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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Former high school teacher.

There isn't much the school can do besides talk to both of them. They'll never tell you this, but as long as the weapons aren't on school property, it's not really their concern legally. Of course no one wants a student to be injured, and we deal with so many fatalities involving students after school. ADHD and anxiety aren't the same as severe autism or a severe developmental delay. If your son is able to be in a gen ed classroom, then he has the capacity to learn the consequences of his actions. He NEEDS to learn this if he's going to survive in the outside world. As a former sped teacher, I don't say that with any ill intent or blame directed at you. I used to worry myself sick about some of our students who were given all the resources they needed to feel comfortable at school, but those same things were crippling them because the "real world" wouldn't provide supports for executive functioning and impulse control. And if your child is a minority, then it's doubly important that he learn these things because law enforcement and overzealous "concerned citizens" will not hesitate to respond without any concern for his special needs.

For now, the best thing you can do in this situation is tell your child to stay away from those kids outside of class. Inform the school and ask if a dean or counselor can mediate the situation with the two kids. That will at least let the other kids know that the authorities are aware. It may not stop them from chastising and threatening him, but it will at least do something to prevent serious physical injury. And I'm going to be honest, it may be a good thing that your child is terrified. It may drive home the point that some situations can't be easily resolved by his parents or other adults, so he's going to have to be careful next time. Fear and survival are hardwired into all of us. [/quote]

I appreciate your taking the time to answer, but I do know all this.  I needed to keep him physically safe during that school day.   I am fine with his learning consequences.   But I also know [b]groups[/b] of boys in particular go overboard with violence in a way individual kids don't.  (Damascus rape incident, for example)  If it had just been my kid and one other, I would have been much less concerned about physical safety.

And if you are a special ed teacher, you know that kids with ADHD function at about 30% behind their same-age peers.   I can't solve it all in a day.   I was triaging the situation  to try to keep him physically safe, but of course we are working on all other aspects of the problem.   We constantly work.   Constantly.[/quote]

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