NOTHING is worth that kind of disrespect

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NOTHING is worth that kind of disrespect
By Mary

Sharon, as others have commented, it's time to take the bull by the horns and protect your health and sanity!!! UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU BE EXPECTED TO PUT UP WITH THAT KIND OF BEHAVIOR!!! ( Please excuse the yelling,
but I am trying to emphasize the point.) What was done to you is ILLEGAL. No one has the right to put a hand on you without your permission. If you did it to a kid, you could be hauled into court. Why on earth should you be expected to accept it without any repercussions for the students? My advice is 1.) document the entire incident as well as any other problems you have encountered;

2.) Demand a meeting with the the head administrator and present a TYPE-WRITTEN COPY of your write-up of the incident; 3.) explain in no uncertain terms that you no longer feel safe to work in this building and cite the other incidents as further justification; 4.) If you are getting called to work at this building as often as you are, trust me, they need you much more than you need them in spite of the money you may be making (unless this district is VERY UNUSUAL, you are not getting healthcare benefits from them as a sub and the cost of the nervous break-down you are heading for will be MUCH more costly to you than the per diem rate you are making); 5.)Ask the administrator what he or she is intends to do to eliminate future incidents of this type and to promote student respect for teachers in general (behavior like this doesn't happen in a vacuum--other subs and regular teachers have experienced it, too); 6.) inform him or her that you will be sending a copy of your write-up as well as the administrator's response to the district superintendent and, if necessary, to the police to insure appropriate action (THE LEGAL TERM FOR THIS BEHAVIOR IS ASSAULT AND BATTERY AND IS PROSECUTEABLE--you do not have to be actually physically injured or sexually assaulted, you only have to feel that the circumstances were threatening to you); 7.) state that you will no longer work in that building unless you receive a guarantee in writing that appropriate action is being taken by the Administration to prevent such occurences in the future with penalties in place for failure to comply. Per diem subs, especially at the middle school/ high school level have the toughest jobs in education today. You deserve to be respected for the hard work you do on a daily basis. If the administrator blows you off, then he or she is demonstrating just as much disrespect as those thugs in that class and you can bet the situation will not get any better next year. Do you really want to continue working in a place where disrespect is condoned from the top down? By the way, one of the reasons why you may be on such good terms with the teachers and other staff is that you do continue to put up with this B.S. when others have walked away. You are the warm body that can be relied on to take over when someone is out. Maybe that's just my cynicism kicking in, but it's worth pondering! Good luck in becoming an advocate for yourself. Remember, the kids are not the only ones receiving an education in schools--we teachers learn something new every day, often in very unexpected ways!!