# Teacher rattles desk; student calls 911 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 2, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239 "2011-03-02T18:12:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/1 "2011-03-02T18:12:17Z")
[Story here](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110302/ap_on_re_us/us_teacher_table_rattling). I say the teacher should get a commendation for conducting an impromptu earthquake drill. Seriously, what the hell is going on in schools these days? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/2 "2011-03-02T20:21:47Z")
That is really bizarre behavior on the student’s part. Especially since nobody else seemed bothered by it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/3 "2011-03-02T20:29:58Z")
I’m guessing the student is one of them “special snowflakes”. ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/4 "2011-03-02T20:58:25Z")
Isn’t it illegal it make a prank call to 911? Shouldn’t this student be in Juvie? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/5 "2011-03-02T21:49:33Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > Isn’t it illegal it make a prank call to 911? This is kind of what gets me. What exactly did the kid say to the 911 operator that gave him or her reason to think that sending out the police made sense? I want to hear that transcript. And what was the teacher doing while the kid made the call? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/6 "2011-03-03T01:26:01Z")
Haha, this reminds me of an incident in 10th grade chemistry class. Our teacher (a real hardass, my favorite kind of teacher because he wouldn’t take shit from or pal around with the jocks and I learned a lot from him) warned us at the start of the year that if you slept in his class, he’d squirt you with a [water bottle](http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/50214/50214,1194170128,3/stock-photo-plastic-squirt-bottles-used-in-a-small-manufacturing-lab-6649990.jpg). Well, lo and behold the class stoner, who sat in front of me, fell asleep one day. The teacher squirted him with the bottle to wake him up (and got a little on me but I was too busy laughing to care). Ahhhh, memories. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/7 "2011-03-03T01:38:21Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > I’m guessing the student is one of them “special snowflakes”. This. That student probably hadn’t even ever been talked sternly to in her life. Can’t have her upset now, dontcha know? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/8 "2011-03-03T02:59:40Z")
I don’t think this sort of thing is new, really; all that’s new is that kids have cellphones. If we’d had cellphones when I was in Grade 8 I can think of a few imbeciles who’d have called the cops or their parents when a teacher hurt their feelings. They did other equally stupid shit, why not that, too? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/9 "2011-03-03T03:50:36Z")
You didn’t even mention the worst part; because there was a police response, the _teacher_ was placed on leave. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/10 "2011-03-03T03:56:47Z")
I’ve startled a couple of chairs. There was a coffee table that was a bit shaken for a while. But desks tend to be be more stable, and not easily rattled. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/11 "2011-03-03T04:19:44Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > This is kind of what gets me. What exactly did the kid say to the 911 operator that gave him or her reason to think that sending out the police made sense? It’s probably standard doctrine now. Any 911 call from a public school gets a response on site. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/12 "2011-03-03T04:36:29Z")
I don’t know about this particular school’s policy, but aren’t students forbidden to have cell phones on school grounds in many school districts? I remember when I was in school, some teachers would get our attention in similar ways. Most of the time they would slam the top of their desk with the palm of their hands. Most of us would quiet down, but there were a few clowns who would chuckle it up. Still, nobody had an extreme reaction to it. We didn’t have cell phones in my day, hell we didn’t even have 911, but nobody jumped up and ran to the office to call the police. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/13 "2011-03-03T04:46:27Z")
9-1-1, yes, I’d like to report a special snowflake, She bumped into me in the hallway and she looked mean. Hurry please. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/14 "2011-03-03T04:49:48Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I don’t know about this particular school’s policy, but aren’t students forbidden to have cell phones on school grounds in many school districts? I doubt it. [The vast majority of teenagers have cell phones](http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1572/teens-cell-phones-text-messages) and if they have the phones, the phones are going to be with them in school. That’s what the kids want and it’s what the parents want. I’m sure they’re usually not allowed to use them during class, but here’s guessing that’s an uphill battle for teachers on a good day. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/15 "2011-03-03T04:53:15Z")
I’d be willing to bet that the teacher is back in the classroom Monday without a blot in their file. Paid administrative leave is automatic while the district investigates the incident. Just like a cop who shoots a Bad Guy. The shoot could be the most righteous shoot in history, and the cop would still be riding a desk until IA finished the paperwork. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/16 "2011-03-03T04:53:32Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I don’t know about this particular school’s policy, but aren’t students forbidden to have cell phones on school grounds in many school districts? Generally not, in my experience, because so many kids have them at their parents’ behest. I graduated 6 years ago and at that point my district allowed students to carry phones but they had to be off during the school day. The rule was suspended once, on 9/11/01 (we were right outside DC), when they allowed us to use the phones freely during lunch and then sent us all home during 5th period. This story is so bizarre. What kind of stupid policy is it to automatically place a teacher on leave if the police are called? And what kind of hyperactive snowflake regards rattling a desk as a threat? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/17 "2011-03-03T05:00:26Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I don’t know about this particular school’s policy, but aren’t students forbidden to have cell phones on school grounds in many school districts? The large Phoenix high school I graduated from only three years ago definitely didn’t ban cell phones. The rule was that you had to have them either off or silenced during class (this was randomly enforced - some teachers were infamous for confiscating phones the first time they heard it ring, most others would give you a look and a chance to quickly turn it off). But you were free to have them out between classes or during lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/18 "2011-03-03T13:28:57Z")
I once fell asleep with my head on the desk in history class, and the teacher took a big thick stick he kept in the classroom for just such an occasion and whacked the underside of my desk hard enough to lift the whole thing off the ground. Scared the living shit out of me and I jumped up and yelled in front of the class with drool running down my cheek. Very embarrassing. When I told my parents about it they laughed at me too. I didn’t sleep in that class anymore. I cut a deal with my teacher in the previous period- he would let me sleep through class as long as I kept getting A’s on all the quizzes and tests. So I was always well-rested for history. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/19 "2011-03-03T13:36:50Z")
> [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](#): > > I cut a deal with my teacher in the previous period- he would let me sleep through class as long as I kept getting A’s on all the quizzes and tests. Now theres a teacher that should be put on admin leave… ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239/20 "2011-03-03T13:42:10Z")
I had a 9th grade geometry teacher who would throw blackboard erasers at you if you weren’t paying attention. Best damn math teacher I ever had (not because of that, but still an excellent teacher). Kids today have no sense of proportion. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-rattles-desk-student-calls-911/573239.md?page=2)