Weed and the like tend to fill the pockets of a myriad of high school students. But it’s not everyday that a teacher asks a student to hand over his or her illegal substance of choice in the middle of a classroom. This did happen, however, last Friday at Santa Monica High School and a video of the events that followed has gone viral.
The video, taken with a cellular phone by another student in the classroom, shows science teacher/ wrestling coach “Mr. Black” engaging in a physical altercation with a student. The video ends with Black pinning the student to the ground by holding his legs still.
At first, one might think, ‘What? A teacher tackled a student? That teacher should be fired!’ And in fact, school officials have said that Black was put on leave after the incident pending an investigation, according to Los Angeles Daily News. Apparently, Black’s boss, Superintendent Sandra Lyon, sent a letter home to parents, in which she called the teacher’s actions “utterly alarming.”
Lyon has since apologized for her initial response to the situation, acknowledging that she may have judged too quickly, according to the Los Angeles Times. On the one hand, it’s good that she at least recognized that her words condemned the actions of a teacher who was simply protecting himself and his students from a violent student.
On the other hand, is it enough for her to simply stamp an “I’m sorry” on the situation, or can she do more to make up for the mixed message she has sent to students?
If the teacher’s actions were in fact “utterly alarming,” there wouldn’t be such huge student-parent support on Black’s behalf. Parents and students alike have expressed their outrage with Black’s indefinite leave, as they seem to agree that Black did what was necessary to preserve the safety of his classroom and that of himself.
Black’s actions were allegedly taken in the name of self-defense. ABC Local interviewed a couple of the students who were in the classroom at the time of the incident, and these students defended Black, claiming that he was restraining their classmate as a result of a drug-related altercation. The voices of the students in the ABC interviews were distorted, at the request of the students, who say they feared gang-related backlash for their statements in defense of their teacher on air.
Students have said that Black was attempting to confiscate the student’s stash of cannabis, which prompted the student to stab Black with a pencil, according to the Santa Monica Patch. At that point, Black physically restrained the student. In the cellphone video of the grappling session, student comments imply that they are confused and surprised by the turn of events.
In the candid moments shown in the video, the students in the classroom debate whether they should jump in and “help him out,” and I think it’s fair to assume that the “him” in this case is not their classmate. If Black were randomly attacking a student, I feel that the video would show students rushing to their friend’s aid, or running into the hall and yelling for help.
But none of that is shown in the video. In fact, as Black pinned the student to the ground, there was actually a light sprinkling of applause from the student bystanders. The Los Angeles Times even reported that over 10,000 people have liked the “We Support Coach Black of Samohi” page on Facebook, and 3,500 signatures fill the Change.org petition to reinstate Coach Black.
Though I’m sure it made sense for Lyon to send Black home at the time of the incident, I think disallowing him to return and treating him like he was at fault is a disservice to the students in his classroom. The message that is being sent is that violent students have the upper hand over the adults who attempt to reprimand or correct them.