The Editor, Sir:

In response to a letter from Pat Bignall published on November 9, I would like to begin by agreeing with Ms./Mr. Bignall that the job of teachers really is an onerous one. I know as I am a teacher.

Identifying disruptive children is not a problem. It's the lying and the really sneaky and selfish ones that are hard to weed out. At some point in EVERY class, your back will be turned to the students. This should be minimised as much as possible.

However, from my own experiences, I have been in classes where students have been hit in the eye or in the head by objects thrown across the room.

The weird thing is that there are times when these bottles of glue or whatever object tend to just throw themselves across the room. There are times when the students will identify the culprit, but then there are times when they will not and certainly the guilty party will not give himself or herself up.

What do you do then? What do you tell a parent whose child is injured in a class and NOBODY is responsible for it?

What would you want to hear? "You know I was unable to identify the culprit, so hush". The teacher usually is put under added pressure by parents who 'want justice' and criticised just as you have said for not being 'in control'.

With the best efforts of teachers, we still can't control everything.We can only create strategies to minimise these occurrences.

Tell us what to do when a child is hurt or some major disruption takes place in a class and nobody will admit to being responsible. Should we ignore it?

What message are we sending then? When you are ready to give some practical suggestions let me know.

I am, etc.,

VALENTINA McKENZIE

justenkas@gmail.com

Via Go-Jamaica