arrest in Florida
“30 seconds, no screeching, no yelling”: Teacher lets sixth graders fight each other
Griffin Middle School in Tallahassee, Florida: Parents reported the beating after seeing cellphone videos of their children.
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Fights instead of lessons? A teacher in the US state of Florida allegedly staged fights between students in her classroom. Now the 23-year-old faces a prison sentence.
A Florida teacher has been arrested for allegedly making students fight each other. Angel F., an educator at Griffin Middle School in Tallahassee, has been charged with four counts of assisting in the delinquency of a minor and has been jailed in the Gadsden County Jail, according to court documents, several US media reports. Two hours later she was released. The indictment is scheduled for May 4th.
“The district has been made aware of a situation at Griffin Middle School involving serious allegations of misconduct by a teacher,” the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper quoted a spokesman for the Leon County school board as saying. The teacher concerned was dismissed immediately and criminal charges were filed. “The Leon County Sheriff’s Office launched a criminal investigation that resulted in the arrest of the individual on April 7.”
Florida teacher denies organizing fights
According to the documents, students have accused the teacher of letting girls fight in her sixth grade classroom. Cell phone videos of the incidents show that the 23-year-old was standing nearby or sitting at her desk while the beating took place. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the teacher denied organizing the fights. However, she “openly said that she knows that she has poor skills in dealing with the class.”
The girls involved reported to her that F. asked her before the start of the fights if they wanted to fight amicably, the responsible police officer Hanna Perry wrote in her report. The teacher’s voice can be heard on the videos, apparently setting up rules: “30 seconds, no screeching, no yelling, no phones”.
F. also intervened at least verbally a few times. At one point she is said to have ordered: “Stop pulling your hair”. Elsewhere on the videos, she said, “Stop.” After the fight, two of the girls asked the teacher if they would like to come back for a rematch during their sixth year planning period.
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According to the affidavit accompanying the application for the arrest warrant, girls from other classes also came to the teacher’s classroom to fight, writes the US broadcaster NBC News. All those involved were at some point F.’s students. Some “were called out from other classes to take part in these fights.” However, the teacher denied having summoned girls from other classrooms. According to NBC News, the affidavit is based on “numerous interviews with teachers and students”.
According to reports, the behavior of the teacher was uncovered by several parents. They saw the fighting videos and then informed the school administration. The Sheriff’s Office commended the mothers and fathers for their intervention. “This is a perfect example of ‘See Something, Say Something’ to limit the damage in such situations,” police said. “The LCSO thanks the able parents and others for reporting the videos to the authorities.”
Sources: “Tallahassee Democrat”, NBC News.