Two teens assault teacher after he confiscates one's iPod
By Paul Miller 
posted February 25th 2007 3:15AM
posted February 25th 2007 3:15AM
Sure, rag on NY iPod wearers all you want, but apparently there's no getting in between this Germantown PA highschooler and his iPod. Two students were arrested on Friday for assaulting their 60-year-old teacher Frank Burd, who confiscated it from a 14-year-old who was using it in his class. The kid returned later with an 11th grader, and they pushed Burd up against a locker, breaking his neck in two places. The good news is that Frank Burd's condition is stable and spirits are high. Unfortunately for the two students, their assault was caught on video, and they're going to be charged as adults. Frank Burd happens to be quite popular with the staff and students, which leads us to believe he doesn't make iPod confiscation a regular practice.
Give me a break man. Confiscating is not stealing. I would put money on the fact that it is listed in the student handbook or where ever that students are not allowed to use cell phones, ipods, or other sources of entertainment while in class. The student would have gotten the ipod back at the end of the day most likely.
Grade schooling is compulsory and thus the students have to abide by the rules while they are in school. Don't like it? Tough, its the law and it ain't going to change.
And btw b-rad, teacher's aren't crap. They choose to work with annoying kids like you and these two clowns in the article because they want to educate you all . You're resentful at being bossed around during grade school, get over it.
b-rad and idfk, you two scare the crap outa me.
(especially since my fiancee is teacher - every day I fear for her safety)
If a teacher takes up anything that poses as distraction in class it's not stealing. Was the teacher going to wipe it to put his own music on it? Not likely. Sell it on eBay? Less likely.
Not all teachers are perfect - they are, after all, human. But this kid had been in school long enough (which is to say he got through kindergarten) that he knew what would happen by listening to the iPod in class. Let's just say that he didn't know - does that justify the violence? I hope we can all agree that it doesn't.
Reading the article it said that both students had been expelled before, and both were in the process of being expelled again. These were not good kids, that much is obvious.
b-rad - you say that "iPods today are a students escape from class"... Dude, that makes NO sense. You're not supposed to have escape from class WHILE you're in class, that's the point of being in class. Have your escape between class, after class, before class. But NOT during.
idfk - you say that you'd be upset if a teacher took your laptop from you while you were using it in class... If you were using it for class then I think you're pretty safe. If you're using it to play WoW (or otherwise not pay attention) then you're fooling yourself to think that the teacher wouldn't be justified in taking it up.
And to say "Apparently none of you remember what it is like to be a teenager." is crap - we've all been there, it sucked for all of us. We remember, I assure you. We all had mean teachers, and we all were mean to our teachers.
You tell us we don't remember high school, and yet it's changed... Were you there when we were in high school? To assume that you know our high school experiences without having been there is asinine.
@engadget
Please release this kids email address so if anyone can track him down they can bash his ugly smug face in. If you're that retarded you think confiscation = theft you're not going to be any use to society anyway. Even if that comment was a joke, it was in such bad taste that you deserve a good kicking and that laptop that Mommy and Daddy bought for you with their money (and yet somehow you've worked so hard for that you need to protect it by extreme violence) smashed into chunks about the size of your pea like brain.
idfk,
..."The teacher knew what was comming before he stole the kid's ipod."?
Jeezus christ what a load of arrogant bull. Thank God I'm not a teacher and especially glad I'm not yours or one of us would be in deep trouble.
TEACHER != STUDENT
ADULT != KID
And, it's apparent you are in need of school, or you'd spell "comming" properly and wouldn't create an acronym with the (non-existent) word "kare" in it (I Dont F*king Kare).
Well at least I have the pleasure of knowing I'll be living off your burger-flipping, fast-food managerial social security contributions when I retire.
...unless you're a gangsta gold-toof playa earning tax-free drug money when you're old enough to earn your own living. Heh well I can't win them all.
It's "principle"
Turn off your iPod and start "lurning" fool.
And if you beat anyone, they'll throw your worthless uneducated ass in prison where it ultimately belongs anyway.
"To me, my laptop is a big part of my life, I take it with me everywhere and use it everyday, but if a teacher took it from me while I was using it in class, I would beat his face in so badly, he would choke to death on his own teeth."
idfk - then you would go to prison. You would not have a laptop. You would have butt buddies.
you should also set an exemple to others similar to you and simply drop out of the system.
Your comments = S T U P I D
theres a differene between confiscation and theft u pathetic ignorant slimy swiny son of an old ass heffer
capitalist pigdogs
Idiot students..
Throw em in for life. They deserve it since it was obviously premeditated. All for a damn iPod. Society is getting out of hand.
seriously this kinda stuff is ridiculous, kids are getting more and more disrespectful, and they feel that they have a right to do stuff like this just because of a decision that they feel is unfair...i say this as an 11th grader
and i'd just like to add, i weep for the future
Freaky ipod users!
I bet these kids were paid by Microsoft! Bill is always trying to make Apple look bad.
OMFG someone call Jack Thompson! Kids getting violent in school!? It has to be those violent games on the iPod!!!!
"seriously this kinda stuff is ridiculous, kids are getting more and more disrespectful"
Yes, because it's obvious that it's the fault of the 14 year old that he has no respect. I'm sure he has wonderful loving parents who have taught him well.
But I support the teacher. I hope he's ok, that he doesn't change a thing, and that the school backs him and anyone like him 100%. It's long past the day when teachers should get at least a modicum of control within the legal system back.
@ all...
Apparently none of you remember what it is like to be a teenager. You all do not understand that high school has changed. It is no longer how you remember it and therefore your comments on the students irrational behavior is irrelevant. Teachers today are terrible, and take any possibe opportunity to humiliate and treat students as inferiors. iPods today are a students escape from class... just as you stupid oldies used marijuana or other stupid shit to deal with school... so if you are going to rag on kids, remember what your highschool experience was like... you didn't like your teachers, right? I'm sure. Well anyways, try to not be such old farts. Teachers should not be taking students' property for ANY reason, it is just ridiculous. It has nothing to do with disrespect on the student side, times are changing, and teachers (more than anyone else), should know that.
Um...
Okay, I'm old fart, we didn't have DAPs when I was in high school, but we had these things kind of like them: Walkmen. And man, if you listened to a walkman in class, you could be sure you'd get it taken away pronto. I can't imagine how much it's gotta suck to be a teacher when every kid has a dap, a cell phone, a pda and a ds to distract them.
Don't give me whiny kid crap about how school is tough because your teachers treat you as an inferior person... I've got news for you... you are inferior. That's why you're in school for christ's sake. Put the damn ipod away, crack open a book and maybe try and learn a thing or two.
Finally: "Apparently none of you remember what it is like to be a teenager. ... It is no longer how you remember it and therefore your comments on the students irrational behavior is irrelevant"
These two sentences don't work together. It doesn't matter whether we remember being a teenager (ps. it sucked... of course it sucked. but we managed to get through it, you will too) if it's no longer like we remember it anyway.
well, I'm 18 years old; that makes me a teenager. Just like you, I didn't like all my teachers in highschool, but it wouldn't even cross my mind to break someones neck! I sure hope mr. Burd is going to be fine, both physically and mentally.
Oh, the hell with you, pal. I'm 24. I was a high school teacher for three years, straight out of college.
No matter what the excuse, these things are contraband on school property. Every year, we went over this very clearly; you don't bring that stuff, it has no business here. Now, I'd usually give kids a warning, usually while they were trying to be sneaky with it, and after that, no more (includes cell phones, too). If you were a repeat offender, I took it the first time and gave it back at the end of the day. Second time, though, whatever it was went to the main office and your parents came and got it.
You are in school for a reason: to learn and better yourself. If you can't realize this and need an iPod to "escape", you need to reevaluate your life.
If you're talking respect, it cuts both ways; how respectful do you think my students were when they'd send text messages when I was doing everything I could to teach them and lead them to a better life?
As for marijuana for escape...guess what, slick? It's illegal and if you're caught with that, something far worse is going to happen than just taking it away for a day.
Grow up, start paying attention to your teachers, and show some respect; you just may get some back.
b-rad,
Give me a break with your "pressure" in high school.
That's easy compared to real life, pal. Compare a high-school assignment (which was assigned 3 weeks ago an you're starting tonight because it's due tomorrow) to the responsibilities of managing a corporate-wide project managing a team of people - and the success or failure impacts hundreds of clients and millions of dollars.
We old farts know what it was like in high school. Yes it's the hardest thing you've ever done so far but it doesn't get any easier.
Start by learning the basics like "follow the school rules, no contraband in class" and "no touchie other people to hurt them" and then bigger things like "don't embezzle corporate funding" and "don't whack grannie in her sleep" becomes like, second nature.
If those 'kids' are going to come back to manhandle an adult what are they going to do to other kids?
Lock up the thugs, put them on display. Sometimes one's purpose in life is to serve as a dire warning for others.
brad, you're an idiot.
I am a high school teacher and I do remember what it was like to be a teenager.
I love new technology, I like to use it in my classroom, but mp3 players, cell phones, and PSPs have become a cancer in the American classroom.
Out of 30 students in a class, at least a third will be playing with something electronic as that class begins and over the next 45 minutes, over half will have to be told to put the phone, the ipod, etc away.
I have stopped telling them to put it away, now I just take it. If I have to stand over a kid for the entire period I will. At the end of class they get it back. If it happens a second time, then the item goes to our Deans' Office...and the kid's parent(s) will need to come up to get it.
A classroom is a place to learn- not to text friends, not to listen to music, or what videos, or play a video game. For you to put the blame on teachers is so misguided and so misplaced is simply ridiculous. I do not profess to be the world's greatest teacher- far from it. But I know teacher's who are younger and more idealistic then I am (I've been at this for 22 years); and they have the EXACT same complaints.
The problem is not the teacher- the problem is the standardized and boring crap we are FORCED to teach so they pass all the standardized tests and it is the fault of their parents who let even take all the electronic stuff to school.
Yeah "b-rad" because breaking a teacher's neck was an appropriate response to taking a kid's iPod. Give me a break, you are a jackass.
B-rad
As a teacher of students in the absolute crappiest time of their lives, i'd like to say how impressed i am with your spelling, argument, grammar and general idea development. How the heck did you get that way if not for teachers? Please say you were homeschooled so we can really pounce on you.
NEXT
Kids today run to the counselor at any THOUGHT of being harrassed or bullied by another student or even a teacher. As i recall, we didn't have counselors that would tolerate that. We didn't have teachers that would allow us to run to anyone else to help solve any personal/inter-personal problems. Now, it's required i let them go. Yes, i do put some limits after they have gone 10 times for the same conflict with the same teacher or student. But it's frowned upon. Not to mention, the parents expect us to let the counselors solve all the problems. MY POINT - i've never seen such emotionally weak people in my life as these kids today. Bullying was less of an art than it is today - it was blatant and teachers saw it regularly and did nothing about it. If that were to happen today parents would be in the CLASSROOM attempting to yell at the teacher - defending their child (no matter how much they lie, cheat and steal) to the very end - another ally we didn't have.
So, B-rad - suck it up. YOU'RE the one who has it easy now and you couldn't have handled it back then.
dude...you should drop out of the system. It would make a REAL statement for you to drop out and seek out a prestigious job in the telemarketing field.
Are you out of your mind??? Ipods, cell phones and any other object of that nature should not even be allowed in the building let alone interfering with a class! Secondly, teachers have every right to maintain their class without getting injured by children who believe they have been disrespected. Give me a break, what planet do you live on?
You idiot, they broke his NECK. I'm a quadripalegic because of several breaks in my neck, if that teacher became a quadripalegic you would still justify their actions? You are stupid.
I went to a High School in the country where a lot of my friends lived on a farm or on acreages and everyone worked. Everyone had respect for teachers, now the school has more city kids in it like this and it's disgusting.
B-Rad your commest are about as dickheaded ignorant as I've read here. There is nothing in the techers action that make breaking his effing neck, right, legal or proper.
The rules of school today are the same ones I went with You go, you learn, you try to get away with dumb shit and when you get caught you pay a price. I got caught with a radio at school I lost it for the week. It was a huge deal, but face it who was in the wrong? Radios with earphones in class = not allowed. Taking away your toys because they stop you learning to read to second grade level = tough shit.
I hated one of my teachers a total perpetual prick the entire time I went to that school whom I nearly had the opportunity to run over one day several years later. I didn't because my grip on reality tells me it is neither OK or allowed. Its time you got a grip on yours.
Ahhh the 'o its not my fault its their excuse. Get fucking real. I don't care if this was the 1807, 1907, or 2007. Its assault over a damn iPod. The 'o dem-times-they-are-a-changing excuse doesn't fly either. Yes the parents are at fault as well for not teaching their children right from wrong but the simple fact is you are a fucktard if you can't figure out assaulting someone over an iPod, that they WOULD get back eventually anyways, is ummm what's that word? Oh ya...WRONG.
You are a douche bag.
You aren't just commenting on the problem at hand.. you ARE the problem, motard.
You're a complete idiot. Nobody here values anything you have to say.
I know this teacher personally. He is a rare breed who manages to be a well liked and well respected teacher in one of the worst - in terms of discipline/safety/academic ability of students - schools in Philadelphia. There is a lot of other violence in this school that doesn't get the kind of press this incident is getting. A lot of the kids at this school were kicked out of other schools and dropped off here, which is the sad way it works in Phila. Frank Burd deals every day with kids with bigger problems than most of us can imagine and faces danger to do so. Discipline is a constant problem, violence a constant threat. The kid with the ipod was playing it so loudly that you could hear it across the room, making it impossible to teach other kids who were there to learn. Frank asked him to turn it off and put it away more than one time and the kid refused. And by the way, yes, there is a rule that these devices are not allowed in class. There are metal detectors at the front door of the school but kids manage to sneak in phones and ipods every day. When Frank finally did take the ipod away, he told the kid (the 17yo, not the 15yo as some reports have misinformed) that he would give it back to him after class. He would have been well within his rights to confiscate it and turn it in to the principal but he is not the type to do that. The ninth grader involved in the incident, a kid not known by Mr. Burd, was the main predator and should not even have been in that part of the school.
It's sad that your school experience was such a negative one for you. I spend a lot of time with Frank Burd and can't tell you how often we run into people who stop and say, "Frank Burd? You were my teacher 25 years ago! You were the best!"
ura swinish scumbag and u are probably ignorant too, u rediculous mook! get help...
Obviously stupid teens, but what I would have done is take back the iPod when he was out of the room (like at lunch), then when he says he lost it, I'd demand the money to replace it ;). Break the law smart, not violently.
- Tony R.
As a current teacher with students feeling entitled to use their DAPs and cell phones IN CLASS, I see that it's a joke what they get away with. To the ijit who compared us "old folks" teen years... I had a walkman, not pot, and if I was caught using it in class, you better believe it would have been taken away at least for the day.
Any kids here who feel entitled to use disruptive media in class, how about just stay at home. You interfere with the ability of OTHER students to learn and you are a waste of time. Unless you go to some Paulo Freire high school, it's a *school* not a club house.
To the kids who beat down their teacher: Throw the book at them. First, he was doing his job. Second, they were likely in the wrong with their device use. Third, he was 60!!! years old and you felt in any way reasonable for beating him????? Fourth, if the courts don't hook you up like adults, I hope your parents beat can get some special permission to beat you like the animals you are. I've had a kid threaten me in school before. Was I afraid? Only that I'd HAVE to defend myself against a child, which is very sticky for a teacher to do these days.
@ b-rad:
I hope you are joking. I'm 2 years out of high school. I know what it was like, it was pretty lame. Not exactly the time of my life. College is a helluva lot better. However, listening to an iPod in class is grounds for having it taken away by the teacher, at least temporarily. Since he hung on to it for a while, it is probably safe to say he was a repeat offender. And it is perfectly ok for a teacher to take a student's property if it is necessary. For example, some punk having an ipod turned up to the point of distracting other students. And while some of my teachers were absolutely horrible, maybe you treat your teachers like crap. Crap in, crap out. They'll usually treat you as you treat them. I realize that this isn't always true- but it usually is. I'm not an "old fart", either- I'm 19. And we'll assume that all of what you are saying is true for a second, ok? If a teacher took your ipod away, is it really ok to come back with another kid and beat the teacher to the point of a broken neck? If you think that this is acceptable, you are delusional. Just my 2 cents. My thoughts are with the teacher and his family. Lock up the kids for a long time- they're better in there than they are out here.
There is NEVER an excuse for violence like this, b-rad, and you're trying to make one. Yes, every generation has ALWAYS has their likes and dislikes of teachers. However, as I remember it, all whopping 15 years ago, the teachers were in charge, and I believe that is still the case.
School is, and was, a place for learning and exploration. When my classmates back then brought in their walkman or ANY other distraction to class -- boom -- it was confiscated. So, I don't care if you don't like any of your teachers, you're there to learn. I was, too, and I had a good handful of teachers that I didn't care much for either. It all comes down to your personal attitude.
And if you're going to cop one, be prepared to own up. No more fracking excuses. Put down your electronic leashes, crack the books open and read.
Unfortunately this issue isn't about whether electronic entertainment - or as others would have it - "one's life" - is allowed or disallowed in school.
It's not even about the effects of electronic devices on kids' learning and societal development.
It's about POWER.
Who allows whom to do what in school.
I'm an old fart. I think that means I am older than 25 years old; I don't know the exact age at which an old fart becomes one. If I'm not officially an old fart then I'm certainly farty enough to pass for one.
I liked my teachers. I liked my counselors.
I didn't like the random wiseasses who thought they'd be clever and crack jokes in class to get attention or to try to keep bookworms like myself from doing well.
I had teachers who expected more from us than others. This was part of my training in life I've learned now, since I have had project managers and vice presidents in the company expect more than others, in the same way these "hardass" teachers did.
Even though the teachers were "a pain" when I was a kid I now appreciate their insistence on doing things right.
Back then in the Stone Age it was easier I think for them to succeed because there was no "student's rights" other than the very basic and rudimentary items. We had corporal punishment but it wasn't abused nor was it the only way the teachers got things done.
Never would a student act to defy a teacher using physical means. Those that may have tried to do so were already removed from the system long before the teachers had to put up with that. I don't know what happened to the kids that were expelled for talking back to the teachers and to be honest I never cared.
I think we need this environment again. Students should not be given adult status in a mixed-age social environment; they are indeed subordinate because they are less experienced in years and in learning.
It's no disgrace to be subordinate; that's a part of life. It's part of life to raise up in the ranks as one gains age and wisdom, just as it's our responsibility to help the younger ones learn how to fit in and to be a part of decent society.
Giving someone equal status before they've mastered the basics is tantamount to giving a 5-year old the wheel of a car on the freeway. Dangerous at best and permanently damaging to everyone around the child at worst.
I think this incident highlights the results of giving kids the false sense that they are equal to adults and can be allowed to do what ever they please.
Again I state it's about who allows whom to do what at school. All about POWER.
How can you justify breaking a teacher's neck on the grounds of the teacher confiscating a student's property? Why am I even responding? It's ridiculous and irrational. Really, does it matter how much it costs? Arguements like "school sucked" and "the teacher stole his property, which he had a right to":
Property right is not absolute. You're in an academic setting with a structured environment, and you should adhere to the rules. Maybe it was unjust, and maybe the ipod did cost several hundred dollars, but there's presumably some sort of dispute resolution mechanism in place. Maybe it doesn't work great, but it's there, and it needs to be followed; think, if no one followed it, you can be sure the situation in schools would be a hell of a lot worse. So, if your ipod gets confiscated, it's still pursuant to some sort of policy, and if you object, follow the procedure in place - don't break the teacher's neck.
I do not like teachers very much. I also had an absolutely miserable time at school, so this whole arguement of "school sucked" really is quite lame. If someone breaks into my house and steals my TV, I have a right then to track him down and break his neck? What a great way to maximize social order and minimize vigilanteism. It seems that you want a system society that's based on rash self-indulgence, where there's no striving for structure, application of law, and fairness through standard process. Granted, the outcome of that process is (unfortunately) not always the fairest, but you can be sure it would be a hell of a lot worse without it.
@ those that agree with what they have done I say you are morons. I am in the 11th grade in Australia and for all of my classes the teachers are cool. They let you listen to mp3 players all the time if you turn them down so it doesn't distract others and if you take them out and listen to the teacher when they are speaking. If you do not pay attention in class all teachers around the world have a right to confiscate whatever it is that is distracting you. No matter what no one has any right to physically harm a teacher or another living being for that matter.
In the great words of Takeshi Kitano:
"Battle Royal desu!!!"
It angers me greatly to hear that a teacher was assaulted in this way for essentially doing their job. Children are losing their minds and going WAY over board in what they think their responses should be in school and the world.
However I don't think that the law should get too carried away with these kids. First we need to remember that they're kids. What's going on in the home ? They were already suspended/expelled from that school once and were allowed to come back AFTER A YEAR, and they messed up again ! In the video that accompanies the article you see the news try to talk to the older kids' father (his reaction to the reporter is another hint at the child's behavior model). I do think that they should be severely punished, that teacher could have died quite easily. However don't just throw these kids into a system for ADULTS (there's talk of charging them as adults) only so they can fester for years in the system and come out worse.
My thoughts and prayers are with the teacher and the students' families.
...on a lighter note...what ultimately happened to the iPod ? :)
Seriously?
Shortly after diaper training, people begin learning to control their emotions.
If this control isn't learned at a young age you end up with children in grown bodies acting out their discontent in serious ways, (ie beatings, shootings, rape etc.) to satisfy the childish 'ME' urges.
(imagine if toddlers in adult bodies and you'll get the same outcome)
No emotionally adult/developed individual could justify this attack.
"You may think that the student was wrong for doing what he did, but you need to think about how much an ipod costs. How do you know that the ipod wasn't that kids life?
To me, my laptop is a big part of my life, I take it with me everywhere and use it everyday, but if a teacher took it from me while I was using it in class, I would beat his face in so badly, he would choke to death on his own teeth."
Are we really now at a stage in society where we prize the cost of our possessions over someone else's health? I know this is a gadget site and we all have a bit of tech lust, but come on, get some perspective. It's a damn object that'll get returned to you at the end of the day. It's not robbery, it's a penalty for now following a few basic rules in school and if you don't have the ability to recognise that in certain environments, it's not okay for you to act however you please, then you've got big problems heading your way later in life. Teachers aren't perfect people, but they're not punching bags (metaphorically and physically) for kids to act out their frustrations on and nothing about the way this kid reacted is justifiable.
And this ladies and gentleman is why we need to protect our teachers against your ill-bred and barely raised little feral monsters.
My wife is a teacher and between the bleeding hearts and the gutless School District, she has zero backup in any sort of disciplinary situation.
If you wonder why your children do poorly in school, it's because you as parents, voters and legislators have taken away any semblance of authority from teachers and removed all consequence from behaving poorly, at least until it escalates to attempted murder like this.
Time after time these kids act up, get little to no actual punishment THEN receive special pleading when they complain they are failing due to their non-attendance and lack of work. The parents call the school board, play the race card, play the developmentally disadvantaged card or some other ploy and the board eats it up and gives the kid a free pass.
So anyone complaining about the quality of the US school system, reap what you damn well sow.
Those damn Apple fanboys! It's all Steve Jobs' fault. He tosses off a few poorly thought out comments about teachers (like Mr. Zillionaire really knows how hard it is to be a school teacher) and the next thing you know, Apple fanboys are taking the law into their own hands.
I'm 19.
I hated high school - but there is no way we'd get away with doing that kind of shit in class. Teachers at our school would confiscate phones if they saw you using them at lunch even.
Then your parents were expected to ring the principal and collect it from him.
The thing that is scary about this though - is that someone thinks an ipod is worth physically assaulting someone for. I'm sure they didn't think "hey I want to break someone's neck" but clearly that in itself is a problem. They didn't think... Not about the person anyway.
The simple fact that people are defending the students in this case makes me shudder in horror at what the future will be like.
The students actions were wrong, anyway you look at it. The teacher could be an absolute *insert desired expletive* but solving any such problem with violence, and moreso people arguing it as fine? Absolutely disgusting.