A ninth grader brutally attacks a veteran high school teacher, leaving her hospitalized with multiple injuries, including a broken leg
- A teaching assistant was taken to hospital with a broken leg after a student was attacked
- Tiwana Turner confronted the Rockdale County student about ‘off-task behavior’
A ninth grade student in Rockdale County, Georgia has been charged with aggravated assault after assaulting his high school teacher.
Video footage shows a student arguing with Tiwana Turner, an English language arts teacher, in a classroom at Heritage High School on January 26.
Ms Turner suffered knee and leg injuries, as well as a broken leg.
She said on a GoFundMe page that she was trying to “redirect”. […] Off-task behavior” when she was physically assaulted by the student.
The president of the Georgia Federation of Teachers said she thinks students and parents should be held accountable as violence against teachers appears to be on the rise.
The student raises her hands to her teacher while Turner extends her arms in defense
Ms Turner reportedly reported on a class on the morning of January 26 instead of a colleague.
She spoke about her behavior to a student who stood up and attacked her.
Thrown to the ground by the student, she was rushed to hospital and appears to need extensive rehabilitation before she can return to work.
She can be seen in the video trying to defuse the situation and avoid the conflict.
She stretches out her hands to stop the student, around 14-15 years old, from attacking her.
As the student grabs her hair, Ms. Turner puts her hand in front of the student’s face.
She is then pulled to the ground and later shown being moved away from the student.
The student imagined attacking her high school teacher, who was left with a broken leg
Public school teacher Tiwana Turner has taught public education for the past 27 years
Verdaillia Turner, president of the Georgia Federation of Teachers, told Fox 5 Atlanta she was upset by the video and that incidents like this directly contribute to the nationwide teacher shortage.
“Students are out of control […] There is no excuse for the violence […] There is no excuse for children who come to our school on a daily basis and wreak havoc so that other students cannot learn,” she told the outlet.
A survey of nearly 15,000 pre-12th grade teachers from 2020-2021 found that a third of teachers said they had experienced at least one incident of verbal harassment or threats of violence from students during the period.
In 2020, 10% of teachers said students threatened them with harm.
Another six percent said they had been physically assaulted by a student.
You can support Tiwana Turner’s recovery through GoFundMe here.