Wednesday, April 13, 2011

State Rep. Dewayne Bunch critically injured trying to break up fight at school

This from the Herald-Leader:
Whitley County High School teacher and state Rep. Dewayne Bunch was critically injured Tuesday when he was knocked unconscious after trying to break up a fight between two students in the school cafeteria, authorities said.

Bunch was knocked down by a punch that appeared to be aimed at another student, Whitley County Sheriff Colan Harrell said. Bunch, 49, hit his head on a tile floor, the sheriff said.

"He ran over there very quickly and ran right into the punch," Harrell said. "When his head hit the floor, he sustained more injury."

Bunch was in "extremely critical" condition at Baptist Regional Medical Center in Corbin before being taken to University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center in Lexington. A UK spokeswoman said Bunch's family had asked that no information be released about his condition...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

In Fayette County, Mr. Silberman would have suspended the teacher who broke up the fight immediately, regardless of his medical condition, and accused him of using too much force. He would have then repeated the time-honored phrase, "Everything we do must always be in the best interests of kids." He then would have referred the students' case to the Equity Council so that the president of the Urban League could have determined whether the student' rights were violated.

Anonymous said...

So unfortunate. And such a bunch of lies when we teachers are told our schools are safe!

They are not....

Anonymous said...

I read somewhere (maybe it was the H-L) that the boys were freshmen, ages 15 & 16. Incidents like this make me question whether simply raising the dropout age is the right thing to do. In my opinion, some students *need* additional services (successful alternative schools, perhaps?) that cannot be provided in a "regular" classroom. Merely changing the dropout age isn't enough.

My sincerest hopes that Rep. Bunch recovers...

Donald Van Winkle said...

Donald Van Winkle,
As a future Math and Science teacher, this story is particularly disturbing to me. One because I'm a man, two because I have a cousin that went through something similar, and three, doing the right thing runs a high risk of ending bad no matter what.
I am a man going into the public school system which despite all talk of equal rights, I know that when a fight between two strapping young men breaks out. God has equipped me to be a better selection than a woman to deal with event. Despite being better equipped, so far in my education process, no one has laid out a clear cut way to deal with it and be liability free. If the teacher is hurt, it is a tragedy. If the a student gets hurt, it is a law suit and the teacher gets hurt. To make things worse for the teacher, you are duty bound to protect those children from harm. By the way, the latter negates not doing anything.
My cousin was a high school teacher in S. Carolina. A fight broke out between to young men, he interceded. He grapped one boy to pull him away from the skirmish and accidently elbowed the other boy. The boy hit claimed his nose was broke by my cousin. My cousin was a teacher.
Duty demands action but where is the quidance. Even more so, where is the support for them who want back down from their duty.

Shelby Dobbs said...

It was very unfortunate that Mr. Bunch was injured so critically while trying to stop the fight between two juveniles. I am glad the students involved in the fight have been charged with first-degree assault, which is a felony charge they will have to live with. They have also been sentenced to juvy but the details are still unknown. They boys involved have to live with their actions forever and hopefully Mr. Bunch recovers soon.