Readers React: How teachers can prevent classroom confrontations

To the editor: A writer who identifies himself as a former vice principal would like to hear from critics who feel that the situation in the South Carolina classroom should have been handled differently than having the police intervene. As a former classroom teacher, I would like to respond. (“The problem in the South Carolina police-student confrontation? The student, readers say,” Readers React, Oct. 31)

A teacher should never be drawn into a confrontation with a student. I would simply have told the recalcitrant student to see me before leaving class and then continued to teach.

At the end of class, I would have told the student that her behavior was unacceptable. If she promised not to use her phone in class again, that would be the end of it. If she reneged on that promise, she would be sent to the disciplinary office.

School discipline should be dealt with by the teacher, with no need to call in the cavalry. In the South Carolina case, handling it any other way would have been better.

Linda Winters, Culver City

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