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And, Redwing9, I am grateful for your post because it leads me to a bigger point beyond my own experiences that I meant to mention earlier: What is a teacher to do? Because:

(1) In some school districts, a teacher will be disciplined by a school district for NOT attempting to break up a fight;

(2) In other school districts, a teacher will be disciplined by a school district for ATTEMPTING to break up a fight because now the teacher has "touched" (as I touched a student's shoulder) a student;

(3) In ALL school districts, a teacher risks getting sued by the parent who is litigation-happy, and has time to sue, and can call the NAACP, but can't find five minutes to come to a school conference or talk to the teacher otherwise;

(4) In NO school district does the school administration actually defend the rights of teachers -- as the teacher in CA demonstrates. Whenever it's a parent who threatens to sue a school district verses a teacher, the administration backs: the parent.

Finally, why would anyone in their right mind who understands this siutation ever want to teach in a school again? This is where I often find myself. I'm past the bouts depression I went through for a long time, but, finally accepting the fact that I do NOT want to be in this kind of work environment -- even though I really did enjoy teaching. I am still a certified teacher, but, I think there may be other ways to teach. Thanks again for your post.
PS Now I realize why some experienced teachers subsequently gave me the following advice: Here's what you do when you see a fight at school -- pretend you didn't.

metioned = mentioned

I wouldn't sweat minor typos, summer. Longstanding 'Netiquette (dating back well before the Web to the ARPANet days in the '80s) allows for typographic errors or mispellings without criticism -- even for teachers. My Mom is both a teacher and writer and occasionally (but rarely) makes typographical, grammatical or spelling errors in emails, then seeks to correct them, whereupon I must reminder her of this ancient convention. It's endearing but unnecessary.

Of course, there are those who harp on such things either deliberately or through ignorance. In either case, you would be well-justified in ignoring such quibbling and focus on topical posts. After all, if you post an article for discussion and someone has nothing better to do than take potshots at your spelling, they're just yanking your chain, and you should simply hang up on them.

Oh, and THANK YOU for being a teacher. That's right up there with police officer, firefighter and soldier, as far as I'm concerned -- and you have probably found elements of all three of those other noble professions in your list of responsibilities. It takes courage to be a teacher, especially these days, and I respect that. For any other teachers who may be reading this, that goes for you, too: a BIG SALUTE.

Best regards,

Imal