My child was hit by a pen, thrown by a teacher

[Tiredallthetimelaura]

So my daughter who is in year 8 was in a lesson when her teacher 'cold called' her a question. My daughter responded she didn't know the answer and the teacher then threw a highlighter pen at her, hitting her on the arm. The teacher then did it again to another student, also hitting them on the arm. We have reached level 2 of a complaint, but it's always investigated by management within the academy. The school keep down playing what happened and not investigating what we ask. This teacher is still teaching, although my daughter isn't going in on the day of that lesson, which is greatly affecting her attendance. The school said they would move my daughter so she could do a different lesson (double Maths or double English), but we said no! This feels like a punishment to our daughter. She wants to do that lesson, just not with that teacher... and we agree.
Any advice on what/how the school legally should be handling this? Happy to answer any further questions Xx

What? People are always attacking teachers on here.

Agree, complete overreaction to something the vast majority of students would just laugh off (I remember my maths teacher hitting me round the head with my maths book when I was dozing off in class, I laughed and kept awake the rest of the lesson). A simple request to the school that no more pens are thrown is enough.

Was it Ian? If I recall correctly?

Oh don't remind me, that was a different bonkers one! 😂

Highlighter, board-rubber, medicine ball (That one really was a thing!) doesn't matter.

It's utterly disrespectful to throw stuff at people when you are not happy with their behaviour. It's demeaning if you're a student, as you are unable to complain or throw it back.

You are right to pursue this: The teacher needs to be made aware and accept that this is inappropriate and the school need to be confident that she is capable of teaching without throwing items at kids who do not meet her standards.

I feel that your DD is in no immediate danger from this teacher, so she should return to her music class while you continue to ensure that the school have done some form of redress and redirection of this teacher's behaviour.

This ridiculous woman is the reason why teachers are leaving in droves

My first reaction was that it's not a big deal. A highlighter hitting your arm won't hurt much. But then I imagined someone doing that to me at school and realised if it's not acceptable for adults, it's not acceptable for children.

Out teachers used to do this in 2007. Balls of paper though. Quickfire round of questions, anyone getting one wrong gets pelted with paper balls. It's just a bloody game. Christ, why are this generation so fragile?

There are thousands of rules in schools which wouldn’t be acceptable in a workplace but acceptable in school. I can’t imagine my work putting me in detention for example.

No wonder kids these days can't cope when someone tells them they can't dress up a cat.

For throwing an object at my child? I would like some sort of HR consequences the same as would happen to me if I threw a something, on purpose, at a member of my team in the office. I would fully expect someone to complain about me for that sort of behaviour and for HR to come down hard on me as it is clearly unacceptable, as it should be in a school.

It’s only a game if people know they’re playing and they know the rules. That doesn’t seem to be case here.

We live in a world where teenagers are HUMILIATED and their parents humiliated on their behalf if there's ever a mention of a bad mark or a teen is put on the spot when they don't know an answer when they should have studied. Imagine being raised in that environment.

The damage these parents do to their kids is depressing.

Which is why I suggested that she wasn't paying attention - hence the face in her hand when supposed to answering a question. She'll know to sit up and listen in future.

I can assure you if I started hitting my team at work with highlighters when they did something wrong they would be at HR in a shot, it’s nothing to do with ‘this generation’.

thank god you don't work in my office, and we don't have to waste time and energy dealing with people who refuse to accept the difference between violence and bullying, and a complete non-event.

This. I remember it well in primary!

I remember this too. I think OP has completely (intentionally) twisted and misinterpreted the events. Her DD must be dying inside at the embarrassment of what her mother is doing. In my day, you tried to catch paper ball/duck the chalk missile so that you ‘beat’ the teacher.

Nobody’s suggesting it happens at work. We’re talking about school here where it’s happened for decades to nobody’s detriment.

Exactly. Particularly if she's a sensitive child. Mum making a huge fuss is totally cringe. Explains her missing a whole day of school every week.

You were lucky. At my primary, one teacher would pick up the child and throw them across the room. I wish I was joking.

I’m surprised at the replies on here as to me it’s not that she threw a pen, more that she displays a lack of self control that means that to her throwing things at children is acceptable. My child has a TA like this .
Over time I’ve known her to break lego models in temper, tear work in front of a child, and yes throw balls of paper or shout in rage. Each time I’ve complained (and I’ve had various children through the school) the school have taken exactly the same stance, the ‘recollections may vary’ type of approach.
I know that complaints to the school are useless.
Although when I learned that this member of staff was one of the leads on a school residential, (this is primary), we opted out as the trust that she can keep children safe just isn’t there.
Yes this sort of stuff happened in the 80s and 90s, but surely we should have evolved to less violent methods of control by now?

Yeah thank god I don’t, I don’t want someone hitting me with pens as a ‘joke’. And FYI something is only a joke if the person it is aimed at finds it funny, if they don’t then it is bullying but you sound too thick to comprehend that.

No, but you wouldn't do the kind of thing that would lead to detention at work either because you'd be sacked.
Giving a wrong answer to a question in a meeting is something you could do.

Or… it wasn’t actually a game. Teachers do sometimes do crappy things.