Children sometimes fight, even girls. Therefore, when a child comes home with a black eye and mutters under his breath that he got into a fight with Petya because he called him names, the parents, of course, are upset and maybe even call Petya’s parents, but they are not surprised. But what if a child claims that the teacher raised his hand against him? How to prevent psychological trauma and aversion to school in this case and where to turn? The Daily Baby author sat down with legal and psychological experts to find out.
General description of unpleasant situations in the educational process
Teachers who kick children out of class for bad behavior, take away phones, publicly read personal correspondence, give a low grade simply because the child was absent from class or did not arrive on time, forget that they are breaking the law.
Parents often have to deal with the fact that their children complain about the actions of teachers. Your initial task should be to protect the interests of your child and defend his rights. But! It is also important to keep a line and not quarrel with the school administration out of the blue. It should be noted that recently the level of legal awareness of both school teachers, students, and their parents has noticeably increased, and this is good. However, situations where teachers use non-pedagogical methods still occur. Particular care should be taken when applying illegal measures of punishment and education.
As stated in the Law “On Education”, a teacher has the right to choose and use teaching and educational methods at his own discretion. The most important thing is that pedagogical boundaries are not violated.
We cannot ignore the fact that children are different, each child has his own character and upbringing. But one thing is for sure, the use of violence, whether physical or psychological, is strictly prohibited. Many parents are interested in what to do if a teacher hits a student? Under no circumstances should such incidents be ignored. This can happen again, and most importantly, negatively affect the child’s psychological state and lower his self-esteem.
Everyone is neurotic
Photo: RIA Novosti/Anton Unitsyn
Children have now changed in many ways, and past periods - the same 80s - should not be compared with what we have now, says Evgeny Yamburg:
– According to the Union of Pediatricians, only 12% of today's children are absolutely healthy. This does not mean that all the others are profoundly disabled, but they have characteristics - developmental delays, attention deficit disorder. And psychoneurology comes first here. These are not always mental diagnoses, but often they are features.
Neuroticism has increased incredibly in society in general. Everyone is neurotic now - parents, children. In the children's community, all this is induced, even in kindergarten.
Our own micro-study showed how neurotic four-year-old children are now. Of course, they still do not understand much of what is being said around them, but they feel very subtly. And we have only enemies all around us.
Our population, and not just children, needs long-term therapy. Because we turn on the TV and there are adults yelling at each other on a talk show, no one hears anyone. And what Okudzhava wrote about - “the holy science of hearing each other” does not exist today.
How should a teacher behave?
What should he do? Someone will say that a teacher must be a competent psychologist, must delve into the problems of children, find an individual approach to each child and there will be happiness! Yes, I agree, this method works.
But a teacher is not required to be a psychologist, and the entire range of services listed should not be the teacher’s responsibilities. The teacher must give knowledge! And the behavior of students should be controlled by the parents of the children, this is their responsibility.
But nothing, under the current legislation, nothing can be done with children.
You can completely devote yourself to work, give all of yourself for 20 000
rubles per month. But if you give all of yourself to other people's children at school, what will remain yours? An emotionally exhausted mother coming home after work is not a good thing, especially when it happens every day.
You can ignore all problems and endure, and this is a more correct approach. Until we introduce punishments for this behavior of children, nothing will change. And it doesn’t matter what the punishment will be:
- severe penalties for children's misbehavior;
- give the teacher the right to kick children out of class without consequences for the teacher;
- expulsion from school for bad behavior;
- or something else.
Previously there were TsOM
s
youth education centers
. The most problematic children were sent there and specialists in such children worked with them. In the schools themselves there were correction classes, where the most inveterate students were also sent. Now this allegedly insults children and such measures are a thing of the past.
Instead of a total
In any case, it is important for the parent to understand the situation, not to be afraid that other teachers will turn against their child because of the proceedings, and not to downplay the importance of what happened, even if the teacher’s actions did not leave the student with a scratch.
In some cases, it is better to transfer the child to another school, especially if he himself asks for it. Sometimes, in order for everything to return to normal, a conversation and support is enough, as well as the removal of the offending teacher from work, but in some cases, parents have serious work ahead of them so that their child stops feeling afraid and loves school again.
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Experts: Ksenia Shcherbinina Olga Alekseevna Nyankina Vadim Kudryavtsev Olga Sviridova
Is physical punishment possible for a student?
The Education Law states that physical or psychological punishment of a student is unacceptable. Even if a child behaves inappropriately and uses physical violence against the teacher, the teacher has no right to respond in kind. If an adult allows himself to slap, hit, grab the hand or apply psychological pressure on a troublemaker, he will bear disciplinary, civil, and often criminal liability for his actions.
Parents can contact authorities and provide evidence of physical abuse of the child. Then the teacher will find himself in a difficult position. Based on this, the teacher has many responsibilities, but his rights are limited. He must find a different approach to a student who expresses a negative attitude towards an adult. But hitting a child is absolutely ineffective and even contraindicated!
But again, all this is life and most of the teachers I know do not act as required by law, they beat children with notebooks. Many have come up with an excuse, saying that Makarenko bequeathed: if the theory of emotional outcry does not work, then physical punishment is inevitable.
This requires a detailed analysis of the situation. If a teenager shows aggression, then there are reasons for this and you need to understand them, and not yell like a victim, hit them with notebooks, or give bad grades.
What the law says
The Law “On Education” establishes humanism and the priority of values generally recognized by society as the basic principles of teaching: health, self-expression, personal development.
In addition to the right to life, freedom of speech and education, the Constitution of the Russian Federation confirms the fact that a person’s personality is protected by the state and no one has the right to humiliate human dignity .
The “Model Regulations on an Educational Institution” of the Government of the Russian Federation states that every student claims to be treated with respect , his views and beliefs, which he has the right to freely express.
Educational programs should pursue the goals of developing the child’s personal qualities in accordance with his natural abilities, effective interaction with the teacher and peers, and respect for free self-expression.
Assault at school is regarded as intentional harm to health. The severity of the injuries determines under what article the offender will be prosecuted.
Thus, there are a number of legal provisions on beatings and beatings:
- Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation records the intentional infliction of grievous harm to health, which entails loss of vision, hearing, body parts, acquisition of psychological trauma or disability;
- Art. 112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes intentional harm to health of moderate severity;
- Art. 115 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation indicates intentional infliction of minor harm to health;
- Art. 116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is applied in cases where beatings do not cause direct harm to health, but are only the cause of painful sensations (beatings);
- Art. 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation suppresses systematic assault (or torture).
Torture is considered to be the systematic infliction of physical or mental force, which does not entail the consequences fixed by Art. 111-112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
The punishment is tougher in cases where the crime is committed against a minor, poor, helpless person, or a person taken hostage.
Those who commit beatings and torture based on considerations of superiority - political, ideological, racial, religious, etc. are also strictly punished.
Moreover, in Art. 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation states that the guilt of the offender is aggravated if the harm was caused to the child by a person obliged to raise him and protect his rights in accordance with Art. 64 RF IC. These are considered to be parents, teachers, doctors, guardians and other legal representatives.
If a teacher hits a student while intoxicated by drugs or alcohol, this is also an aggravation of the offense, increasing the sentence.
Actions of parents who want to stop violence against their child
First, try to resolve the conflict within the educational institution; for this you will need to involve the director and psychologist. If negotiations and attempts to resolve everything peacefully do not produce results, then it makes sense to file a complaint with the police, and if necessary, then with the court. There are situations when the personal data of a teacher is unknown to parents. In this case, law enforcement officers carry out a number of activities aimed at identifying the culprit of the incident. After the victim and the accused party have been questioned, all materials are supported by an indictment and sent to the court.
The basis for initiating a criminal case is the statement of the parent; the period of inquiry according to the law should not exceed 30 days. Before the case is transferred to court, the investigator approves the indictment, which is done by the prosecutor. He has the right to confirm the indictment or return it for additional inquiry.
If you want to win your case, spend some money and hire a good lawyer. The fact is that not everyone knows how to properly submit an application to the court, how to collect the package of necessary documents, and the evidence base. An experienced lawyer who understands the intricacies of jurisprudence can help with this. In addition, he knows how to behave correctly at a meeting, how to answer questions, and will be able to teach you this. By establishing cooperation, you can easily achieve what you want and punish the teacher who offended your child and possibly other children.
As for what criteria you should use to choose a lawyer, the main ones are:
- the level of education;
- positive experience;
- qualification;
- the ability to defend one’s point of view and convince;
- literacy.
Procedure when a teacher hits a student
Conflicts between students and teachers arise in many countries, for example, in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, etc. Russia is also no exception. If we talk about what can provoke a teacher to use physical force on a child, for example, hit him on the head, then there are many reasons.
It is known that children’s behavior often leaves much to be desired, and if the teacher was unable to organize the educational process properly, then it will be difficult to control the students. Constant psychological stress, possible bullying from schoolchildren or a nervous breakdown can cause the teacher to stop keeping himself within limits.
Note: no matter how children behave, the teacher has no right to use physical force against them.
When a student’s parents learn about the teacher’s actions, their first instinct is to contact the police. But in practice it is better to wait with the application. First, you need to resolve the conflict within the school by contacting the administration to clarify the circumstances. If the teacher is really guilty, then she will definitely bear responsibility.
If the case cannot be resolved peacefully, then the rights of these parents can be restored in court. Naturally, the process takes a long time. But if there is a need to stop and punish a teacher, then you should contact law enforcement agencies. The procedure consists of the following steps:
- registration and submission of a statement to the police;
- collection of evidence of beating (medical examination).
The application should describe in detail the circumstances of the case, indicate the personal information of the teacher and possible witnesses, as well as other important information. You can contact an experienced lawyer. The parent of the injured student can recover moral damages from the teacher. To do this, you should prepare and file an appropriate lawsuit.
Punishment for beating by an employee of an educational institution
Raising a teacher's hand to a child during a lesson can be classified as beating, but this is the case if there are no obvious bodily injuries. As for situations where the injuries received have varying degrees of severity, the qualification of the offense is determined by the level of harm caused.
What punishment can a teacher suffer? If the crime does not have qualifying characteristics, then the court may oblige him to pay a fine of up to 40 thousand rubles or three months’ salary. A preventive measure can also be involvement in compulsory labor or correctional labor. In the first case, the maximum period is 360 hours, in the second 6 months. A more severe way to punish a teacher is to place him under arrest for up to three months.
The aggravating circumstances of the case are:
- hooligan urges;
- the presence of a motive of racial, national, ideological, political hostility;
- hatred.
If the investigation showed that at least one of the above circumstances occurred, then punishment can be applied in the form of compulsory, corrective, forced labor (up to 360 hours, 1 year, 2 years). This can also be a restriction of freedom for a maximum of two years, arrest for up to six months, or imprisonment for a term of about two years.
Attention! According to the law, the punishment for beatings is quite serious. If you even just threaten the teacher with prosecution, then he will no longer have the desire to offend your child.
Not so often, but there are still situations when a student is beaten systematically, in this case we are talking about torture. Even if there are no qualifying signs, this entails restriction of freedom, forced labor or imprisonment for a period of three years in all cases.
This offense without qualifying features may entail:
- fine - up to 40,000 rubles or in the amount of the defendant’s earnings for up to 3 months;
- compulsory work - up to 360 hours;
- correctional labor - up to 6 months;
- arrest - up to 3 months.
If the above acts were carried out out of hooligan motives or on the basis of racial, political, national, ideological or religious enmity or hatred, or on the basis of enmity or hatred against any social group, then the punishment occurs in the form of:
- compulsory work up to 360 hours;
- correctional labor for up to 1 year;
- restrictions of freedom up to 2 years;
- forced labor for up to 2 years;
- arrest up to 6 months;
- imprisonment for up to 2 years.
The punishment for beating is quite harsh and even if you threaten to be held accountable for this, the teacher will lose the desire to offend your child.
If a child is systematically beaten, then we can talk about torture. Such actions without qualifying signs entail:
- restriction of freedom - up to 3 years;
- forced labor - up to 3 years;
- imprisonment - up to 3 years.
If a teacher beats a student and the beating is minor, then you must first try to resolve the conflict in the educational institution with the involvement of the director and psychologist. If the negotiations did not lead to the desired result, then it is necessary to file a statement regarding this fact to the police or directly to the court.
- lawyer
If all the teacher’s personal data is not completely known, then in practice they contact the police, police officers take measures aimed at identifying the guilty person, most often these are only interrogations of the victim and the suspect, and transfer the materials with the indictment to the court.
In this category of cases, a criminal case is initiated directly at the request of the victim (legal representative) and the investigation period should not exceed 1 month. Before transferring the case to court, the investigator approves the indictment from the prosecutor. The latter has the right to confirm the indictment or return the criminal case for additional inquiry.
If the perpetrator is known and his personal information is available, then a statement regarding the beating can be sent directly to the magistrate’s court.
The application is submitted to the judicial authority with copies according to the number of persons against whom a private prosecution case is to be initiated. The application contains information that the applicant has been notified of criminal liability for knowingly false denunciation.
The application must indicate the name of the court and its address. It is necessary to describe the crime event, its time, place and circumstances of its implementation, the request for acceptance of materials for production, personal information about the victim, his passport information, personal information of the suspect, a list of witnesses called, the signature of the applicant.
If the beatings are systematic, then in this case we can talk about torture. Torture is not a matter of private prosecution and is of a public nature, therefore a criminal case can be opened not only at the request of the victim (legal representative), but also on the basis of documents identifying the crime, for example, on the basis of a police officer’s report on the discovery of signs (or composition) crimes.
An application to the police department regarding the fact of torture is submitted in any form, however, it must clearly indicate the contact and passport details of the applicant, describe the crime event (date, time, place, alleged criminal) and make a note that the applicant is aware of the fact that a false denunciation entails liability under Article 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
. This statement can be made orally to a police officer, which is recorded in the protocol. The specified document is signed by the applicant and the person who accepted the application (drawing up the protocol).
What responsibilities await teachers?
The degree of liability of a teacher who hits a child varies depending on the extent of the damage caused.
We talked about the classification of degrees of crime severity above.
So, if an employee of an educational institution did not hit a student so hard that it was possible to record bodily injuries of varying degrees, and such an incident was not repeated, this is beating.
Punishment for beatings may be as follows:
- up to 360 hours of compulsory labor;
- up to one year of correctional labor;
- up to two years of restriction of freedom;
- up to two years of forced labor;
- up to 6 months
- up to 24 months imprisonment.
If a teacher systematically beats a student or punishes children with assault, then it would be appropriate to hold them accountable for torture . In this case, the employee is deprived of his freedom, forced to work or endure restriction of freedom for a period of 3 to 7 years.
Punishment for a teacher’s misconduct requires a detailed investigation. Each situation is individual, the degree of responsibility and the term of punishment depend on the results of the investigation.
It will not be possible to avoid punishment even if there is psychological trauma or a state of passion provoked by the immoral behavior of the student at the time of the injury.
This is stated in Article 113 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Punishment in this case is also provided in the form of correctional, forced, deprivation and restriction of freedom of the teacher for an average of up to two years.
Pedagogical methods must be built in accordance with the legislative acts of the Russian Federation. Otherwise, questions may arise about compliance with the rights of the child in the educational institution and the competence of the teaching staff.
How to protect a child from unlawful actions on the part of a teacher
For a child, physical violence from a teacher is a serious psychological trauma. Therefore, parents are obliged to do everything right and not aggravate this conflict. On the other hand, not taking any measures is also wrong. If the school administration has ignored the parents’ appeal, and the police are in no hurry to take the case to court, it makes sense to transfer the child to another educational institution.
Parents of students who become victims of nervous teachers should not only be indignant and demand punishment for the teacher. It is important to understand that not a single teacher, if everything is in order with his psyche, will beat a student. But if you provoke it, which modern children are quite capable of, then something similar can happen. This problem is not only to blame for the teacher, but also for the parents, the lack of disciplinary measures to control the behavior of children, and much more.
Teachers who beat children need to be punished in different ways. If it is just a nervous breakdown, then it is quite enough to fire the person. But if there are such aggravating factors as hatred (racial or national) and the systematic nature of the beating, then you definitely need to go to the police. The severity of the beatings inflicted on the student also influences the punishment.
Higher authorities
There are often cases when the director’s answer does not satisfy the child’s parents.
The most effective remedy against a boorish teacher and school management who turn a blind eye to what is happening is a complaint to the Department of Education. It exists at the local level (municipality) and at a higher level – regional (subject of the federation).
The lower the level, the faster the review will take place. Each application must be accompanied by a copy of the response from the lower authority.
Contacting official organizations will necessarily entail verification. If the facts stated in your complaint are confirmed, not only the teacher, but also the director will be punished. As a rule, disciplinary liability is imposed on the teacher, and administrative liability is imposed on the management.
