Rights and Responsibilities

Rights and Responsibilities

Tiffoney Greene

Axia of Phoenix University

Contemporary Issues in American Education

Dr. Mac

Due Date: March 30, 2008

































A teacher’s responsibility in the classroom and the rights of the students in the classroom are very important issue in education in this day and age. The responsibility
Of the teacher and the rights of students directly affect one another. Class field trips are situations where the rights of the students and the responsibilities of the teacher come together. As teachers, we are liable for each child; therefore it is our job to ensure the safety of all the children in the classroom and on field trips. While, taking into consideration of all aspects of a field trip in-order to ensure the safety of all students, as well as, foreseeing any obstacles or hazards that the children may incur while in our supervision. We act as a second set of parents to our students; by saying this, we would not like our own children get hurt by a foreseen problem, therefore, we should not let our students get hurt by a foreseen problem. We will be held liable for the children, while negligence is a failure to implement due care for our students. Consequently, our negligence of supervision for our students away from school will result in a law suit, as well as injured children. We will be held accountable for foreseeable harm to our children; therefore field trips should be made safe as possible.
Students have rights as well; we look to due process, which is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Due process falls under two headings, procedural and substantive. Procedural due process has to do with disciplinary issues and allows expulsion and sustentions to be examined, while substantive due process has to do with the constitutional rights of the student such as personal liberty, property and privacy.
Children have a right to attend school; however, they must follow the rules and regulations of the school itself.
In my opinion, it is reasonable to infringe on student’s rights for the sake of the learning environment. Although, students have freedom of speech, which is their constitutional right and is apart of substantive due process; for that reason, this gives students the right to say almost what they want to as long as their words doesn’t hurt or disrupt the class. I a situation where to arise where gang members are in our classroom bullying a students and holding up gang signs with their hands, as well as scaring the bullied student. It would be necessary for us to contravene the gang member’s constitutional rights in-order to keep a safe environment for the rest of the students in the classroom. Since the Columbine incident the U.S. Congress set forth the ‘No Tolerance Policy,’ which gives us the ability to breach substantive due process in-order to retain and keep a safe environment for the students.
My son was involved in a incident like this. Montana was being bullied everyday at school; as the situation unfolded, I watched my son’s grades fall and he lost interest in school as well as he would try to pretend being sick in-order not to go to school. I couldn’t understand why his grades were falling and the decline in his school motivation. Finally, one day Montana told me that he was being bullied around at school by gang members. My son was being threatened and picked on everyday, meanwhile nobody was doing anything about it and this was because he was afraid to tell the teacher. The gang member told my son that they would kill him if he reported them to anybody. Once, I was told about the situation, I contacted his teacher and the principle of the school. Due to the ‘No Tolerance’ policy, the gang members where suspended from school. Ironically, after Montana came forward about the gang member other children also came forward because


They too were being bullied by the members. Just like my son, the children were threatened and afraid, which led to the expulsions of the gang members. Back then, I had no idea about the ‘No Tolerance’ policy, nevertheless, it was the policy itself that was used to protect my son and the other children, meanwhile, ensuring a safe, peaceful learning environment for the children.
Students’ rights might override a teacher's responsibility to maintain a safe learning environment, when a teacher brings a gun to school for protection. If a situation unfolds where a teacher has gang members in their classroom and the gang members have threatened the teacher numerous times, as well as the gang members have been suspended because of the threatening remarks and gestures; as a result, the teacher now fears for her life and decided to bring a gun to school for protection. Even though, the teacher is afraid for her life and the gun is strictly for protection, however, it is the right of the student to have a safe classroom or learning environment; having said this, many would believe the gun in the classroom to be unsafe, which would deem the teacher negligent and breach substantive due process by making the classroom unsafe. The foreseeable hazard of having a gun in the classroom would also make the teacher liable for negligence. However; in my opinion, if a teacher fears for her life because of disorderly, uncontrollable gang members, who have threatened and been suspended several times should permanently be removed from her class or expelled because of their
Conduct. No teacher should fear for her life.



Written By: Tiffoney Greene
1470 river run rd
selma nc 27576