Teacher quits after violent lesson

[crazytp93]

A high school teacher has resigned after video of him re-enacting a violent scene from George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” with a 14-year-old freshman surfaced on the Internet, according to MyFOXBoston.

It was supposed to be a creative lesson in a Dudley, Mass., English class, but the reenactment turned rough after Tom Reidy allegedly used the student as a prop, MyFOXBoston reported.

A student taped the encounter with a cell phone and posted the video on the Web. THE VIDEO

Community opinion is divided over whether the man should have lost his job over the "play" fight.

“It’s more likely this was voluntarily entered into by both individuals there,” Dudley Police Chief Steven Wojnar told FOX News on Tuesday. “It’s hard to tell what was going on, but there is always the chance that someone could get hurt or injured.”

Wojnar said no charges have yet been filed, but there are a lot of people with information that police still want to speak to.

“This is a personal matter," said Dudley schools superintendent Sean Gilrein in a statement. "Mr Reidy was in his first year of teaching at Shepherd Hill Regional High School and tendered his resignation on Saturday, March 8th.”

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What was the teacher thinking? How are the kids learning anything by you re-enacting a fight scene with a student?

 

[reminisce]

it was so blurry, you cant really tell if the students a good actor or the teachers actually hitting him. i know what everyones thinking, and because the teacher resigned, i suppose the latter is true.

i dont know why a teacher would destroy his career and credibility like that, but its not really my place to say anything more than LET THIS BE A LESSON TO TEACHERS EVERYWHERE.

 

[DramaQueen]

you know what...this just goes to show how uptight people are today.

i COMPLETELY disagree that he should've been fired/resigned.
and flame me all you want but I REALLY don't care.

kids were laughing in the video, the teacher was OBVIOUSLY not ACTUALLY fighting to kid, he didn't hurt him, he wasn'T REALLY punching him, it was fake. Like the fake fighting that probably happens in your drama class.
It looks like the kind of roughhousing you;d do with your crazy uncle or your dad. NOTHING SERIOUS.

It's called active learning, and it helps kids who have trouble comprehending materials. Obviously he didn't bring the kid up and start pretend fighting him out of nowhere. We don't know the context of that video, but I'm SURE there was a point to that demonstration.

In HS I had young teachers like that, the kind of teachers that would be learning FUN and you know what, those are the teachers I will always remember. The young, energetic teachers who were entusiastic about teaching. From the intereviews it seems like that is how this teacher was.

So I think it is RIDICULOUS that he had to end his teaching career before it really started.

Flame me if you want, disagree all you want but that is my opinion and it just goes to show how ridiculously and INSANELY uptight society is.

 

[cra_z_dude_17]

that is sad but, if i was that kid i would have swung back.

 

[shellybellypolo]

you know what...this just goes to show how uptight people are today.

i COMPLETELY disagree that he should've been fired/resigned.
and flame me all you want but I REALLY don't care.

kids were laughing in the video, the teacher was OBVIOUSLY not ACTUALLY fighting to kid, he didn't hurt him, he wasn'T REALLY punching him, it was fake. Like the fake fighting that probably happens in your drama class.
It looks like the kind of roughhousing you;d do with your crazy uncle or your dad. NOTHING SERIOUS.

It's called active learning, and it helps kids who have trouble comprehending materials. Obviously he didn't bring the kid up and start pretend fighting him out of nowhere. We don't know the context of that video, but I'm SURE there was a point to that demonstration.

In HS I had young teachers like that, the kind of teachers that would be learning FUN and you know what, those are the teachers I will always remember. The young, energetic teachers who were entusiastic about teaching. From the intereviews it seems like that is how this teacher was.

So I think it is RIDICULOUS that he had to end his teaching career before it really started.

Flame me if you want, disagree all you want but that is my opinion and it just goes to show how ridiculously and INSANELY uptight society is.

I was actually thinking the same thing.

 

[crazytp93]

you know what...this just goes to show how uptight people are today.

i COMPLETELY disagree that he should've been fired/resigned.
and flame me all you want but I REALLY don't care.

kids were laughing in the video, the teacher was OBVIOUSLY not ACTUALLY fighting to kid, he didn't hurt him, he wasn'T REALLY punching him, it was fake. Like the fake fighting that probably happens in your drama class.
It looks like the kind of roughhousing you;d do with your crazy uncle or your dad. NOTHING SERIOUS.

It's called active learning, and it helps kids who have trouble comprehending materials. Obviously he didn't bring the kid up and start pretend fighting him out of nowhere. We don't know the context of that video, but I'm SURE there was a point to that demonstration.

In HS I had young teachers like that, the kind of teachers that would be learning FUN and you know what, those are the teachers I will always remember. The young, energetic teachers who were entusiastic about teaching. From the intereviews it seems like that is how this teacher was.

So I think it is RIDICULOUS that he had to end his teaching career before it really started.

Flame me if you want, disagree all you want but that is my opinion and it just goes to show how ridiculously and INSANELY uptight society is.

Your entitled to your opinion.

But for me, you can't learn by putting a student in a headlock, like the teacher did here. What's the purpose of the re-enactment, and what are they learning from it?

Also, the boy told his family he was "embarassed."

 

[OneTreeHill]

I think he should have been fired.
I understadn it wasn't like, real fighting, but he put the kid in a headlock.
And whether it was real or not, it was still happening.
Teacher's shouldn't reenact things like that.
It's wrong.

 

[BabyPiglet]

I think the teacher was trying to do a 'different' version of teaching but it's just common sense not fight with your students. He probably should have thought it over more before doing it.

 

[CandyHead]

I think it's insane how he quit instead he should have been fired that is ridiculous.

This is one of the reasons I'm homeschooled LOL

 

[meeshheartsdisney217]

i wanna know what kind of punishment the kid is getting for having his cell phone on in class.

 

[STOPxmickeytime]

I mean, possibly not the best idea to get SO hands on in the fake fight.
But I definetly believe it was an effective learning tool, no way the students are going to forget that.

He shouldn't have been forced to resign.

 

[VMK_MagicalLadee]

He resigned?

Uhm..
We do this all the time.
Tis called. ACTING..

Are all my teachers gonna be fired? no.
We know its acting.

 

[PrincessEeyore]

you know what...this just goes to show how uptight people are today.

i COMPLETELY disagree that he should've been fired/resigned.
and flame me all you want but I REALLY don't care.

kids were laughing in the video, the teacher was OBVIOUSLY not ACTUALLY fighting to kid, he didn't hurt him, he wasn'T REALLY punching him, it was fake. Like the fake fighting that probably happens in your drama class.
It looks like the kind of roughhousing you;d do with your crazy uncle or your dad. NOTHING SERIOUS.

It's called active learning, and it helps kids who have trouble comprehending materials. Obviously he didn't bring the kid up and start pretend fighting him out of nowhere. We don't know the context of that video, but I'm SURE there was a point to that demonstration.

In HS I had young teachers like that, the kind of teachers that would be learning FUN and you know what, those are the teachers I will always remember. The young, energetic teachers who were entusiastic about teaching. From the intereviews it seems like that is how this teacher was.

So I think it is RIDICULOUS that he had to end his teaching career before it really started.

Flame me if you want, disagree all you want but that is my opinion and it just goes to show how ridiculously and INSANELY uptight society is.

I agree 100%. All the teacher was doing was ACTING!!! Like DramaQueen said, this happens in drama class, why not English class? Its obvious the techer didn't just pull the kid out of his chair and begin to fight him. He played along! If he was unsuspecting of the fight, would he honestly have fought back for as long as he did? And the class sit there the entire time laughing? The teacher was using an active method to teach. My history teacher teaches activley too. And I can say I remeber what I learned in his class a whole lottttt more than what I learn I chemistry or algebra because those teachers are broing. It was a 15 second cell phone clip, what proof is there?

i wanna know what kind of punishment the kid is getting for having his cell phone on in class.

I was wondering the exact same thing.

 

[imabrat]

you know what...this just goes to show how uptight people are today.

i COMPLETELY disagree that he should've been fired/resigned.
and flame me all you want but I REALLY don't care.

kids were laughing in the video, the teacher was OBVIOUSLY not ACTUALLY fighting to kid, he didn't hurt him, he wasn'T REALLY punching him, it was fake. Like the fake fighting that probably happens in your drama class.
It looks like the kind of roughhousing you;d do with your crazy uncle or your dad. NOTHING SERIOUS.

It's called active learning, and it helps kids who have trouble comprehending materials. Obviously he didn't bring the kid up and start pretend fighting him out of nowhere. We don't know the context of that video, but I'm SURE there was a point to that demonstration.

In HS I had young teachers like that, the kind of teachers that would be learning FUN and you know what, those are the teachers I will always remember. The young, energetic teachers who were entusiastic about teaching. From the intereviews it seems like that is how this teacher was.

So I think it is RIDICULOUS that he had to end his teaching career before it really started.

Flame me if you want, disagree all you want but that is my opinion and it just goes to show how ridiculously and INSANELY uptight society is.

ITA!
Society is waaay too uptight these days.
Pretty soon children are gonna be shipped off to school in bubble wrap,just so they don't get a boo-boo.

As for learning,I learn this way.
If we're reading a novel in class,and say there is a fight scene,some don't understand the full emotion behind it.
I know personally I need to SEE something to fully comprehend it.

 

[StitchfansJr]

you know what...this just goes to show how uptight people are today.

i COMPLETELY disagree that he should've been fired/resigned.
and flame me all you want but I REALLY don't care.

kids were laughing in the video, the teacher was OBVIOUSLY not ACTUALLY fighting to kid, he didn't hurt him, he wasn'T REALLY punching him, it was fake. Like the fake fighting that probably happens in your drama class.
It looks like the kind of roughhousing you;d do with your crazy uncle or your dad. NOTHING SERIOUS.

It's called active learning, and it helps kids who have trouble comprehending materials. Obviously he didn't bring the kid up and start pretend fighting him out of nowhere. We don't know the context of that video, but I'm SURE there was a point to that demonstration.

In HS I had young teachers like that, the kind of teachers that would be learning FUN and you know what, those are the teachers I will always remember. The young, energetic teachers who were entusiastic about teaching. From the intereviews it seems like that is how this teacher was.

So I think it is RIDICULOUS that he had to end his teaching career before it really started.

Flame me if you want, disagree all you want but that is my opinion and it just goes to show how ridiculously and INSANELY uptight society is.

I agree with you

i wanna know what kind of punishment the kid is getting for having his cell phone on in class.

I was wondering about that also..

 

[Loves Disney]

My $.02 - In teaching, the act of touching a student in any way shape or form is a delicate subject. For one thing, it is expected that teachers do not place a hand on any of their students. Of course, this rule (such as the j-walking rule) is not enforced much when it comes to a teacher simply placing a hand on a student's shoulder - however, there comes a point where the rule becomes enforced and it's usually more or less when students or parents complain. Then it becomes an issue. The kid claimed to have felt embarrassed and that's enough of a reason to make this situation not right. I don't agree with what this teacher did as I believe teachers should hold a level of professionalism in the classroom and respect a student's personal space...but I do think the teacher's intention of making the lesson a bit more interesting through unorthodox methods is okay. It's a difficult area to judge but in this case, I'd have to say I agree with the people who say the teacher was in the wrong...simply because I don't know exactly what happened in the classroom and I don't know what people were saying - looks can be deceiving - I cannot make the assumption that the student in the demonstration was enjoying it.

 

[llama62]

High school reading Animal Farm? I'm in 8th grade and my class read that book this year...

 

[Saintzgurl]

wow...

 

[chevyxxroks]

wow.​