"Legal Issues Facing New Teachers"

I've attended a webinar under the title of "Legal Issues Facing New Teachers" that was basically about what teachers should do when confronted with certain situations.
The speaker first discussed that there are two types of new teachers; those who don't know the law and those who are afraid of being sued. The first type of teachers don't have the knowledge of what is acceptable by law and what is not, so they are most likely to be aggressive because they want to keep order and they don't want to see rule breakers. Those teachers may get into troubles because they over practice their rights while keeping order in schools. On the other hand, there are teachers who are afraid to catch rule breakers and to keep order since they may get sued. Those teachers try to avoid doing something with students who break the rules and ignore the complaints reported to them by others.

An issue discussed was about suspecting students and when it is reasonable to do so. First he mentioned that teachers in general and new teachers in particular deal with students based on rumors.This is true a lot of times; teachers sometimes take information about students from other teachers who talk about their students. Sometimes new teachers take the wrong image about the students and thus treat them on that basis which can cause problems for both teachers and students. Therefore teachers need to have an 'individualized suspicion' based on individual real experiences.
Some suspicions lead teachers to violate rules by searching students and over practice their rights. For instance, teachers may search students phones which can lead to further problems with the law, whether the schools' laws or the government laws. Teachers should avoid this.

An advice for teachers when they take something that belongs to students away was that they should lock it up!  The speaker added that things might get stolen which can put teachers under lots of troubles. And as a personal opinion here, I think that when teachers take something away from students, even a simple game that doesn't need to be locked up, they need to put it out of sight because students might not stop asking for it or trying to take it back. 

Additionally, teachers should not touch students except for four main reasons; when students are going to hurt themselves, when they are about to hurt someone else, when they are about to destroy property, and to maintain order. However, some believe that teachers need to provide students with care and love. The speaker mentions that teachers can do that by many ways where they don't need to hug students. Teachers can use high five or a fist bump. Other attendees who participated in this webinar also mentioned nice ideas like an 'air hug' which is like a virtual hug or a hug from a distance.

How can teachers deal with Bullying?
Everywhere in the world we hear about the issue of bullying. In my opinion, it is found a lot around us but it is somehow hidden unlike in other countries in the west. The main point is that teachers need to report bullying behaviors to the administration right away and immediately so that problems are solved on spot. Also, teachers need to immediately ask the bully to stop unacceptable behaviors and/or speech. They can also report what goes on to parents (hot lining parents) which also keeps a communication between teachers and parents who can provide help in eliminating problems. Teachers can play the role of mandated reporters. Also, teachers can report bullying to students counselors in schools. He also advises teachers to 'report' not 'investigate' because in this situation, bullying, teachers' roles end with reporting what has happened.

Many students have allergies in which some of them might face serious illness because of eating something they shouldn't eat. Teachers should be trained at the beginning of the year to know how to deal with cases of allergies.

An important issue that was discussed is confidentiality. Teachers must care about privacy and must keep information about students to those who have the right to know. He mentioned the Family Educational Right and Privacy Act (FERPA) that gives students and families the right of keeping information about students private. It happens a lot when teachers just sit together and gossip about students or even sending e-mails about students. Teachers need to respect the privacy of their students.

Toward the end of the webinar, the speaker  discussed dealing or breaking up fights. When confronted with real physical fights, teachers also need to break them up physically by approaching students and hold them back. Teachers can start with verbally asking students to stop the fight. If the situation continues, teachers can interfere and can call for help from an adult. He says that in many cases the winner wants to continue while the loser just wants the fight to be over. So, a teacher can figure out who is winning and grab him/her away.

Teachers might face a lot of different issues regarding dealing with students and maintaining order. They have the rights to stop any unaccepted behavior, however they need to be careful concerning how to deal with students in order not to over practice their rights. Many issues can lead to problems that cause teachers to be sued. Problems can reach outside school, so it's important to know how to deal with different situations, and there are a lot of websites and organizations that advise and provide help for teachers.
Teachers can visit the following website: www.edweb.net/new teacher help