Latest news with #teacherassault
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
South Korean teacher left with broken ribs after baseball bat attack in class
South Korean teachers' unions have called for stronger legal protections and harsher penalties after a shocking assault in which a middle school student in Suwon attacked a teacher with a baseball bat, fracturing the man's ribs during class. The Gyeonggi Teachers' Union issued a statement on Wednesday, denouncing the incident as evidence that 'teacher authority has collapsed beyond repair'. The union said it was especially alarming that the assault took place just five days after the teacher started at the school, and that it was sparked not by ongoing conflict but by dissatisfaction with a teaching method. The incident occurred on May 30 at a middle school in Suwon, when a student attacked a male teacher in his 50s with a baseball bat, saying he was dissatisfied with the way the class was being conducted. The teacher, who suffered broken ribs and other injuries, is currently receiving medical treatment. 'The fact that a student used a baseball bat to attack a teacher shows that schools are no longer safe for educators,' the union said, urging immediate action. The union outlined a list of demands, including urgent medical and psychological support for the victim, a thorough investigation into the incident and the introduction of a school police officer system. It also called for legislation to impose tougher penalties for violence against teachers, similar to laws protecting medical personnel.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Hulking schoolboy who left female teacher unconscious in a pool of her own blood in horrific attack after being asked to change separately from other pupils avoids prison
A schoolboy with ADHD who slammed his teacher onto the concrete ground and left her in a pool blood has avoided prison. Carol Shaw was subjected to a savage attack by Kieran Matthew, 17, that left her unconscious in a pool blood after she asked him to change separately from other pupils. Shortly after carrying out the vicious assault on March 22 2024 at St Paul's Academy in Dundee, the teenager put his feet up on another teacher's desk and said: 'The stupid cow deserved it.' Matthew, from Dundee, now aged 18, has been handed a community sentence and ordered on a 'Mentoring for Men' course. The court heard Ms Shaw had been left 'permanently disfigured' with a 'significant scar' and was too traumatised to return to work. It comes as she had 'dedicated her life to vulnerable school children like [Matthew].' Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith added: 'It is difficult to imagine a more serious assault, having regard to the consequences of your attack for Ms Shaw. 'It is not over-egging the pudding or exaggerating to say your attack has affected her life in every aspect. She is permanently disfigured. Photos show an extensive, significant scar on her head. 'Until her promotion, she was the safe person for you to seek sanctuary with if you felt overwhelmed. She has dedicated her life to vulnerable school children such as you. 'You have robbed her of her career as she has been unable to go back to school due to panic attacks, nightmares and night terrors as a result of this assault.' He told Matthew the offence merited 18 months in custody, but said it would be reduced for an early guilty plea. He said it would then fall within the sentencing rules on avoiding short-term sentences [under 12 months] for first offenders if an alternative is available. Matthew has also been placed under social work supervision for three years and ordered to attend Mentoring for Men and Designer Skills courses including anger management. And he has been placed on a Restriction of Liberty Order for 12 months from 9pm to 7am each night. Dundee Sheriff Court heard how Matthew, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] and an 'extremely low' IQ range between 47 and 59, admitted attacking and injuring the teacher. The horrific assault took place after the pupil, who was in S5 at the Dundee school, refused to get changed separately from other pupils before a PE class. This measure - agreed by Matthew, his foster mum and the school - had been put in place because of previous aggression towards other children. Fiscal depute Laura Bruce said Matthew was described as a 'couple of years behind' in his development and was educated outside mainstream classes. On the afternoon in question, six foot tall Matthew was said to have been 'agitated and heightened' over the pre-PE changing. Ms Shaw had been deemed a 'safe' person for him and had previously succeeded in de-escalating volatile incidents. She took the decision to have two other teachers and pupils placed in a locked classroom away from Matthew, who sat with his head down at a table. Mrs Bruce said: 'The accused then realised they had gone to the ICT class and moved towards the door and said "I'm f*****g going in there too'. 'He tried to exit to the corridor where Ms Shaw had her back to him. 'She recalls him gripping her in a rugby-style grip with her arms pinned to her sides and the next thing she felt was the horrific impact of her head striking the floor.' The court heard the teacher blacked out momentarily but regained consciousness and made a bloody handprint on the wall as she tried to get to her feet. Staff came to her aid after she screamed for help while bleeding profusely. 'She was blinded by her own blood, which covered her face and top with a large amount of blood seen on the floor,' Mrs Bruce said. 'Another teacher had witnessed the accused lift her completely off her feet, throwing her to the floor deliberately and landing headfirst. 'Another said she appeared to be like a ragdoll flying through the air. 'The accused sat at a teacher's desk, with his feet on the desk and using his mobile phone. 'He told a teacher "Sir, it wasn't an outburst of anger. She deserved it".' During a phone call to tell someone he hit a teacher, Matthew again said 'she deserved it'. He later banged on the desk and said: 'The stupid cow deserved it.' A colleague took the injured teacher to Ninewells Hospital because of an expected 20-minute wait for an ambulance. She was given ten stitches and had to return for a CT scan because she was confused and unable to finish sentences. The woman was diagnosed with concussion and plastic surgeon Dr Ketki Kaushal said the assault could have been life-threatening. After being cautioned and charged, Matthew, of Dundee, replied: 'I am sorry..' He pled guilty to seizing the teacher's neck and body, throwing her to the floor, causing her to strike her head and be rendered unconscious. He admitted the assault was to her severe injury, permanent disfigurement and the danger of her life. Solicitor Theo Finlay, defending, said Matthew had moved to foster care as a young child after being subjected to abuse in his biological family home. Mr Finlay said: 'He has had longstanding issues managing his emotions. It is likely he was already in a heightened condition. He experiences nightmares and requires to be medicated. 'That is attributed to childhood abuse. He needs prompts to eat and struggles in noisy or busy environments. He was not being allowed into the changing room and had feelings of unfairness. 'He described becoming agitated. The teacher moved others away, which made him feel more agitated and singled out. At school he felt intensely disliked and frequently provoked by his peers.'
BBC News
3 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Pupil threw teacher to ground 'like a rag doll'
A pupil who seriously injured a teacher by picking her up and slamming her head-first onto a concrete floor has been given a community Matthew, 18, left the woman unconscious in a pool of blood after throwing her to the floor "like a rag doll" at St Paul's Academy in Dundee in March last year.A court heard Matthew put his feet up on the teacher's desk following the attack and said: "The stupid cow deserved it." He was placed under social work supervision for three years, ordered to attend a mentoring course including anger management, and placed on a one-year curfew. The court heard the teacher had been left with an "extensive, significant scar" on her head as a result of the Tim Niven-Smith said: "She has dedicated her life to vulnerable school children such as you."You have robbed her of her career as she has been unable to go back to school due to panic attacks, nightmares and night terrors as a result of this assault."He told Matthew the offence merited 18 months in custody, but said it would be reduced for an early guilty plea. He said it would then fall within the sentencing rules on avoiding short-term sentences of under 12 months for first offenders if an alternative is available. A history of aggression Matthew, who has ADHD and an "extremely low" IQ range between 47 and 59, admitted attacking and injuring the Sheriff Court was told Matthew had refused to get changed separately from other pupils before a PE measure had been put in place because of previous aggression towards other depute Laura Bruce said Matthew was "agitated and heightened" over the pre-PE teacher was deemed to be a "safe" person for him and had previously succeeded in de-escalating volatile took the decision to have two other teachers and pupils placed in a locked classroom away from Matthew, who sat with his head down at a then tried to leave the room, where the teacher had her back to Bruce said: "She recalls him gripping her in a rugby-style grip with her arms pinned to her sides and the next thing she felt was the horrific impact of her head striking the floor." The court heard the teacher blacked out momentarily but regained consciousness and made a bloody handprint on the wall as she tried to get to her came to her aid after she screamed for help while bleeding Bruce said: "Another teacher had witnessed the accused lift her completely off her feet, throwing her to the floor deliberately and landing headfirst."Another said she appeared to be like a ragdoll flying through the air."The court heard Matthew then sat at the teacher's desk and repeatedly said the teacher had "deserved it."He later banged on the desk and said: "The stupid cow deserved it."He pled guilty to seizing the teacher's neck and body, throwing her to the floor, causing her to strike her head and be rendered admitted the assault was to her severe injury, permanent disfigurement and the danger of her Theo Finlay, defending, said: "He has had longstanding issues managing his emotions. "It is likely he was already in a heightened condition. He experiences nightmares and requires to be medicated."He described becoming agitated. "The teacher moved others away, which made him feel more agitated and singled out. At school he felt intensely disliked and frequently provoked by his peers."
South China Morning Post
28-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
South Korean teacher kicked by third-grader highlights rise in classroom violence
A troubling incident in South Korea , where a third-grade student kicked a teacher after being corrected on a wrong answer, has sparked a debate about the increasing assaults on educators nationwide, highlighting growing concerns about teacher safety in schools. On Tuesday, authorities reported that a student in Gyeonggi province, who had a history of difficulty accepting mistakes, began yelling and kicking when informed that their answer was incorrect. In South Korea, students in the third grade are typically between eight and nine years old. Even after a substitute teacher replaced the original teacher, the student continued to disrupt the class and allegedly threatened the new teacher as well, The Korea Times newspaper reported. Following the incident on May 9, the school principal granted the teacher five days off and proposed a meeting with the parents, which the teacher rejected, viewing it as a coercive attempt to resolve the issue. The teacher also refused a written apology from both the student and their parents. This lack of separation and healing, combined with the expectation that teachers deal with complaints, amounts to secondary victimisation Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union statement The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union criticised the principal's response as inadequate, accusing the school of failing to protect the teacher and instead pressuring them to meet the student's family.
The Sun
26-05-2025
- The Sun
I was THROTTLED by boy, 14, in front of my class – but was hauled in front of jobsworth school bosses who disciplined ME
A TEACHER was disciplined by jobsworth school bosses after refusing to teach a pupil who throttled her in front of her class, she claims. Mum Laura Linklater was so traumatised by the incident in Bradford, West Yorkshire, she quit her job and now homeschools her own two kids. 3 The 40-year-old said her teacher training did not 'prepare me to handle' such a physical assault, which had left her ' shaking '. To make matters worse, she said the following week the pupil arrived in her class for morning registration without any prewarning from school bosses. While teaching the Year 10 class, Laura said one pupil suddenly became aggressive. She told The Sun: 'He was really tall, really big and very angry. 'He came into my class one day barging tables and chairs, so I told him to tone it down. 'Suddenly, he had me up against the classroom wall by my throat.' Laura described how a Sixth Form student 'boffed' the pupil to get him off and another rang the alarm before he was taken away by a PCSO. 'I was left shaking,' she said. She went on to say: 'I was only told he'd been 'dealt with', before he turned up to my registration class next Monday, without a call or even an email from the school warning me. "I refused to teach the student. I didn't blame him; but I refused to have my aggressor in my classroom.' Boy, 7, in school 'knife attack' bid In a subsequent meeting with a superior, she claims she was told 'it's your job' to teach the teenager, and so she threatened to quit. 'He (a superior staff member) found this shocking, and I got in trouble for refusing to teach my attacker.' She added: 'I was having to fight for my basic right to not have aggressors in my classroom.' Laura said after the meeting: 'I held my tears in long enough to find a classroom to cry in.' After the meeting, a senior colleague found Laura crying and 'fought my corner so I didn't have to teach the student anymore', she explained. 'But that was only because of the exceptional kindness of this individual.' Months after the incident in late 2012 she left her job, describing the incident as 'the last straw'. Laura added: "My decision to home-school my kids was heavily influenced by my time as a teacher. "You'd be stunned by the number of home educators who are teachers - who've seen the system from the inside out and don't want their kids to go through it." I held my tears in long enough to find a classroom to cry in. Laura Linklaterformer teacher A survey last month by the NASUWT teachers' union shows that Laura's experience is shockingly common in the profession. It showed that two fifths of school teachers have experienced physical abuse or violence by pupils in the last 12 months. In detail, 20% of the survey's 5,800 respondents said they had experienced being hit or punched by pupils in the last year, while 38% said they had been shoved or barged. The results also suggested that such abuse is set to get worse, with a staggering 81% of teachers believing the number of pupils showing violent and abusive behaviours had increased. Thankfully, Laura had received basic self defence training while doing a previous job at PREVENT, working with young offenders. She fears without this previous training, she would not have been able to keep her attacker away until he was removed. Laura explained: 'My PGCE training did not prepare me to handle kids who towered over me. 'I was given one day of theory-based Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) lectures. 'You come out of it blinking in the sun, with no idea what you're doing.' By Kate Kulniece A MUM has revealed she's been referred to the police after her teenage daughter missed a few days of school due to being ill. Mum Sara Louise took to TikTok to rant after being notified that the authorities would be coming to do a welfare check on her child, who is in Year 10. The furious mum explained that her daughter has ''some additional needs'' - which Sara felt like were ''not met by the school ''. In the video, Sara said that before the incident, her daughter had been off for three weeks on a different occasion ''because she was unwell'' - and that time, there was allegedly no mention of a welfare check. ''I only had phone calls to check in and see if she was okay. Some of them I didn't even answer,'' Sara said in a recent clip on TikTok. The outraged mum went on: ''This term, she's been off for 11 days and they've rung me twice in the 11 days. ''And today, when I answered the phone call, she asked me if she could come out and do a welfare check - and I kindly declined. ''I said 'No, I don't want you to come to my house','' Sara said, adding that her teenager was ''absolutely fine'' and didn't ''want any interaction with the school''. Under the Education (Penalty Notices) Regulations, schools usually consider a welfare check when a child has missed 10 school sessions (equivalent to 5 days) of unauthorised absences within a rolling 10-week period. Schools may conduct a welfare check sooner if they have concerns about a child's wellbeing, even if the absence is shorter. Before a home visit, schools will usually try to contact the parents first to understand the reason for the absence. ''I'm fuming. Because I have now declined, they're telling me that they have a duty of care - which is fine - and safeguarding and all the rest of it, to come out and do this check.'' Sara, who is in the process of moving her daughter to another school, noted that getting the police involved felt as if she was ''hiding'' and ''abusing'' the child. ''I know they haven't said that - but the way that comes across is, like, sinister.'' Despite the school notifying Sara, the mum said there was no chance she was going to the child's school to let them know the daughter was fine ''when she's fine''. ''And there's not a cat in hell's chance that they're coming to my house to see that she's fine.'' The furious mother, who insisted the school had never given ''a s**t'' about her daughter, knew there'd be backlash after posting the clip - but said she didn't ''give a crap''. If the authorities do show up, Sara said she'd be having the conversation with the police from her camera. ''This is what you get for doing what's right for your kid.'' Despite the incredibly high rate of pupil assaults, no mandatory training exists for teachers to deal with violent assault, sexual harassment or sexual assault from pupils. Jennifer Moses, National Official For Equalities and Training at the NASUWT explained: 'Schools are only obligated and trained to deal with pupil-on-pupil or staff-on-pupil violence and sexual harassment - mainly as a safeguarding issue through the Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) statutory guidance. 'Schools should have something in their anti-bullying policies or staff handbooks that addresses violence and harassment from pupils, but this is not nationally addressed. "There may be schools that provide this specific training, but I would guess it is very limited, and I am not aware of any such schools.' In a situation where teachers' protection is largely left to individual schools, many educators do not feel they are amply supported by their employers. The 2023 NASUWT Behaviour in Schools Report showed that just 55% of teachers reported behavioural incidents to their manager within their school or college. Of those who did not report such behaviours, 36% felt their capability would be called into question as a result. In March, another NASUWT survey showed that nearly half (49%) of female teachers had experienced physical abuse or violence from pupils in the previous 12 months, compared to 36% of male respondents. More than double the number of female teachers said they had been hit or punched by pupils (36%) compared to their male counterparts (13%). This kind of violence is often embedded in misogyny, and is not restricted to teenage students. 'Amy', a former primary school teacher in London who has chosen to remain anonymous, told of an encounter where she was attacked by a schoolboy with a pair of scissors. She said: 'I was teaching a year 3 class, and a 7-year-old boy was acting disruptively. 'This boy refused to take any authority from women, and frequently called me a 'black b****'. 'He kept telling me: 'I'm going to hit you, I'm going to hit you.' 'Then he pulled out a pair of scissors and attacked me with them. 'It was only because we had a teaching assistant present at that moment, the pair of us were able to restrain him. 'I'm only 5'2' and this boy was incredibly strong. 'Had the TA not been there, this boy could have run out of the school gates with these scissors.' This boy refused to take any authority from women, and frequently called me a 'black b****'. 'Amy'former teacher Training and support for this teacher were, again, worryingly absent in the aftermath of this attack. 'I had absolutely no training for these kinds of incidents,' Amy said. 'After the attack, the teaching assistant asked if I was OK, but there was no support offered to me beyond a timeout. 'The lack of help was so normalised that it's only now that I realise I should have been better protected by the school. 'The only feedback I received was the mother of the child on the phone having a right go at me. 'There's no way I would ever go back into teaching of any form because of my experiences - I don't want to be in those environments. 'I don't know how to keep myself safe.' Pupils armed with weapons The April NASUWT survey showed teachers reporting attacks from pupils with more than just classroom scissors - using weapons such as knives and fire extinguishers. Again this is not limited to secondary schools, as Amy recalls a year 6 student bringing a knife to school while she was teaching. Many teachers feel that while the behaviour of pupils is getting worse, the tools and deterrents they have available to them to maintain order in classrooms are becoming increasingly scarce. "We can't use language like ' consequences ', or anything with the negative connotations in the classrooms nowadays,' said another a former primary school teacher from Inverness - who we have named 'Sandra'. She added: 'When I started teaching, you could take designated playtime away called 'golden time' as a consequence for not following the rules. 'Now there's not a chance you could have that kind of system in place - you can't have anything where you are seen to be punishing or shaming, because that could cause trauma. 'When there's no sanctions, when everything has to be positive the whole time, there's no way of managing the class. 'One of the things that schools did have for really bad behaviour situations or children that were repeated offenders, is that they could exclude them for a few days or a week. 'But now, schools are reluctant to exclude kids - because from the top down, they were instructed to reduce the total number of exclusions.' Susan found the consequences of this toothless sanction system were increasingly frequent incidents of classroom violence. She said: 'I experienced a range of behaviours from verbal to physical abuse. 'This included being physically pushed, kicked or spat at. 'I've been in situations where I've had to evacuate the class to a safe space away from a child having a meltdown.' 'It didn't matter what stage of school you taught at, you could still be assaulted. 'It was scary, even if they were little, because there's so much anger there, and because you're wary that as a grown up you don't want to come across as if you've given too much force, because you could then be liable for assault. 'Students wouldn't have to apologise for an attack on a teacher, especially if they have an additional support need.' In 2024, 40.5% of all pupils in Scotland had an additional support need (ASN) - which has more than quadrupled since 2010, when 9.7% of students were deemed to have an ASN. 'As soon as a child has an additional support need, it's like you can't separate that need from behaviour,' Susan explained. She added: 'I believe we've got a proportion of children who are diagnosed with having an additional support need, when they have a behaviour issue.' Susan also noticed a rise in misogynistic comments even amongst her primary-age pupils. A study for the children's commissioner for England in 2023 found that a quarter of 16-25 year olds in the UK had first seen pornography while in primary school, leading to a normalisation of derogatory behaviours towards women by young men in schools. 'There's a lot more primary school children making inappropriate comments against teachers - it was comments about how I looked and what I was wearing. 'I definitely think, you know, part of that problem is because of the rise in social media and children having access to devices much younger.' 'There's a dislike for females and it's obviously derived a lot from Andrew Tate -type people online.' Susan quit teaching just before the start of COVID to start a tutoring service, as she felt that as a regular teacher she was spending far more time managing behaviour than actually teaching any content. 'I love tutoring because I'm actually able to teach,' she told us. 'I felt a lot of the time in the classroom that I was fire fighting or implementing crowd control, as opposed to actually teaching. 'Teachers nowadays do much more pastoral care than actual teaching. 'We're the front line for everything, but we're also the first person that gets shot when something doesn't go right. 'I hear from my ex-colleagues who are still teaching that post COVID, it's got much, much worse. 'The demands on teachers have massively gone up, but the funding and support hasn't - if anything, they've been dramatically cut.' The Sun has approached Laura's former school for comment. 3
