>

This really hits home for me.
I have a 6 year old who is a few sizes larger than his peers. We took him to one karate class and were told he punched too hard and had to be put with the older kids. He is just physically much more imposing than anyone his age. My biggest fear, since his birth, was that he could be the bully, or worse. That he would resort to violence.
As it turns out, he is a big softy, like his old man. He loves to dance, and to play, and to be with his friends. To me, he is the light you hope to have in your life.
All that being said: we do not own firearms, but if we did, I would still lock those up tight so he could not get them. To do any less would be irresponsible in the extreme.
I hope the teacher gets every penny. I hope the kid gets the counseling and whatever he needs to turn his life around, if that's even possible. I hope those parents are held criminally liable for their son's actions. And hopefully some action can be taken by schools to fix situations like these.
goddamn,  sounds absolutely premeditated.  
"Two days before the shooting, the boy allegedly “slammed” Zwerner’s cellphone and broke it, according to the claim notice. He was given a one-day suspension, but when he returned to Zwerner’s class the following day, he pulled a 9mm handgun out of his pocket and shot her while she sat at a reading table, the notice says." >

Well, yeah, he brought a gun. 
I wonder if there were any risk assessments done for concerning behaviour? 
That’s what would happen in a Canadian school. >

So here's what we learned from other articles:
- another student warned the front office about it because he had shown bullets to other students before he shot her
-the teacher warned the office about issues after the phone was taken, the front office said "it's end of day so nothing we can do"
-the parents claimed the child was in a program and was supposed to be in the class with him, but wasn't that day. 
-parents claim the gun was locked up...(qustionable). 
So basically there was a lot that wasn't done, but there was a lot of warning. >

That part about the front office doing nothing checks out. In my brief time working at public schools several kids engaged in violently disruptive behavior and the general response was - handle it yourself. >

That must be a US-specific thing.
I know Canadian parents may claim the front office does nothing, but provided everyone does their job, this is not a thing. >

Goddamn I wish I was a Canadian! >

A six year old who tried to choke a teacher and shot another one.  It just blows my mind.  When I think about what I was up to at 6, that type of behavior didn't even exist in my mind.  So much shit must be wrong with that child that I do not even see a way he could be helped. >

I think it proves they can’t just not do anything with the child. Very complicated situation… >

Conduct disorder? Where tf are the parents? Why are we not hearing about them? >

Cuz they've lawyered up and s/he's told them to shut up. >


s/he’s

IMO using “they” whenever gender is ambiguous is best practice. Not trying to be pedantic/nitpicky tho! >

some of us older kids were taught in school to use she/he in formal writing and that using 'they' as a singular is incorrect and improper.  Before that, 'he' was always used in formal writing, regardless of gender (before my time).  The American English language is pretty GD fluid and once we enter the work force/adult life, we're left behind on how these writing principles are amended.  I, myself, have never refreshed my Little Brown Book.  :-) >


some of us older kids were taught in school to use she/he in formal writing and that using 'they' as a singular is incorrect and improper. 

True, and we were also taught not to split infinitives, or end a sentence with a preposition.
It turns out that all three of these "rules" are equally pants. :) >

Pants/skirts >

In this instance, "pants" = UK slang: rubbish; worthless; poor quality. >

And what's the insanely convoluted reason for this? All English slang has bizarre origins. >

“The teacher requested anonymity because she fears potential retaliation from the school district”
Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!?!? >

Teachers are routinely discouraged from pressing charges when assaulted by students, and subject to retaliation if they ever stand up for themselves. 
Many districts also have very strict policies regarding district employees speaking to the press, and if they don't get fired immediately, they'll definitely be gone as soon as possible (probably the next school year). >

When I was in school one of my classmates was suspended for a week for gluing her hair into a mohawk/fauxhawk. It's insane this violent little shit gets less punishment than her (which she didn't deserve). >

I had a Mohawk as a kid. I got a warning for spraying bright pink the first day I had it. I was told that I couldn’t do color unless it was permanent, but I could keep the style. >

Mohawk was fine, but not the color? Lmao. Arbitrary dress codes are so ridiculous. >

This school district 100% feared being sued by the child's parents over his "rights" to a public education. Now look what happened. I hope she gets a bajillion dollars. >

Oh man lawyers have to be absolutely drooling over every report coming out of this. Hopefully she recovers well medically, because she’s earned herself a vacation forever if she wants it. >

She absolutely deserves early retirement and a good life. 
That said, I work with school admin. Theyre admitting that Covid has caused them to focus not just on the safety and well-being of their students, but their teachers too. Many of them did before, but it’s a whole different ball game now. I hope a lot of them see this situation and realize that it’s not just their students that need to be protected, but their teachers and staffs too. >

I encourage all of you to go lurk at posts on /r/teachers to get an informed look on this situation and the overall state of education surrounding it >

The Teachers subreddit is one of the most depressing things I’ve ever read. I quit teaching almost a decade ago and it was bad then. I can’t imagine how much awful it is now. >

I thought I wanted to be a teacher, so I studied secondary education at university. Was placed at a local high school for my student teaching. 
Changed my major after that. Absolutely got fed up with dealing with admins who won’t act and parents who think their precious babies are beyond reproach.
Put parents in the schools in an educator’s role and let them see first hand what is going on. Maybe then they’ll actually make an attempt to raise decent human beings.
(There are many, many good kids in school. But the bad kids make the job impossible.) >

Jfc. I hope Zwerner sues the shit out of assistant principal Parker’s ass too. Seriously, it took 4 teachers and a guidance counselor to press the issue and this bitch still said “no” to search the kid and calling the police. Unbelievable. >

“That teacher called the school’s office and shared what she knew with a fourth teacher who picked up the phone, the notice stated. The fourth teacher relayed the information to Parker, who said she was aware of the threat and that the student’s backpack had been searched.
The third and fourth teachers conferred again. And the fourth teacher returned to Parker’s office, where a guidance counselor was raising similar concerns about the student having a gun, the notice stated.
The guidance counselor asked if he could search the child for a weapon, to which Parker said “no” because the child’s mother was arriving soon to pick him up, the notice stated.
“Then approximately 45 minutes later Ms. Zwerner was shot in her left hand and upper chest by the shooter,” the notice stated. “Ms. Zwerner was sitting at her reading table when the shooter, who was sitting at his desk, pulled the gun out of his pocket and shot her one time.”
She (Parker) had a guidance counselor in her office and still said “No”.  Man, that’s really fucked up. This kid has serious fucking problems and there shouldn’t have been a firearm in the house, hell, I’d hide the forks.
That poor teacher, I hope she recovers and goes after everyone who was complicit in this. >

The more I hear about this boy and his behavioral problems the more I think he may have conduct disorder. >

The more I hear about him, the more I think he's a poster child of a failed policy that was originally designed to protect at risk students but has in practice robbed schools of their ability to dismiss dangerous ones.  This one just happened to actually be able to successfully act on his impulses.
It's time to go back to easily expelling kids who fight, threaten, or behave aggressively. >

Yup, it's the old "least restrictive environment," issue. >

They expected the PARENTS to come in and be with him in the classroom all day in lieu of actual supports. Everyone failed this kid. >

Everyone, including the teacher that showed up everyday and tried to teach this kid, only to get shot? I don't think I would put blame on the teacher. This kid needed a one-to-one aid or a self-contained classroom with educators trained to handle students with this level of behavioral problems. However, districts don't want to pay for that stuff, and parents push back because they feel it would "ostracize" their child. So what happens? Teachers get to deal with it, while trying to maintain a safe and educational environment for all of the other kids who aren't trying to kill the teacher.  And if a teacher complains about the student, they are told to work on classroom management skills or they are given a bad eval. 
The parents and the admin don't want to deal with kids like this, so the shit rolls downhill to the people with the least power on the system: the teachers. >

The teachers are absolutely not to blame for acts of violence in their classrooms. They don't even have a fraction of the authority they used to. They're unable to actually do anything to mitigate the violence.
In my school, the most they can do is hand out lunch detentions, a single period detention where the teacher also still has no authority. Meaning the kids ignore them and treat it as an indoor recess. >

Something wrong with his medulla oblongata. >

Maybe he’s just angry because he has all them teeth and no toothbrush >

The article says Richmond VA but the school is Richneck in Newport News >

I am dying to see what this kid looks like. I guess we'll finally get to when he kills someone at 14 and gets tried as an adult. Is he huge? I can't believe he was allowed in school, this is so ridiculous.
Uses a pretty sophisticated choke maneuver over a year ago. Smashed his teacher's phone, gets one day of suspension, comes back with a gun and tries to kill her. He obviously sits around seething and plotting killing adults. Good luck with this one, what do you even do? >

Schools haven't been able to easily expel students since IEPs were implemented.  I'm willing to bet you this kid is under one.
They are a good thing for most students, but I'm of the opinion that violent students should not be eligible.
In THEORY, violent or aggressive kids can still be expelled, but in practice, it's too many hoops to jump through and the school isn't going to try and defend why they want to expel Johnny because he was caught trying to stab other students with scissors.  Instead, they'll just put Johnny in a room by himself or move the other students around -- and surprise, his problems are never addressed. >

Previous articles have revealed he did in fact have an IEP, his parents attending school with him every day was a part of it. This happened the first week that they did not come to school with him. >

This whole situation is terrible.  This kid doesn't need a trial, he needs an institution.
And generic public schools are not equipped or appropriate for this BS. >


“The shooter spent his entire recess with a gun in his pocket, a gun that was loaded and ready to fire ... while lots of first-grade students played.”

This is the first notice that the gun was in his pocket.
What gun can't be seen in a 6 year olds pocket?
The teacher must have been afraid of Admin to not walk out. She texted her Sister an hour before this happened being convinced he had the gun.
This is all so insane.
Further on - The teacher requested anonymity because she fears potential retaliation from the school district.
That was the one that got choked. Seems the district is the only possible employer living there, which kind of makes sense. Whole place needs to be started from scratch. >

If what is reported in media is true, this child is pure evil.  I know this is going  to be unpopular  but perhaps a secure mental institution is the best place for him. >

I used to work with kids like this. It’s easy to blame the kid, but over 99% of the time, the parents are entirely to blame. Many parents teach their kids to be complete pieces of shit, and normalize violence. Very rarely is a child evil. 
This child needs repercussions of some form, but these parents need to be thoroughly investigated before anything else. Locking up a child will only cause them to be released back into the public as a teen/adult, and they will be 100x more dangerous and violent. >

I completely agree that parent carry majority of the blame.  However, what have the other kids done to deserve this?  Don't they deserve some kind of protection and go on living normal productive lives?  
At what point do we draw the line?
​
"Two days before the shooting, the boy allegedly “slammed” Zwerner’s cellphone and broke it,"
"She said that in 2021, the boy came up behind her as she sat in a chair in the front of the class, locked his forearms in front of her neck and pulled back and down, hard"
Slamming the phone?  Choking the teacher to the point where someone has to intervene.  
This is a time bomb waiting to go off IMO. >

I think the teacher needs to be given enough money to where she never has to work again.  As for the boy, he just seems like a bad egg.  You can't prosecute him or put him in a detention facility because he's too young.  Unfortunately, the only real approach is to medicate the hell out of him and put him in the foster care system.  Good luck finding foster parents. >

I mean, that 16 year old that stabbed that girl 114 times when he was 14 is facing life in prison without parole. Who knows what this kid could do within 10 years if he’s already doing this stuff at 6. >

Ten years?  No, if he's not carefully monitored/restrained/institutionalized, we're going to hear about him in four years when he's 10 and has strangled a toddler - for shits and giggles. >

A six year old using violence with such agency can't manifest without, at best, parental neglect, but more likely active abuse; Hold them accountable. That being said the administrator who neglected to act on all those red flags should be ashamed and held accountable, too. Whatever part the broken education system played in it was likely small, but it will be center stage for the politicians because that's where money touches the issue. >

Agree. The parents need to held accountable for the actions of their 6 year old child. >

Parents should be charged; they failed this kid from day 1 and now people are shot/hurt because this 6yo monster is allowed to behave unchecked. >

They also allowed him access to the gun. They claim it was properly secured, but it obviously was not since their kid shot a teacher with it. Parents absolutely should be held responsible if their child shoots someone with a gun they own. >

Never met a six year old I couldn't keep a gun from. Its actually pretty easy. Parents are responsible for the gun and should be punished. Simple as that. >

You hear cases of kids accidentally shooting people because the gun wasn't properly secured, but this one was even worse knowing this kid's behavioral problems and violence. They had an unsecured gun in a home with an extremely violent child. You'd think even for their own sake they would have wanted the gun secured if not even having one inside the house in the first place. They could have pissed him off one day and he might have killed them. >

How the hell does a 6-year-old successfully choke an adult? 
Have they tried an exorcism on this kid? >

For real. My kids were weak af when they were six. >

Hit his guardians with jail time. >

There's a pattern here. >

This child at 6 years old. 6 years of life on this Earth. Got angry, got a gun, chokes teachers, threatens to shoot other little kids, etc. The brain is a powerful thing for sure but you don’t come out the womb like this. This is a hot mess. I pray that the parents are doing their best to bring up a well adjusted child. The evidence of this is lacking however. >

The difference between psychopath and sociopath? Sometimes they do come out of the womb that way. Sometimes a parent is one too. Sometimes. I don't know anything about this kid though. Also don't understand cruel hateful people. >

I just think exposure is huge here too. I imagine that a psycho/sociopathic child may start off by hitting. Or biting. Using tools available to them because all they know is yo gabba gabba. This former toddler brought a gun with the intent to hurt. The child pulled up on another kid with a gun and threatened them. Like a child soldier. The whole thing doesn’t seem like nature, it unfortunately looks like nurture to me. >

I mean he got the gun from his parents. The reason somebody would have a gun is because they've conceived of the idea that they will shoot someone. So yeah. >


The reason somebody would have a gun is because they've conceived of the idea that they will shoot someone

That's ignorant.  But believe whatever makes you feel good about yourself. >

Six years old or not. He is a monster.