A video depicting a female student pepper-spraying a male teacher at Antioch High School (AHS) went viral over the weekend. The minute-and-a-half video, surfacing on Friday, shows the confrontation between the two after the educator confiscated a cell phone from the student for using it during an exam in the classroom. The student was asked repeatedly to put the phone away, The New York Post reported.
A spokesman for the Metro Nashville Police Department told The Star that a report has been filed. Youth Services detectives are investigating since both parties claim to have been assaulted during the incident.
Justified?
Student Pepper Sprays her High School Teacher because he confiscated her phone in Antioch, Tennessee… pic.twitter.com/QIcMty1Bqd— Fight Haven (@FightHaven) May 6, 2023
Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) spokesman Sean Braisted told The Tennessee Star, “The pepper-spray incident at Antioch High School represents a serious violation of law and our school policies, and the student involved has received appropriate disciplinary consequences in accordance with the student-parent handbook.”
Braisted added, “An incident report was filed on Friday with the Metro Nashville Police Department through the school’s SRO for further investigation, and the teacher received immediate medical assistance from the school nurse. Due to FERPA’s student privacy protections, I’m not able to publicly share the specific disciplinary consequences for a student.”
The MNPS policy book states, “Students may not use personal technology during instructional periods except when used as an aid to instruction, at the discretion of the classroom teacher and building administrator.”
Furthermore, “A student in possession of personal technology in violation of this policy is subject to disciplinary action.” The exact disciplinary action is undefined by the student handbook.
Antioch High School, where this incident took place, has a history of student/teacher conflicts. One teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Tennessee Star, “There is a lack of discipline enforcement and no support for teachers. It makes for a very unsafe building for some teachers.”
This same teacher, who is in his second year in the classroom, was reportedly assaulted in March when he caught a student cheating and took the phone. In response, the student punched him in the face.
Antioch High School Principal Clarissa Zellers is leaving at the end of the school year after four years on the job. While Zellers has made some improvements, the school has yet to fully recover from the disastrous tenure of former principal Dr. Keiva Wiley, who was recruited from Prince George’s County Schools in Maryland by former MNPS Director Shawn Joseph.
Under Wiley’s leadership, the school experienced extensive teacher turnover, with over half the teachers leaving. In 2018, hundreds of students staged a walkout in an effort to draw attention to school conditions.
“I’m tired of going to school terrified that someone is going to hurt me and my loved ones. I am not saying this because I want pity on our school. I am saying this because I want you to know that the majority of the students are respectful and grateful,” student Jasmine McCoy wrote in an editorial about her experiences there.
Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Dr. Adrienne Battle led AHS to “Reward School” status while serving as principal in 2014. In 2010, prior to Dr. Battle’s arrival, the school had been designated by the state as low-performing.
Due to her success, Dr. Battle was promoted by Dr. Joseph to Community Superintendent for the South East Quadrant. Antioch High School is a member of that quadrant and remained under her supervision.
Discipline issues are a growing challenge for school districts both locally and nationally.
In 2019 The Star reported that conditions – described at the time as untenable – reached a point where School Resource Officers were phased out from the MNPS’s two alternative schools over safety concerns.
“Metro police said their officers in those schools are being verbally abused and are unable to help the students. During the meeting, they said their mission had failed and that keeping officers there would be punishment. They also described some of the ridicule officers went through in the schools.”
The pandemic has only served to heighten existing problems. A recent report from the National Center for Education Statistics stated, “Respondents attributed increased incidents of classroom disruptions from student misconduct (56 percent), rowdiness outside of the classroom (49 percent), acts of disrespect towards teachers and staff (48 percent), and prohibited use of electronic devices (42 percent) to the COVID-19 pandemic and its lingering effects.”
When asked about the importance of student and teacher safety, in an email exchange with The Tennessee Star, JC Bowman, Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, said, “Our teachers should be supported by school districts when they are assaulted. Too many feel like they get attacked by students and then are disappointed when their employer wants to sweep the issue under the rug.
Bowman said, “When a student assaults an educator, we need to do a better job of supporting the educator, getting help for both the student and the educator, and documenting these incidents.”
MNPS spokesman Braisted reiterated the The Star the district’s commitment to student and teacher safety:
The safety of students and staff in our buildings is a top priority for Metro Schools. One way we address this is through investments in mental health and behavioral support to help students process their emotions in a productive way that prevents disruptions. In the last two years, we have implemented advocacy centers at the elementary level and expanded restorative practices assistants at the middle and high school level, as well as additional investments in contracted mental health services and expansions to our school psychologist team. We also have campus support positions at the middle and high school level to support staff in responding to behavioral incidents, in addition to other administrative and support staff who respond to situations where a student or staff member’s safety is threatened.
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TC Weber is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. He also writes the blog Dad Gone Wild. Follow TC on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected]. He’s the proud parent of two public school children and the spouse of a public school teacher.
Photo “Antioch High School Student Pepper Sprays Teacher” by Fight Haven.
