Principals Are in an Impossible Situation When It Comes to Fights
In this video, Dr. Justin Baeder discusses how principals face impossible choices when fights occur — pressured to be both lenient and safe simultaneously.
Key Takeaways
- Competing pressures paralyze leaders - Principals are told to reduce suspensions while also keeping schools safe
- We must give them the tools they need - Clear policies and administrative support allow principals to make good decisions
- Consistency from above matters - District leadership must back principals who take necessary disciplinary action
Transcript
Did you see the news story about the high school principal who stopped a student from going to the cafeteria to get into a fight but now has been arrested and charged with assault and endangering a minor?
This kind of thing I think is a really bad precedent unless there's really clear evidence that an educator hurt a student, like if the student is doing something that they should not be doing, and an administrator is trying to prevent that from escalating, prevent an assault, prevent a fight, prevent something unsafe from happening, I would have to have very good evidence, and it would have to be a really egregious situation for me to think that this person should actually be criminally charged, that the principal should be criminally charged.
And clearly, as the New York Times article shows, there's a lot of controversy, there's a lot of uncertainty, there's a lot of tension in this community.
And I think we've got to just recognize the situation that administrators are in.
Like it is difficult to keep a large number of high school students from hurting one another, right?
Like this is just a difficult challenge.
And I think we've got to have a lot of grace for the people who do that work and a lot of understanding for the situation they're in because These situations can easily become fatal, right?
Like fights between students are sometimes fatal.
There was a bullying situation not too long ago where the student died from being punched.
And there was a big lawsuit, $27 million verdict and all that.
So I think we have to not put people in an impossible situation where they're both responsible for ensuring student safety and yet unable to actually do anything to ensure student safety.
Like if you can't suspend a student for failing to follow rules clear directions about, like, don't go in there, don't start something, and you can't break up a fight, and you can't ever touch a student to prevent any kind of violence from occurring.
Like, in what universe does it remain possible to actually keep kids safe if there is a fight, if there is some sort of physical altercation?
And, like, I get it's probably better for liability reasons not to try to intervene in breakup fights, but, like, at some point, you've got to intervene.
You've in order to keep kids safe.
And I think that's a terrible position to be in, a terrible judgment call to have to make.
But that is the reality of being an administrator, especially at the high school level.
And I, man, I just hope this guy has good representation in terms of his legal case.
And I just think we've really got to think as a society, like, do we want people to be principals?
Because this is not how you treat them if we want people to be principals.
Let me know what you think.