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Action against teachers who staged 'absurd' gun attack

A teacher and an assistant principal at a Tennessee school have been suspended for about two weeks because they staged a gunman's attack on their sixth-grade students for a "prank" or a "learning experience," depending upon the explanation.

Officials with the school district in Murfreesboro told WND today that the decision was being described only as a "disciplinary action."

"Director of Schools Marilyn Mathis has suspended lead teacher, Mr. Quentin Mastin, and assistant Principal, Don Bartch, for unprofessional conduct and neglect of duty due to actions taken with Scales Elementary School students on May 10, 2007 at Fall Creek Falls State Park," said a terse statement given to WND by district spokeswoman Cheryl Harris.

"The suspension is without pay and will commence of May 14, 2007 and continue through the end of this school year ending June 1, 2007," it said.

That's just part of what critics, who had been lobbying for dismissal, wanted for the teachers.

"Wow! Surrealist teaching methods have a new hallmark in education," a reader commented to a blog at the  Tennessean.com, which reported the original story and opened its page for reaction.

"The story is beyond absurd. What is next, handing out weapons to enhance the realism in the experience?" the reader, who was not identified on the comment page, wrote.

The incident included 69 sixth-grade students from Scales Elementary in Murfreesboro who were on a week-long trip led by Bartch at Fall Creek Falls.

The newspaper report said the faculty members staged the phony gun attack – repeatedly telling the children it was not a drill – while the kids cried and took shelter under tables.

"A teacher wearing a hooded sweatshirt pulled on a locked door, pretending to be a suspicious subject in the area," the report said. "The students were told to lie on the floor or crawl underneath tables and keep quiet."

"What type of response would the Boy Scouts of America or a church youth group have gotten if their leadership had embarked on such a 'prank?'" said the writer. "I wonder how the parents of those children involved can consider leaving these teachers and administrators in charge of any decision making matters in the future?"

The newspaper quoted 11-year-old Shay Naylor, who told of the children crying as the lights went out, and some were holding hands and shaking.

The school, while it initially described the circumstances as a prank, later in the same document called it a "learning experience."

One reader of the Tennessean site wasn't going to be satisfied with that.

"In a letter posted by the school it says... 'Throughout the week, the students had been anticipating a typical campfire 'prank' from the teachers.' and 'The lead teacher made comments about this coming 'prank' on several occasions that week.' Then it said 'the staff used this incident as a teaching opportunity.' What was it, a 'prank' or a 'teaching opportunity?' the reader asked.

"My question is this. If the students knew that a 'prank' was coming, why were some in fear for their life? Why is this whole situation now being turned into a 'learning opportunity?' he continued.

Bartch led the trip and reported that the "mock attack" lasted five minutes.

"We got together and discussed what we would have done in a real situation," he said. But school officials held an emergency meeting with parents to try to respond to their outrage when the incident became known.

"The children were in that room in the dark, begging for their lives, because they thought there was someone with a gun after them," Brandy Cole, whose son was part of the class, told the newspaper.

Alisha Graves' son was on the trip, and she said it was not good. "Those kids were crying, and they were terrified."

Barbara Corbetta said the details matched in all of the stories the children told their parents – kids on the floor crying and begging for their lives.

Principal Catherine Stephens declined to tell the newspaper whether the staff members would face any disciplinary action, and school officials did not respond to multiple WND requests for a comment.

"My hope is that we can learn from this, and in the end, it will have a positive result of growth for all of us," Stephens told the newspaper.

Kathry Sherrod, a psychologist who works with kids, said there could be trauma from such an event.

"That's too close to real. It's important for teachers and school administrators to realize they have a degree of trust with children. When you play a prank of that nature, you run the risk of losing that trust," she said.

But parents and others already had announced their verdict – and judgment.

"I don't know if they're totally stupid or just plain cruel, but either way they all deserve to be fired," said a Tennessean reader. "

Those on another blog agreed.

"Prosecute them all for their little 'prank," wrote Splicer on the dailykos site.

"I would request a meeting with the assistant prinicpal (sic), and, after a calm, reasoned request for an explanation, interrupt his response by pulling out a starter's pistol and unloading right in his …. face…," added kestrel9000. "Oh, and then blow across the 'barrel' (they're sealed), spin it on my trigger finger, tuck it back I my waistband, and say, 'I'm sorry. You were saying?'"

"These people should not be around children. Period," added DaveV.

The school's posted explanation described how teachers had talked for some time about a coming "prank."

"The lead teacher told the students … there were people somewhere in the park shooting guns but they were not shooting people; they were driving around playing. He added that the Park Ranger had advised him to tell everyone to take cover…"

Then the teacher told the students "as a precaution" to get under tables, the school said.

"The staff used this incident as a teaching opportunity. The children were praised for following the rules of the school system's 'Code Red' procedure," said the explanation, which noted a few students "seemed upset."

However, after the children returned home, 42 parents attended a specially-arranged Saturday meeting with school officials.