School employee on leave after allegedly hitting students with belt
SEATTLE -- An employee at a Seattle private school has been placed on administrative leave after allegedly hitting two students with his belt during a before-school program last Wednesday.
According to the Seattle Police Department's report for the incident, two St. Therese School students were roughhousing, throwing pencils and ignoring the morning program supervisor's requests to knock it off.
The supervisor, who was filling in for the regular morning program staff member, took off his belt and hit both students in the buttocks, according to the report.
Police were called to the school, and the employee was sent home. Both students remained in class.
Officers were only able to reach the parent of one of the students. She said she wanted to handle the incident with the school and not pursue any charges, according to the report.
Principal Theresa Hagemann said the employee was immediately put on administrative leave following the incident.
When I was a kid, we knew to respect adults, which meant listening to them. Not making a ruckus and ignoring them. Kudos to all you out there who deal with the youth of today!
Thank you "MHunt" and "contraryjim". Finally some comments that make sense. I thought I was in Bizarro World where everyone thinks it is ok to use a belt to solve a problem. I am around kids a lot and find them to be pleasant and respectful. And the ones who aren't.....just watch their parents. They usually aren't either.
I have to say, let some one, anyone other then my husband or I lay a hand on my children and they WILL regret it. However, let me find out either of my children have the nerve to act as stupid as this for any adult while away from my supervision and they will be praying to god that this was the least of the punishment they received by the time I was through!! I'm not saying I would beat them black and blue with a belt, I don't believe in beating a child into submission. There are much more creative ways to make a child miserable while being an attentive and caring, involved (devious!) parent!
If teachers are not allowed to deal with discipline problems the is no hope. The substitute teacher should have had sufficient respect of the students, not to have resorted to the belt. In a private school the discipline policy needs to acceptable to teachers and parents. IMO, the little snots should be sent home and not allowed back without apology & promise not to repeat the offense. The parents should also be charged a fee foe the hassle.
Damned upside-down universe we live in now. When I was that age, we didn't diss on our teachers, because we KNEW that it would result in a swat, if not two if you were a real smart-azz. They didn't take any crap from little thugs like is the norm today. What the hell has happened to teaching the life lesson desperately needed here? That little lesson titled, "Your actions have consequences." It was replaced by the lesson telling them to transfer all your guilt to someone else. No wonder our society has steadily been turning into a steaming pile of bovine feces.
 @Bornhere Back in 1974 I was lucky to go a week without getting a sore arse. I had one teacher who had a especially large wooden paddle with holes in it that seemed to have a homing device tuned to find my butt. And yet I turned out alright? Imagine that. Haven't spent a day in jail in my life.
 @Bornhere we don't duck under the table fearing the Russians are coming anymore. They are already here. There have been many changes, some good and some bad over the years
 @BuddyHolly A close look at what is happening with Russia right now would warrant a refresher on the table ducking.
"Both students remained in class."
Awwww isn't that nice!
Both students should have been sent home with their parents, and since the police couldn't get a hold of one of the parents raises another issue. Parents need to be available at all times to come pick up their kids, whether it's for an emergency or because they were sent home for disruptive behavior. It's not the schools responsibility to punish children now a days because of all the PC views in this country. Your kids act a fool, then come and get them and enjoy your disruption from your job.
I like your last sentence. And that should be the consequence. I do not want to be hit with a belt and I don't  want my kids hit with a belt either.Â
They took all discipline out of the school. They replaced it with drugs for boys. Look how great itâs worked. School shootings and a huge failure rate. So what do we blame? MONEY! They just donât have enough money.
In a private school setting, this is what will happen. The Principal will blame the board. The board will blame the Principal. The parents will be accused of not having strong enough faith in God to handle the situation. Nothing will change.Â
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In a public school, this is what would happen. The parent would sue. The union would back the teacher. Other teachers would get upset and turn on the family. Nothing would happen.
So, the adult school employee has to go home but these little juvenile delinquent punk school kids stay in school.
Our schools systems are DOOMED for failure if this is how school business is conducted. These kids can do anything they want and no disciplinary action can be taken. You don't want me as your principal then........all HELL would break loose!!!
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This is what is wrong with the school system. These puncks needed a realy good paddling and they sent the teacher home.....
Back in the day, it was called a "significant emotional event." Now days it is called assault, go figure.
The one parent has already declined to press charges. Maybe she thinks her brat deserved it and will support the teacher. Maybe she's going to sue the school. Who knows...
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It's a tough situation because the teacher is screwed even though the boys probably deserved it.
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Interestingly enough, corporal punishment is not banned from private schools in Washington. Â Â
 @lakeview This could be a scholarship kid
 @lakeview Actually it is covered under regular state law and always has been. You can't hit someone and certainly not a child without a good chance of getting a charge of assault. It will be up to the parents to have the prosecutor file charges. Problem kids should just be sent home and their parents forced to deal with it. If its a pattern kick the kid out of school. No violence of any sort should ever be allowed in a school.
 @Blindman Nope, you don't understand the law. Corporal punishment is a regulated process. What this teacher did would not be considered corporal punishment under the law. What he did was assault. Like I said, corporal punishment is not banned in Washington in private schools. It is banned in public schools.Â
 @lakeview  @Blindman Its banned every where in the state. Its just a matter of whether the prosecutor wants to charge them. The only way corporal punishment is legal, and even then I think people could be charged, is if the parents signed a contract allowing them to use corporal punishment on their kids. And just because a parent sings a contract doesn't mean its legal. Its no different than if a parent beats their own child too much, they can be charged with assault.
I don't see a problem with this teacher's action. In fact, I feel it's a necessary tool in deterring the behaviorally challenged kids from becoming criminals as grown ups.
 @cawlnaduckaduck touch my kid and see who has a problem
 @BuddyHolly Better make sure kids doesn't behave like a heathen.
In school, the boys in shop used to make paddles for the principle to use on them when they were sent to his office. It was common practice to get a paddling from the principle.
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My dad also loves to tell stories of having his knuckles wrapped with the metal side of the ruler in Catholic school too.
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Now it's a criminal offense. My how times have changed.
It's all good, no worries. Hard to get it right all the time. Had a hard time with 'calendar' for a while too! :)
@Thunder "It was common practice to get a paddling from the principle."
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How did the principal feel about that?
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@Furd @Thunder Ahh, the spelling and grammer police. When you have nothing intelligent to add to the conversation, attack someone's grammer.
 @Unsalvageable  @Furd  @Thunder Sshhhh! They disappear people who talk about the grammar and spelling police.
 @Unsalvageable Or better yet, You could attack someone's grammar.
 @Unsalvageable It was not an attack at all...I find the way some people approach the spelling mistakes amusing...eg. the "...cry about birds" reply to the "...fowl..."...NOW that is funny!!!
 @Furd  @Thunder Don't be mean, I have seen KOMO writers make the same principle/principal mistake. :)  Â
Wait......parents continue to cry fowl stating that teachers should be doing more to raise their children and participating in their lives.......until it comes to discipline, which obviously is lacking at home!
 @1opinion The parents cry about birds?
Is it your purpose in life to pick on peoples spelling mistakes? Oh, if only we could all be as perfect as you.
 @Unsalvageable ..said the person picking on someone's comment!
Hands down -- Those kids were WAY out of line and deserved to be punished - I'm not disputing that at all. That being said, it would be a cold day in hell before I would ever allow another adult to hit my child. If I wanted to spank them, then that is my choice as the parent.
@The WA Mama My son briefly went through an "acting out" spell when he was in 4th grade. I told his teacher that whenever he starts to act up, just give me a call and put him on the phone. She only had to call once before my son got the point that that shhhhhit was NOT going to fly and that if he didn't straighten up, my belt would be waiting for him when he got home. Worked like a charm.
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Until 6th grade. It was towards the end of the year and I think he was getting nervous about leaving the only school he'd ever known. He started being rude to his teachers and arguing with other students and it went on for about a week. Finally one morning I had enough so I took him to school, in my jammies, and followed him around school ALL DAY. Sat next to him in class, at lunch, went and stood outside the bathroom when he had to go. He was so embarrassed and learned his lesson and I haven't had any issues with him since.
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I did get a couple weird looks, but all in all I got more praises than anything from teachers, staff, and other parents. The principal pulled me aside and said she appreciated my parental support in handling the situation. She said that there is actually quite a few parents who could care less about their child's actions and behavior.
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@Tattooed_Angel I have two boys and trust me, they had their moments too. The harshest punishment I did was with my oldest son. He just turned 17 and had a car. I caught him drinking and we took his keys and sold the car. We also rigged our cars so he couldn't drive them either (my husband's a mechanic and knows all the tricks). He was warned and he knew better. He didn't drive again until he was 18 and could buy his own car.
@Tattooed_Angel I did the same thing with my child. I didn't go as far as the jammies but I sure did my best to make his day miserable. After each class I told all his friends that I would see them tomorrow. My son had to stew on that all night. He asked me the next morning how long I was going to school with him and I said as long as I needed to. I only had to go one day. The funny thing was his friends thought it was cool that I would come to school. They said their parents never would. I always went to conferences even in the upper grades. The math teacher once said that out of 180 kids he taught only two parents made conference appointments. That is sad for the other 178 kids whose parents could find less than an hour to check in with their kids teachers.
@taxpro Virtual high five! More parents need to realize that their children should be their number 1 priority. If they can't make their children number 1 then they shouldn't have children in the first place. There is no excuse for that many parents to not show up to their child's conference. Heck, once when I was really sick and knew I couldn't go in person, I had a phone conference with his teacher.
Good for the teacher. Children these days need to get disciplined one way or the other. Lord knows parents don't discipline their own kids anymore.
And this is the problem, kids misbehave and know that teachers aren't allowed to do a dang thing. Â A teacher takes a stand and is punished. Â Sure, maybe the belt was a little much, but things are getting out of hand and the kids no longer respect teachers. Â Maybe instead of punishing the kids, we punish the parents. Â We give the parents fines for their children misbehaving in class. Â (Kinda like parking tickets) Â Too many tickets, your kid is towed.
@SureHandz -- In this day and age, using a belt is way, way over the edge.
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Yes, the 'supervisor' had the right and responsibility to control these kids, but he also had the responsibility to do it within the limits of proper behavior.
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The kids need punishment too - but they got it. They got ripped with a belt.
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IF the 'supervisor' had done his job, they'd be getting detention, suspension, handed over to thier parents, etc. for the improper behavior.
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 @FormerMarineSgt  @SureHandz Is that how they train the Marines of today. If so god help us.
This is an excellent example of what is wrong with our society... the teachers are supposed to put up with all the failures of the parents to discipline their kids, and to train them how to be respectful, and productive members of our society..
Instead, we have parents failing to discipline their kids, which leads to more kids getting into trouble because they have no respect, for the rules, laws, adults, authority, or each other for that matter..
The parents need to be the ones to get the belt across their buttocks... as well as their little monsters...
These last 7 or 8 post sound like at my house growing the teachers had open season on my a+# if need be Dad had a big wide belt
My parents never allowed a teacher to swat my brother or myself, they would save that for themselves when we got home.
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 @Melissa Angevine I got both, actually it was Principal, mom, then dad.
 @Melissa Angevine Exactly my experience. My dad would have ripped a teacher who touched me like this, but if the teacher told him why he/she wanted to whip me, it was open season. A teacher could keep me in-line simply on the suggestion that they might need to call my parents... Too many parents don't discipline their kids now, so they just run amok.
Better them than me... If it were me, I'd be getting another one when Dad got home because I wasn't doing what I should have been doing..
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