Brad:
The problem today is that a kid cannot even be sent to the principal’s office without parental complaint. If no discipline is allowed, situations escalate to the point where only a large-scale threat may have any impact.
That seeems to be the urban myth; I would question its literal truyth, both in the public schools and the private schools. And given this is a nun, I would guess that it was a private school, which has traditionally had a more structured and direct approach to discipline. Neither of us have enough facts to judge whether or not this school has little or no discipline, so I would gess that there are standard disciplinary proceedures in place rather than little or none.
{QUOTE=Brad]I know of a school many years ago where large boys were literally put up against the wall and threatened. It didn’t take too many times of this before the kids stopped.
What we have today is no discipline - and we wonder why there are guns in school.
All it takes is one threat from an elderly sister and the whole school is afraid to get out of line - is that a bad thing? Instead we arrest the law-keeper and give free reign to the law breakers.
There are threats and then there are threats. The kid was on the wrong stairs. She threatened to knock his teeth out. The threat is a bullying threat; if she had threatened him with a trip to the principal;s office, I would say that she was right on. She has no business threatening to knock someone’s teeth out. She appears, but the facts stated, to be out of control.
Again, the facts seem to indicate that she is looking at criminal charges (although it could be a lawsuit in civil court for harrassment); all of which would seem to indicate that there is more to this story than meets the eye. It takes a bit to get the D.A. to take action; it is expensive to hire an attorney for a civil case. I strongly suspect that this is not a first incident, and that there may be more to the incident than we are being told.
Further more, if you wish to get respect, you show respect. That doesn’t mean, in any way, shape, or form that you let kids run hog wild, or that you don’t correct them. what she said I do not take as a joke, and she very plainly showed no respect.
We had a nun in high school who probably made 5 feet, and maybe 5’2". She must have had artheritis in her knees, as she walked with a noticeable sway from side to side. Not what you would call a threat. I saw her sever times wade right into the middle of a scuffle between juniors and seniors who stood 6" to 6"4" and probably weighed twice, if not more than she. She would grab the combatants by the chest of their shirts and bring it to a screeching halt. Everyone respected her, (and teased her), and she respected everyone. And she took absolutely no sass. She didn’t have to threaten a “knuckle sandwich”.