Peripheral Perspective

Teachers abusing their students has increasingly become a serious problem.

Either that or, because the trauma and travesty are appearing in the news more and more, what has been secret for years is now becoming more exposed.

I remember one day in high school, during a history class, I was awakened from a bored and peaceful slumber behind my text book to hear a student exercising his free speach. He was cussing out the teacher, a Mr. Metcalf while the teacher in turn was giving it right back.

The teacher and student faced off where they met, half way between the teacher's and the student's desk, where-upon the teacher grabbed the student by the ear and, with student on tip toes, marched the student out of the class.

The cliche' "you could have heard a pin drop" doesn't say enough for the silence in the class room, disturbed only by the gasps of the girls as some covered their mouths in amazement as it soon became apparent to us that there was a serious altercation going on out in the hallway.

We could hear continued yelling, out-ranked only by the clatter which we could only assume was caused by one or more bodies slamming against the student locker doors which lined the hallway outside.

The silence was more complete when all of a sudden, after one final scream and thud, the noises in the hallway suddenly ceased.

We were frozen in our seats. Some of us looked at each other in disbelief ... then looked back at the door.

It seemed like an eternity as the door opened slowly and none were ready for the shock of what we saw.

In thru the door calmly walked both teacher and student.