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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this is totally out of order...

300 replies

chattybee · 02/07/2018 22:24

DD1 is in year 9. Going into year 10.

Thursday her History teacher took up a meter stick and smashed it on the table into tiny pieces in rage as he yelled at the whole class for someone not shutting the door.

The teacher has hallucinations and anger issues and has taught at the school since September.

DD1 came home in tears as she was terrified since he was telling that the tigers were coming to get them!

AIBU to bring this up in school? DD1 and her entire class were so scared.

OP posts:
PigEyedHorseFrightener · 03/07/2018 07:52

If this is true then clearly the teacher is nuttier than squirrel shit and needs to be kept faaaar away from classrooms.

But I don’t think it’s true.

CrustyCob · 03/07/2018 07:57

If this is what he did, and there appears to be enough corrorboration that it is,

Corroboration? Where?
It's a UNcorroborated anonymous thread on t'internet .

You've been watching Tony Hancock's version of 12 Angry Men again.

BookAtBedtime · 03/07/2018 08:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SimplySteve · 03/07/2018 08:03

If this happened as told I'm amazed it hasn't hit the press.

SimplySteve · 03/07/2018 08:06

The end of year sing OP's daughters' class is surely going to be "Who Let The Dogs Tigers Out".

SimplySteve · 03/07/2018 08:06

Grrr *song not sing! Stupid autocorrect.

Gigis · 03/07/2018 08:10

Good God. The way I see it there are 2 possibilities - either it happened as your dd describes or it didn't.

If it didn't then you need to speak to your dd about not getting caught up in gossip which has the potential to ruin careers. 13 year old exaggerate, they misremember things or sometimes a story goes so far they feel they have to continue it rather than confess it's been made up or embellished.

If it did happen, then this man clearly needs support, not some faux concerned parents gossiping (and yes, it is gossip despite what you say) about his mental health and posting on a public forum under the heading "to think this is totally out of order" as if this poor man had a choice. Hallucinations are terrifying. To a 13 year old it may have seemed scary or even funny (I teach secondary school and know that kids can be cruel and mental health is regularly mocked). But to the man it was probably very disturbing.

I appreciate that as a parent you could be concerned that his health and behaviour could impact on your dd but rather than voice these concerns in an understanding way you have chosen to feed the rumour mill and come across as not very understanding.

BossPeeBeePee · 03/07/2018 08:10

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tomhazard · 03/07/2018 08:13

No way did this happen. Particularly not for a second time as you say. If anything like this had happened once the senior team would have swooped in. Somebody who is as unwell as your post describes would notstill be teaching at this end of the year.

Booboostwo · 03/07/2018 08:15

I had a teacher like that a long time ago (80s), at a very expensive private school in a country where it's almost impossible to fire teachers. In retrospect he had serious mental health issues but at the time and from the perspective of a child his behaviors was incomprehensible and terrifying. He would shout, throw binders at pupils (we were not allowed to put our arms up to catch them) and dance on his desk. Adults told about his behaviour always disbelieved us, minimized it and called him harmless and eccentric. For me he was terrifying.

I feel for the teacher in this case, he seems to have had some kind of serious mental health problem and I hope he is receiving help and has recovered. However, the children exposed to all this also need help to recover. I can completely understand why an adult who is in charge and is to be obeyed but who behaves in unpredictable and irrational ways is absolutely terrifying and the school should not ignore the impact this will have had on the students.

Heihei · 03/07/2018 08:26

I am very rarely moved to post on these threads, but this story just doesn’t make sense. I’ve been teaching for 14 years and I just find parts of this thread completely ridiculous.

  1. If a colleague was clearly screaming, I (or any other member of staff) would be able to hear and we would definitely go to the colleague immeadiately. We are trained to do this. It’s a safeguarding measure.
  2. If, for any reason, that didn’t happen, where were the other staff members at the end of the school day? Surely, if they saw a class full of traumatised children and a fellow staff member in obvious distress, they’d be straight in there to take control of the situation and make sure the children and teacher were alright? The school would also ask all students to write an account of what happened.OP’s dd would not be allowed to take a photo. Even if the classroom/corridor was deserted, following an incident like that, the door to the classroom would be locked to prevent the 100s of other students on that corridor from nosying at the scene.
  3. I’ve visited numerous schools and I have never seen a public cover board. How do 800 students fit in to reception every morning, prior to registration, to see if they have cover? What about spur of the moment cover when management/safeguarding leads are pulled out for emergencies (such as a teacher screaming and destroying a metre stick?
  4. Likewise the email doesn’t make sense. Why would anyone, other than the staff involved in arranging cover and HR, need to know why a teacher is ill? What happens when we call in due to a bereavement, or divorce, or miscarriage? Is that in the email or on the board? Or would those situations be classed as “ill”.
  5. I’ve never known a class not rush out of a lesson after the last bell, irrespective of when their bus is due. They want to get out to see their friends and they’d be particularly eager if something like this had happened. Again, I cannot believe other members of staff weren’t around. That’s basic safeguarding.
  6. With regard to such serious incidents, every parent or carer of the pupils involved, would be contacted by school. If it was such an upsetting case the kids would be offered support.
  7. Teachers and TAs, that are also parents, would never discuss an incident such as this with other parents. The risk of their involvement in spreading the story would certainly come out in the ensuing investigation. Then they’d face disceplinary action and probably be suspended during the investigation.
  8. If there are a class full of students, who witness a teacher smashing up equipment and ranting and raving and they go home to their parents, who subsequently contact school, the teacher involved would be suspended pending an investigation. They would not just self cert for 5 days and come back in. Especially if they have MH issues. The school would have to safeguard the teacher AND the students.

I have never known a situation like this. I’m a senior member of staff and I have bipolar, so I’m pretty aware of the processes involved in schools, particularly if the mental health of a staff member is involved. My head reagularly checks in with me to offer support and help prevent an episode.

OP, if this has happened exactly as you have recounted, I urge you to please remove your dd from school immeadiately and report the school to the LA and OFSTEAD. They are failing in their duty to safeguard the students and staff adequately. The children and adults in school are not safe. If no other teachers intervened, they are also neglecting their duty of care. The school is a disgrace. I would never allow my dc to go back in this situation.

EmergencyBanana · 03/07/2018 08:28

I can believe a scenario when a teacher has been cheeked and disrespected by a bunch of teenagers to the point he's had enough and shouts 'the tigers are out!' referring to his unruly class.
I mean, that's as reasonable explanation as any.

Strugglingtodomybest · 03/07/2018 08:32

I gave up Latin because of a teacher like this. Obviously not as bad, he wasn't having a breakdown (although a few other teachers did, mainly in English for some reason), he just shouted a lot and banged things on his desk a lot. I hated it, although I never cried, I just voted my feet. Nowadays, he wouldn't bother me, but I remember what it was like at that age.

OP, I would raise my concerns with the school, I'm surprised he's coming back after only 5 days. Like pp say though, keep it calm and don't over dramatise.

ShatnersWig · 03/07/2018 08:33

I smell bullshit.

Because even when you're 13 you know the difference between a teacher having a shout at the class for pissing around and something properly wrong with someone. There is absolutely no way, when I was 13, we'd have all just sat there and watched what you describe. One of us would have gone and found a senior member of staff, regardless of walking out of the classroom. We just would have.

Juells · 03/07/2018 08:37

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Slartybartfast · 03/07/2018 08:39

if he is ill, he is ill.

let the school deal with it.

no point you getting involved op.

ShatnersWig · 03/07/2018 08:41

I think the OP likes things that cause controversy, as her only other posting is on a thread about gender fluidity,

KarmaStar · 03/07/2018 08:48

What a load of old rubbish.playground drama continued out of the playground by "adult"!

rosesandflowers1 · 03/07/2018 08:49

Cover board is displayed at my DD's school reception too. They don't put the reason why the teacher is off, but they have which room to go to and which teacher they'll be having.

I'd be worried OP. Maybe just call in and mention your DD was very distressed and ask for some clarification? If you've got a photo of a splintered desk I'd at least want to know how that happened.

rosesandflowers1 · 03/07/2018 08:57

Also, do you know for a fact that your daughter took the photo? In that situation I can easily imagine one or two kids that were brazen enough to take a photo that could later share it, over social media or group chats etc., with the class.

I don't think it's ridiculous to say a 13 yo would be frightened to tears by an adult in an position of power/trust, smashing things on tables and screaming delusional statements about tigers. If you imagine how shocking that would be, I don't find it strange at all that nobody got someone; I think that the nastier side of the class would be giggling and Snapchatting, others would be scared and or stunned into silence. They're thirteen!

I agree it seems a bit of a fantastical story, it is based on gossip which would explain, but the fact that your DD is so upset would be enough for me to at least call up.

Mammyloveswine · 03/07/2018 09:03

So OP after ranting and raving about tigers and smashing the ruler what did the teacher do then? I imagine if he stormed out then a classful of year 9s having witnessed that would make a right racket! Enough for another teacher to come in and see what was going on!

I'm sorry but i also call bullshit.

MarthaArthur · 03/07/2018 09:05

Does anyone believe this?
Someone on here clearly believes it becuase I had an email about trollhunting and how I have been doing it through out. Not once did I say op was a troll. I said this story is bullshit and it is as I and others pointed out upthread.

Its funny how the story keeps changing as well. So today is 5 days since it happened and only the night before does op make a post with a fantastical story that changes faster than the gossip.

StepBackNow · 03/07/2018 09:06

troll hunters - just report then bugger off, eh? It's tedious.

ShatnersWig · 03/07/2018 09:07

Martha Thing is, saying something is bullshit or bollocks actually isn't always the same thing as troll hunting. In a case such as this one, the OP could be quite genuine and people are saying that the story their daughter told was bullshit.

MarthaArthur · 03/07/2018 09:09

Shatners I agree. I never said the op isnt a genuine person. Im just saying he or she has made up an actually horrid story that has so many holes. So many fantastical changes and then a title that suggests the teacher did it on purpose.