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School employee dies after being kicked in the chest by 14-year-old student (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 5 days ago by throws_lemy@reddthat.com to c/news@lemmy.world

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[-] wavebeam@lemmy.world 150 points 4 days ago

A lot of comments in here assuming there wasn’t good reason to restrain the kid. Or that this school exists only to contain kids of parents who can’t be bothered to be there for their kids. That might be true, but it’s just as much of an assumption as the opposite.

My daughter is 10, adopted at 5 from a traumatic past. Last weekend I asked her to do a chore and because she didn’t want to, escalated to assaulting me. Eventually she needed to be restrained because she refused to take simple steps at my suggestion to get herself calmed down and instead attempted to hit, kick, bite, and headbutt me. Maybe you assume this is simply me being a bad parent, but the fact is that I remained calm and only asked her to take the time to calm down with the skills she’s been working on for this kind of thing. The trauma she was exposed to before I adopted her was not my fault, but I have to deal with how that impacts her choices every day. And sometimes that means restraining her, calling the police, or admitting her to residential treatment. None of those are ideal outcomes, but I have to make choices that will keep me, my wife, our son (her biological brother we also adopted), and HER safe. If you had seen the kind of damage she can do, you would also not make the dumbass suggestion to just leave her be; I can assure you, there was not a better option last weekend.

So idk, you could be right: this place could be fucked up and they could’ve had no good reason to restrain this kid. But I don’t think it’s fair to assume that this person deserved to die because they had a teen drop kick them in a school for troubled kids. They were likely doing their best to help this kid and instead got assaulted to death on the job.

[-] blazeknave@lemmy.world 23 points 4 days ago

You're doing a great job. Thank you for loving them.

[-] wavebeam@lemmy.world 13 points 4 days ago

❤️

[-] CaptPretentious@lemmy.world 45 points 4 days ago

When I was a kid, I knew a kid who was (presumed) special needs but also EXTREMELY VIOLENT. I remember being in the 3rd grade and seeing him literally being carried away into a side room at school (probably to get him away from someone). And I mean like some teachers had his arms, and others had his legs, literally suspending him in the air because he wasn't going willingly to any degree.

He was known for biting and clawing. One time, he flat-out just choked me. He was a known entity in the school.

I have no idea where he ended up. I think his mom ended up putting him in a group home or something because she basically couldn't overpower him anymore, and he made it known he was pissed at her.

[-] wavebeam@lemmy.world 34 points 4 days ago

Yeah dude. It’s sad, but sometimes a kid is just dangerous to other people. There’s no amount of reason or gentleness that can help. It fucking sucks. I hope he’s doing okay now, and I hope his mom has peace with whatever has happened. It’s so hard to be comfortable with your child being completely unhinged, and the choices you have to make to keep others safe around them.

[-] Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 4 days ago

Yeah dude. It’s sad, but sometimes a kid is just dangerous to other people. There’s no amount of reason or gentleness that can help.

My son is special needs, has/had violent episodes. While this statement might be true, I just can't agree. I may have given up my career to sit in therapist offices, but I believe every troubled kid deserves a shot. With enough love (and meds and coping skills) one can overcome the sheer angst that lives inside them.

I have absolutely had to 'hold' my own child at the school in years past. Shits not for the weak, but I've watched him overcome this, and is becoming more successful each year. With enough support, these kids can be successful. The truth is, the parents also need support, and they often don't have it themselves, so it compounds into deeming the child a lost cause.

I hate when what should happen, doesn't become what is. But no child is irredeemable. That's how I feel.

[-] wavebeam@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I 100% agree. My “sometimes” meant in-the-moment. Long term gentleness and reasoning is obviously the way to go. But when my daughter is popping off and in full on assault mode, she can’t be “oh I know, doing a thing you don’t like is so tough isnt it?” Out of kicking a fuckin hole in the wall or bruising every one of my limbs.

[-] Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 days ago

Ah yes, I know those moments well. On the mild end, my son used to trash his room, and specifically destroyed our favorite read together books or books I got him special, just to try and get to me. It took years of me explaining he's only hurting himself when this happens. He's broke many things he loves out of anger. He's finally starting to get it. Even sometimes, when hes upset and in his room working it out, in a healthy way, he will bring out his favorite possession and hand it/them to me, 'im not feeling safe and I don't want to ruin this item" so he gives it to me to keep it safe, until he's feeling better. It took fucking years to get to that point.

Meds have helped a lot, with ongoing group/individual therapy. After episodes, I've heard him, cry/whimper in his room, "why am I like this!?" And man it breaks your heart.

I'm glad you haven't given up, I've nearly given up 100 times but we keep pushing forward. Keep seeking that light at the end of the tunnel. I see what you mean now, yeah, in the moment you have to assure safety. It's not an easy job.

[-] Beebabe@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

I have one on my current caseload like this. Not out of any kind of cruelty. Just high impact deficits. I wouldn’t say unhinged, just not aware.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 5 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

we knew a SPED in school, who dint seemed violent at first, but strange occurences only happened after we all graduated from HS. we had no real formal relationship with the guy, but he started showing up at our house and frequently after that. after we had turn away because nobody in the house had any friendships in him, he started geting angry and violent. so we had to call the parent multiple times, last i heard they moved away and he had to put in some healthcare situation. like stuffing our door keyhole with toothpicks(classic stalking killer vibe), and threw a random computer monitor onto the car window and game cartridge went missing. this was like 15+years ago.

[-] postcapitalism@lemmy.today 13 points 4 days ago

Sending love. Good on you for what you do

[-] wavebeam@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

❤️

[-] Ancalagon@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

[-] Teppichbrand@feddit.org 30 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

News like this destroy our mental health without serving any purpose but to make the website some sweet ad-money. Click it, engage and soon we'll get one news article for every recorded act of violence in the world. Congratulations, you just lost a little more faith in humanity, making your perceived reality more scary and unsafe.

[-] Garbagio@lemmy.zip 11 points 3 days ago

1000%. Look, it's sad, but it is one thing in a sea of endless information. At best a reader walks away more scared of the world. At worst, there is an entire electorate that will walk away more violent towards others. Deadass these articles have a role in the global rise of fascism.

[-] TWeaK@lemmy.today 7 points 3 days ago

Not to mention the fact this is a UK media outlet sharing a story from the US - and it's not even their reporting but just a regurgitation of an actual local news station.

[-] Beebabe@lemmy.world 16 points 3 days ago

How sad, she was doing her job here. It is a very hard and underpaid field, and most people never think of it. May she rest in peace.

[-] Bosht@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago

Critically, criminally underpaid. Had a good friend that did it for over 8 years. Never got a raise, continually dealt with the worst kids and rehabilitated them. Fucking saints in a largely thankless field.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 5 points 3 days ago

alot of teachers quit during the pandemic, because of childrens you cant discipline in class anymore. in the 90s and 2000s teachers had more power by giving them "Referrals" which essentially a academic complaint, and can hold back s tudents,,,etc. plus in the 2000s they already started the problem with participation grades: passing people who had no business of passing just for the sake of funding.

[-] TheRealKuni@piefed.social 90 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

“Therapeutic residential school” is a term that reminds me of elan.school. I don’t know if it’s anything like that, but I know the Elan school wasn’t unique.

Edit: Found this about it on Reddit:

Meadowbridge Academy, Swansea, MA, is run by Justice Resource Institute--an organization that has gotten into trouble for running abusive programs. In 2017-2018, the Disability Law Center (Massachusetts Protection and Advocacy Agency--every state has one) investigated Meadowbridge Academy due to complaints regarding sexual abuse of students and neglect. The DLC report reports that Meadowbridge Academy terminated those involved and has made significant changes in response to this incident. JRI is a member of NATSAP, the trade organization representing the Troubled Teen Industry--an organization no legitimate non-profit would want to be associated with.

[-] Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

They had my son in a similar program, outplacement, not residential however. It was called High Roads. They have had multiple cases opened against them, and I refuse to let them ever place him there again. The school they had him in was a converted office space in an industrial park. It didn't even have a gym. They are also for profit, and treat the staff like garbage.

I asked in an interview, how do you help a child who is in crisis, and they showed me their concrete cell. That's the plan. Just detain the child in basically solitary confinement. My son self harms in this kind of thing, while it will keep other students and staff safe (highly important) it does nothing to help the child's actual issues.

They tried to place him there again last year, I've loved all my son's teachers, but last year's teacher was, not great. So when he had trouble, they wanted to put him there again. I said no, and faught them on it with our states advocate program. High Roads the cheapest out placement for the school. When I brought to them other, more expensive, better outplacement options, they fucking folded when I said our compromise could be to keep him in his current in district program. His teacher this year is fantastic, and is so far doing well. Advocate for you kids man. And fuck High Roads and these for profit child prisions.

It's like locking a misbehaving dog in a cage, and then they wonder why they bite. Its foolishness.

I'm deeply saddened that this event with the teacher losing her life. This is the worst I've ever heard. That's absolutely should not have happened. Many of these schools are not meant to actually help children. They sacrifice the wellbeing of staff and the kids for profit. The system is fucked. And I guarantee you, this tragedy won't be enough to change anything meaningful.

[-] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 4 days ago

Sounds just like tons of other evil “schools” I’ve read about. Lady shouldn’t have died obviously but I’m not gonna fault that kid for fighting back in a place like that. Horrible.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 27 points 4 days ago

there was another article a while back, where a teacher took away a 15yo phone, and beat her with an inch of her life. he was a huge dude and had mental issues, in other schools.

[-] flightyhobler@lemmy.world 28 points 4 days ago

Was it a 15 year old phone? Did the teacher do the beating or was the teacher the big dude with mental issues? What happened in other schools?

[-] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 10 points 4 days ago

The way I interpreted it was a large 15 year old male with mental issues, who was a problem in other schools, became violent when the teacher confiscated their phone.

[-] flightyhobler@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

Yeah me too, but I burned more calories from that mental exertion than from taking a brisk walk.

[-] mhague@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago

Try adding more text to your context window, or switch to a model with more parameters. Assuming the text seems unparsable to your setup.

[-] snugglesthefalse@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Idk if you're being deliberately obtuse or just didn't understand but I interpreted it as the 15 year old had their phone taken then beat the teacher within an inch of their life and the student had apparently had past issues, also they were big. Context + some creative interpretation makes it pretty easy to puzzle this one out.

[-] flightyhobler@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

Wow. Sounds like such a simple statement once you put the words like that. Almost like we shouldn't even need creativity to make sense of it in the first place.

[-] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago

and how do you beat someone with an inch of a life? what is an inch of a life??

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 points 3 days ago

causing severe enough injuries to almost dying or getting sent to hospital.

[-] snugglesthefalse@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago

A pretty common saying that means nearly dead

[-] BiteSizedZeitGeist@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago

/c/aneurysmposting@sopuli.xyz

[-] Guitarfun@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

I'm pretty sure this is the one you're thinking of:

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/surveillance-video-shows-florida-student-brutally-attacking-teachers-aide-for-taking-his-video-game/2981388/

That was pretty rough to watch because he was like twice her size.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 3 points 3 days ago

yea that one.

[-] Formfiller@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

That kid just ruined a lot of lives

[-] MiddleAgesModem@lemmy.world 30 points 4 days ago

Damn, crazy to think a kick the chest by a 14 year old girl could result in death. Fighting is fucking dangerous.

[-] MonkeMischief@lemmy.today 14 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Fighting definitely proves the almost paradoxical notion that humans are both exceptionally resilient and pathetically fragile at the exact same time.

I practice martial arts. I don't wanna fight anybody ever. Too many variables could spell disaster.

[-] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 9 points 4 days ago

Yup, the first thing you learn in martial arts is that you should never fight.

"Battles are dangerous affairs".

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[-] frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io 31 points 5 days ago

How hard were they trying to restrain someone just for leaving a building? I can see extreme measures for someone armed making threats or actively harming themselves, but if they want to leave the building surely there were better options.

[-] Buffalox@lemmy.world 26 points 5 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

That was my first thought too. Physically restraining a person, especially a minor, and even more especially a minor with trauma, is a very serious thing. It was strange to me the article had nothing about why the girl needed to be physically restrained.
But I'm also more suspicious about it because it's American, I've seen (in the news) so many examples of insane authoritarianism in American institutions, where even doing your hair in a non traditional white manner is considered grounds to be expelled.
And numerous cases of calling the police on children "to teach them a lesson"!!!

American conditions in institutions are insane just like they are in the rest of American society. because USA as a nation has gone more and more sociopathic and authoritarian over the past 40 years. Might makes right is just one issue, and I suspect the one that could have been at play here? It is quite telling IMO that the colleague doesn't blame the girl.

It is also weird that she is just described as "a staff member" indicating she has no special training with these sorts of children!
She may have done her best according to her abilities, but this reeks of an institutional failure.

[-] Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 days ago

Absolutely.

I've dealt with some of these schools. You have untrained staff literally yelling, "Do your work now!" To a room full of kids with ODD and others. Then sit back and wonder why it's not working. Their solution when they become dysregulated is to lock them in solitary confinement until they, calm down.

It's garbage. It doesn't work. It is institutional failure, because, well, profits over everything in the United States.

[-] Zamboni_Driver@lemmy.ca 13 points 4 days ago

This isn't a normal American school, it's an place where shitty parents send their unruly kids to be abused.

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[-] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 days ago

This place seems to be a troubled teen "School" probably pulling from fucking Elan. TLDR historically troubled kids were chucked at military school or farming/ranching schools which were closer to residential technical schools than anything else, then came the boom of psychology and a bunch of fuckwads opened up troubled teen schools which can vary from kinda okay nature retreat facilities to batshit insane religious schools which mentally break kids. These places are closer to native American/Aboriginal residential "schools" than anything else and I'm not convinced aren't somehow directly related.

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[-] kerrigan778 4 points 4 days ago

Most likely what the minor did to need to be physically restrained is covered by privacy laws.

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[-] heyWhatsay@slrpnk.net 4 points 3 days ago

That kid is a natural, time to start training for MMA

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this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2025

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