I just need someone to give me a yes or no here please

[ThePerkyCoralPoet]

I have two weeks of my employment remaining. I handed my notice in a few weeks ago and I’m in my notice period. I work in education and I had an incident happen on Thursday I was teaching and a heavy object came in my direction forcefully and hit me. It’s claimed that this wasn’t supposed to happen and was meant to hit another student. Once the lesson ended I burst into tears and lots of pupils saw it while walking past. It’s embarrassing and I felt let down by the school response.

I spend the day talking to friends and discussing options. I really wanted to tell my students I was going to be leaving but I never had the chance and was leaving it until this Monday. Due to the nature of the incident. I’m not feeling up to returning and I and feeling really undecided about what I should do.

I considered taking time off this week and maybe returning next week to let them know I’m leaving. Or just taking the rest of the time off. Part of me feels to embarrassed to return (this has never happened to any other staff member) I also don’t want to hear the insincere apologises yet either.

Do I go back for the sake of telling the students I’m going (some of them I’ve had for 4 years) or is it just time to focus on myself and not go back in.

It’s a school. A kid threw something. It wasn’t targeted and didn’t mean to hit the teacher. Get some perspective.

Here isn’t the definition of violence for you:

noun

1. 1.
2. behaviour involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something.

So no, not violence as it wasn’t intended. It was accidental. Seriously.

OP, I would just stay home. Forget them all.

You don't owe these people anything, and they honestly won't care.

I don’t think it makes any difference whether it was a child or adult. I’ve been injured at work (pupil referral unit), and it shocks you as well as physically hurting. Crying in front of your students isn’t something you want to do, but you feel really vulnerable and wobbly after an incident like the one the OP describes.

I wonder why kids these days get away with shit like this and then a poster says it's nothing and you should just put up with it, and I realise they're the problem, they are the ones defending their darling can't-do-wrong child when they throw things and it hits a teacher. It doesn't matter whether it meant to hit her, it did hit her. You don't throw. Which is something I taught my kids from when they were toddlers. So fucking teenagers should know better.

OP, you don't owe them anything.if SLT can't deal with the behaviour then they'll have to learn when they have no staff.

Wow.

The OP works in an environment where nothing was done in response to a missile thrown in her classroom, where other incidents have occurred that have vexed and worried her, with management doing precisely nothing to address the problems, and you come on board telling her she's some kind of nervous nelly who needs to get over herself?

I have someone close to me with ptsd too. I know what I'm talking about. Your claim of special insight here doesn't trump mine. I am not exaggerating, nor am I catastrophising for effect.

You on the other hand seem to be ready and willing to accept common assault as a normal occurrence in a classroom, for reasons I can't begin to fathom.

Ye gods.

Are you seriously trying to argue that throwing heavy objects in a classroom is normal, acceptable, reasonable, or in any way ok?

I wouldn't go back, sadly I don't think the kids will be upset if you don't get to tell them you're leaving.

On purpose or not though, at the very least there should be an apology - that’s just manners at all ages and in all areas of work/society etc.

A similar incident (although very much on purpose) was the final nail in the coffin of my 14 year teaching career. A pupil threw a book directly at my 8 month pregnant stomach (they knew I was pregnant and due soon). My crime? I said their name on the register and they were not in the mood to answer. They admitted it to SLT and that it was on purpose but nothing happened to them and I was not even given an apology, not even from their parents who were informed. I had been thinking of leaving for a year or so prior to this and this confirmed that I didn’t want to work in an environment where I couldn’t keep my unborn child safe and also where the other 36 children in the classroom were given the message that this type of behaviour is acceptable.

It was only a couple of weeks before my mat leave so I just got to the end of my last day and was so grateful to be broken up but I wish I had pushed more, as the same pupil went on to punch a member of staff (nothing happened again) and then throw a chair at another!

Ptsd are you serious right now. The op won't even say what the object was. It's a classroom so maybe a rubber or a pen

It’s neither a rubber nor a pen.

Was it a pencil ✏️ 🤔

No. Stop attempting to goad me for a reaction. It was neither of those items.

None. I was just told the area cameras were checked and angles were clear blah blah. I just can’t handle any of it now.

I am 100% serious.

And if you read the OP you'd have seen it was a heavy object.

You don't need to handle it, like i said before if it's that bad don't go back

What are you on about? No, neither myself or my child would act like this but thanks for the implication.

I admire you teachers for your restraint. I'd want to whack the little fucker. Who the hell thinks it is ok to throw something at a teacher? It didn't happen when I was at school and whilst that was 27 years ago, and I know things change, I don't think it is acceptable for adults to be being attacked by anyone when they are at work.

This website may come in handy.

Well, that depends on the context, the circumstances and the object thrown... and we have none of that information. If 8% of males in the criminal justice system have high levels of psychopathy, it could well be that this student has issues.
If, however, his mate was pulling faces, miming hand jobs, aimed something at him and missed or had been chasing him down the corridor and he lobbed the nearest item at them that's a kneejerk response.
The OP has started two threads on this, has been given solid advice by people in the sector, does not need to justify their feelings or decision but seems hell-bent on wanting everyone on the internet to absolve her absence (when we all know that it will impact on some poor sod).

You really need to think about the language you are using. The op was accidentally hit by an object thrown by a child aimed at someone else and your saying she probably has ptsd. You have then called the child who threw it a psychopath. You know these words actually mean something and shouldn't just be thrown around so lightly.

A lot of the responses on this thread go some way to explaining why teachers are leaving in droves. Having things thrown at you while teaching should never be acceptable.

I don't think anyone is saying it's acceptable and the child should get detention or some kind of punishment for throwing things around a classroom. I think what some are saying is op is taking it to personal. Which is probably to do more with issues that she has faced in her employment over the years and not about this specific child. Op is in a fortunate position that she doesn't have to go back if she doesn't want to and that's fine if that's what she chooses to do.

It wasn't much less than 27 years ago that I had my head repeatedly and deliberately banged into a wall while restraining a child who was trying to hit another child with a lab stool. The people (not the person I'm quoting) trying to minimise the OP's experience should be ashamed.