A teacher fights back against unruly kids

Elizabeth Anne Moore, a reading teacher at a west Phoenix high school, has a new ending and a new title for the 350-page book she has written about being an educator. She'll call it, "Violated No More."

This week, Ms. Moore won a court injunction against a 15-year-old student who had been harassing her in class - including, by her account, telling her daily to "go [expletive] myself."

In an era when teachers often have little recourse to deal with unruly students, Moore decided to use the legal system to restore order in the classroom - and her life. It worked: A justice of the peace ordered the student not to have any contact with her on or off school grounds.

It's an unusual tale of a teacher fighting back and offers a look into how difficult it can be for educators to protect themselves from abusive students at a time when many schools have "no touch" policies and teachers are afraid to discipline kids for fear of lawsuits.

From 1997 to 2001, teachers were the victims of approximately 1.3 million nonfatal crimes at school, according to a survey published by the National Center for Education Statistics.

While no hard statistics exist on the number of teachers who have sought legal protection from students, education experts believe that although such lawsuits are still rare they are on the upswing. Public school educators around the country are turning to the courts in a final attempt to protect themselves from children who can't be kept in check by the existing disciplinarian rules.

"It shows just how far things have gone," said Nancy Udell, a lawyer with Common Good, a nonprofit group that is lobbying for legislation that would give teachers greater latitude in meting out classroom punishment. "The days when the teacher could give a stern look to a student and have that child sit up and take notice are clearly gone."

Indeed, handling an unruly child was once simply a matter of sending him to the principal's office for a paddling and possible suspension, but the era of corporal punishment is long over. The vast majority of public schools now preclude school employees from touching any students, whether it's to give them a friendly hug or to force them to sit.

In November, Philadelphia teacher David Pitone, established "Teachers and Students for School Civility" after failing to secure a court order to eject unruly students from his classroom. He had sent the students to the principal's office; they were promptly sent back.

Since the mid-1970s, handing out a suspension or expulsion has become difficult. In a landmark case, the Supreme Court ruled that students were protected by the 14th Amendment and couldn't be denied a public education without due process. In the New York school system, the form required to start a suspension is 100 pages long.

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