The incident at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, S.C. where a teen was forcibly removed by a school resource officer for texting and then refusing to leave the room is getting many teachers and administrators talking about the best ways to handle discipline in the classroom.

In a Los Angeles Times piece, several educators reflect on the best ways to handle disruptive behavior in the classroom.

For Dorsey High School physical education teacher Sherlett Handy Newbill, she isn’t afraid to collect cell phones and call for back-up when needed.

Newbill told the LA Times that she makes sure her cell phone rules are very clear, issues a first-time warning, and then collects the phone after continued insubordination.

If a student refuses and gets rowdy, Newbill says she will not hesitate to call security or seek help from an unarmed campus aide.

The president of the California Federation of Teachers Josh Pechthalt also saw the video and wondered how he would have handled the situation.

In his twenty years as a high school teacher, he said avoided calling on security into his classroom and would likely have avoided it in this situation as well.

He said the level of defiance from the student indicated “something deep” was happening, likely indicative of problems at home.

" Instead of confronting students in the classroom, Pechthalt said, he would try to speak with them out of class or steer them to one of the school's mental health professionals.”

"Because there are fewer psychologists or aides on campuses now, Pechthalt said, some teachers will keep a disruptive student in the class if the defiant student is not preventing others from learning. This option can be a better alternative than spending valuable classroom time to track down other school employees to mete out discipline, he said,” according to the article.

Read the full story here.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

10/29/2015