Wouldn't you just love to be a teacher today?

April 26, 2008
Take a look at this video (which is circulating the Internet right now), then read what one person had to say about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9FF3LQlhBs

Response 4/25/08 from a retired middle school principal to 'WHY all kids should tuck in their shirts! A MUST SEE TO BELIEVE!'

[Click images to enlarge]

Kathie,

The guy in the video is actually a federal agent and has a lot of experience with this kind of stuff. 99.99% of all people couldn't pull this off. Thank goodness! I carry a weapon and I assure you that it's much more complicated than this video makes it appear. Sometimes packing a single handgun can be challenging, and create problems, and when I used to carry two it was even more complicated. I only carry one these days because I figure if I can't take care of business with one I shouldn't be packing any.

It requires special clothing and gear to pack this much heat on an individual. The weight of the weapons he is unloading are about an additional 20 pounds pulling on clothing and his body. This is more than the weight of a bowling ball.

On the other hand this is why I NEVER allowed students to wear trench coats of any kind to school. I required all male students to wear belts to hold up their pants. I never allowed students to carry or wear jackets or coats during school and in classrooms. I also banned book bags and cell phones to the consternation of parents and students and this was back in the 1990's. They could have them in their hall lockers but not carry them to class. Why? My momma didn't raise any fool and I knew what to look for. Unfortunately 98% of all school principals and teachers aren't well educated in these matters. I had a kid wearing a jacket in a class one day and he was carrying a handgun in the pocket. I took care of it and he was arrested and sentenced to six months in the Ohio Youth Commission. That was the only gun incident I encountered in all of my years and it sent a very strong message. The message? Mr. (xxx)'s watching you and you bring that shit in my building you're mine!! Have a great day!

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More.....

I was a middle school principal in my last job before official retirement and served a grades 7-9 building. The ninth graders were considered high school as they received credits toward graduation. I have worked with children in grades 1-5 for the past eight years FYI. I removed a large kitchen knife from a second grader's book bag last week. I met with his mother and gave it to her as it was one of her kitchen knives. She took care of business so I didn't take it any further. He couldn't tell us why he had it. I asked him if he had been threatened, etc. and he said, "no!" Sheesh!

We have a little girl and her and her sister were robbed on a school playground two weeks ago. It was on the evening news in (xxx) and they interviewed the girls ages 7 & 9. The boy who robbed them was middle school age and is sitting in JDC right now. He stole $12.00 from them and physically threatened them.

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And more (I missed this earlier)........

Boys were always required to tuck in shirts, wear belts, no coats, no jackets in classes, no cell phones (some use them to make drug deals during school hours), no book bags taken to classes, no trench coats, pants had to be pulled up to the waist, girls couldn't have long straight objects holding up hair, etc. I was walking down the hall one morning and I observed a girl with a shiny straight object holding up her hair. I walked up and pulled it out and her hair fell down and she was ticked. Why? It was a long steel darning needle and she had sharpened it razor sharp on the point. It was a weapon and the juvenile officer and detective agreed with me. We filed charges against her. Her mother objected and we laid the 10" needle out and showed her the filed point. She got an attorney and they lost in court! I have confiscated long handle combs that were ground to a point on the end and the teeth in the comb part were removed to make them weapons. I have confiscated small spray bottles from girls that were filled with bleach, chlorine, a mixture of water and cayenne pepper (homemade pepper spray), etc. I have confiscated "one hit" pipes, ceramic cigarettes that looked like regular cigs except packed with "happy weed," and much more. I have confiscated cigars that were hollowed out and were packed with hash or crack and much more.

Oh! They hollow out the insoles of athletic shoes and stash drugs in them and cover the drugs with the flap of material in the sole of the shoe. They hide cigs on top of the toilet paper dispensers in contained toilet paper dispensers. They will use false ceilings to hide cigs, drugs, and all kinds of contraband. In restrooms with drop ceilings you look for shoe prints on the toilet seats as this indicates they're standing on the toilet seats to hide their stashes above. Music instrument cases are another good place to conceal all kinds of things as you are well aware. I used to make a point of taking drug sniffing dogs into the music rooms and instrument storage areas.

A training film? Most already think they know it all. That is until they find themselves in the middle of one of these nightmares and then they stand with their thumbs up their rear ends, look stupid on camera, and wonder what in the hell happened. When I have spoken to many of these guys and gals they are suffering from extreme "feelings of adequacy" most of the time, so they aren't very receptive to being told they don't know their you know what's from a hole in the ground. You know what I'm talking about?

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Still more..........

Like I said there are a large number of administrators out there who don't even have a clue. A quality administrator has to stay on top of everything happening in the building. Most of the time you can smell trouble before it happens. There are normally warning signs if you're paying attention and staying alert to the kids and their body language, behaviors in the halls and unstructured settings, etc. A good principal can walk down the hall and just listen to conversations and you'll hear all kinds of things. Many spend their time flitting through the halls trying to be social all of the time. I was polite but spent a lot of time just listening to kids and staff. Others don't spend enough time in the halls or around the kids during arrival and dismissal. Teachers would often see and hear things they thought were just innocent conversation and these events can tip you off to more serious problems. Many a teacher put me on to more serious problems that were nipped before they could escalate into serious stuff. You do less talking and more listening and you remain proactive at all times (kind of like our OEA STRS Board should have been doing during the past 12 years). It's better to stop a problem before it really gets started than playing firefighter following a major incident.