Teacher breaks up a fight, gets a harsh wake-up call

Gompers Middle School teacher Lance Chapman writes:

I need to preface what I'm about to write with the following: The last month at Gompers has been crazy, but in a good way!  My eighth-graders are making amazing progress, but can still be a handful! They are averaging between proficient and basic on periodic assessments, and I am so excited to see how they perform on the California Standards Test in three weeks!  This is the "final exam" and I want them to experience that feeling of accomplishment after a year of hard work.

But I am obliged to describe what happened recently near my school because it presents the harsh reality that my students face on a daily basis. I in no way intend to generalize for all inner-city schools. Lately, there has been an enormous amount of racial tension at my school. I say lately because it really didn't make itself explicitly known until last week. 

As I was leaving school today, I saw one of my students walking home. Since he was alone, I decided to pull up along the curb and wish him a relaxing weekend. The very moment I parked, a group of six eighth-graders attacked him from behind and started beating him. When I say beat, I'm not just talking punches ... rather kicking, punching, elbowing, all at once. 

Of course, I immediately called security, but I realized that would not serve as immediate assistance. I was watching my student (within 10 feet of me) getting beaten, and for the first time in my life, I had absolutely no clue what to do. I felt horrible, but I've always been told never to split up fights physically, especially off campus (like this one). When they started kicking his head and bashing it against the sidewalk, I could watch no longer. If the other students had been my own, my presence would have been effective, but the fact that they knew I didn't know them fueled their fire to continue.

I am not about to complain about the bruise on my arm, or the few scratches on my neck that were remnants of my pulling the boys off of him. How can I complain when my student could have suffered serious brain damage?  It was a wake-up call for me. I see fights every week at my school, but NEVER like this. In all seriousness, someone could have been killed. 

I plan to follow up with this and obviously get information on those boys who jumped my student.  However, I have seen firsthand yet another element that serves as an immense obstacle to student achievement. 

Comments

[Kate]

That was a very brave and ultimately smart and kind thing to do. Even if the kids who jumped your student feel like they can't be positively identified, they may hesitate before doing something similar again, simply because they know the possibility exists that an adult will stop them. That's how cowards operate.

Plus, for your students, it's one thing to say you care about them and their safety, but you've SHOWN you do. That means a lot.

[Jason]

If more people did the right thing, which is what you did, terrible things like this would happen less often. Bravo! You have set an excellent example.

[Chris Jimenez]

Racial tension at Gompers is nothing new. I remember once when I was in 7th grade, Principal Love had to physically brake up a fight between a group of Latino and Black kids. I don't really remember whether or not the people fighting were even students at Gompers- they were more likely students from Locke. It's shame to see that the violence in that area has gotten worse, not better. You did the right thing, I doubt many of the teachers I had at that school would have done the same for me.

[william]

Lance, what were the groups involved? Maybe the fight was an assault.

[Jamie Brown]

I taught at both Gompers and Markham (for those that don't know, its like down the street relatively) and I know about the tension you speak of.

You did a great thing. And I agree with the above poster. You've shown your students when you say you care about them, you MEAN it.

Sometimes rules have to be stretched in order to operate in reality. The sooner we get more teachers like you, the better.

Man I wish you were there when I was - it would have been awesome to meet you!

Keep the faith and keep making a difference!

-JK Brown