personally, I think it was the student's fault - he was the one who provoked the teacher in the first place. Although I do feel that the teacher maybe went a bit overboard throwing the weight on the kid, I can also imagine how frustrated he (the teacher) may have been to actually hurt a student.
I think this was extremely sad and leaves me with sympathy for the teacher; he too is human and had reached his breaking point. Sure, it is not right for a teacher to lash out at his student, but reading about his past and what a caring man he is, it just shows that the student(s) had crossed the line.
We need something like this to open up our eyes; to see that teachers, too, have feelings, and sometimes provoking them isn't such a good idea. Students may take it for granted that a teacher would never do anything back to them or retort, but there are some out there like Mr. Harvey who decided to put his foot down.
I don't really have a side here. The student was out of line and should have been punished in some way. Not only him but the others who made the plan. The teacher was described by co-workers and ex students as someone who deserved respect and who loved his job and students. Someone like that should not be mistreated in such a juvenile way, since not many teachers have the qualities that were given to describe him.
On the other hand, if he knew that he was going trough a hard time it would have been wise to take some more time off to regain his composure. To have such an episode combined with his increasing loss of control over his class implies that he is unsuitable to be around students for some time in the future, although I'm glad the jury didn't send him to jail.
I am really sick of seeing this problem amongst students everywhere, no matter what school you go to their will always be that one student. From the way they were describing the teacher, he seems like a pretty awesome teacher, and dealing with his ill wife and children, I can easily see how this kids provoking was just the extra inch he needed to hit his breaking point. Also like Kris said, I agree, it would have been a better idea to take some time off to regain his composure. I think the students the one who really should have gotten the boot!
Hmm,not a first hearing students provoking teachers and teasing them because they can't do anything,personally i think the kid deserved it,the way he was acting,but the teacher also went abit over board,what if he couldn't control himself,then what?
Wow, he got off pretty easy.
I think the teacher and student were both at fault.
Well, can you blame the man? I mean I can easily imagine how far the boy went to make him that mad, experienced teachers usually don't have any problems getting over what students say or do.
I'm going outright here and blaming the student wholeheartedly, who should have got a good knock on the head...
That was quite the eye opener. But I think that both the teacher and the student were somewhat to blame; the teacher because it was not the best decision for him to go back to quite a tedious job after his described past, maybe he should have taken a longer break. And the student obviously because he had just crossed the line and had provoked the teacher.
Its quite appalling that teenagers our age or even younger can come up with such idiotic plots to ruin others' lives, if not their own.
I feel extremely sorry for the teacher. Seeing as he was suffering from depression and everything; sometimes you just have to let it out. Sure, it was violent and cruel that the boy had to suffer from a head injury but for some reason I still feel the remorse that the teacher might have sufferred from.
It was a terrible mistake on his part; just an outburst of human anger, though.
However, the boy was just a child,- he probably didn't see what harm it caused to swear at his teacher and provoke him in other ways. From what the article says, the boy was generally a trouble maker and Harvey should have prepared himself for what might happen.
I'm agree with both sides; but Im more inclined towards the teacher as he deserved atleast an ounce of respect. The idea of the students winding up Mr. Harvey, video taping it and then passing it around school is quite ridiculous -.-. I suppose they have their reasons as well but then again; we all have the tendancy to lose our tempers sometimes and do quite um, daft things.
Both of them are at fault, although the student had it coming.
>.>
The student didn't know where to draw the line, and continuously goaded the teacher past his breaking point..
And the point of the student's complete insolence? To humiliate their teacher. Everything was ON PURPOSE.
Yeah, that's lovely. >.> I can not imagine WHY ON EARTH THEY WOULD DO THAT DELIBERATELY -_- I admit that we aren't very fond of some of our teachers, but cmon. They're human, and do not deserve such treatment.
The teacher should have stretched his patience though, but after all, everyone has their limits. Judging by the contents of the article, he was aware that he was going through a pretty tough time. (He was showing signs of nearing a breakdown). He should have taken some time off :/
I personally feel that it was the student's fault- him provoking a depressed teacher. Yet, the teacher should have tried to compose himself, though it's good he got off.
Aisha Bashir
10g2.
I feel really sorry for the teacher and sympathise with him completely. And as for the student, he is an utter disgrace to us students! Before teachers were regarded with such respect and honour, yet today after all the modernisation and technological advancement our morals and values seem to be going down the drain. Especially where I come from, a place where a teacher is second to God, it is really quite shocking and appaling to hear that such things happen in our society today.
I personally believe that it was the student’s fault because:
We are all humans and we all have a limit to what we can withstand, the teacher too has a limit to what he can bear, but the student really pushed it beyond…..and so there was a breaking point when the teacher could tolerate it no more and lost control…
I think the boy had it coming, the teacher seems like a really nice man and he was really fed up with the boy. He didn't have a violent background too so, I think it was the boys fault, and yeah maybe the guys in his class who were planning on 'humiliating' him as well, they should all get thingss dropped onto their heads -_-''
On one occasion he grew a beard for the role of Mr Bumble in Oliver Twist.
But he had struggled to help his wife Samantha cope with depression after she had to give up her job as a teacher because of her illness.
The couple have two teenage daughters, one of whom has Asperger's syndrome.
...I think that right there just says everything. I mean, he grew a BEARD for a play! How many people do that?!
Honestly, if I was in the room, I would have punched someone (yeah, yeah, I know) because this is just ridiculous! You're swearing at a teacher after pissing him off to the breaking point and don't expect him to retaliate?
I mean, yeah, the teacher was wrong to have attacked him but dude - the poor man >:
This is why people infuriate me so much sometimes. It's called RESPECT. If you don't RESPECT someone, you're going to get into, um, stuff sooner or later. And it will not be pretty.
I hope to God everyone in the class learnt from this because, honestly? I have no sympathy for the kid.
I couldn't agree more with Anderson and Faiza. The boy got what he deserved, period. He was totally asking for it. Let's not forget that the teacher didn't suffer from some really serious mental problem, just plain old depression. I wouldn't be surprised even if a perfectly healthy teacher showed the kind of reaction that this teacher showed. It's to be expected from any human.
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